St. Petersburg Becomes the Sailboat Racing Hot Spot Every FebruaryST. PETERSBURG - Every February St. Petersburg becomes the hot spot for sailboat racing, as close to 1,000 sailors from throughout the globe voyage to Tampa Bay for the annual Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One-Design (NOOD) Regatta. The NOOD regatta series is considered one of the most respected and is the largest sailing regatta circuit in North America. The three-day race will be hosted by the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and will set sail Feb. 15 -17. "The St. Petersburg NOOD attracts a large number of competitors every year because of the race's prestige and the great sailing conditions found on Tampa Bay," said George Brengle, Sailing World magazine's Director of Marketing and Executive Director of the NOOD Regattas. "Every year this event becomes more exciting as we see nearly 1,000 sailors from as close as St. Petersburg to as far away as the United Kingdom compete for the St. Petersburg NOOD title." The St. Petersburg NOOD regatta is the first stop of the nine-event series and has become one of the most well-attended events on the NOOD schedule. The 2007 St. Petersburg NOOD attracted sailors from nearly 30 states and three countries. Following St. Petersburg, the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta series will sail on to San Diego, Calif., March 14-16, 2008. Additional venues for 2008 include Annapolis, Md., the newest site in Seattle, Wash., Detroit, Mich., Chicago, Ill., Marblehead, Mass., Larchmont, N.Y., and Houston, Tex. Created by Sailing World in 1988, the NOODs attract nearly 2,000 boats and more than 30,000 competitors and spectators annually. Each event in the series features multiple days of sailboat racing for one-design models from 20 to 70 feet in length. In addition to local sailors, sailing's top stars - including America's Cup and Olympic champions - are well-represented at the NOODs. Competitive sailors rate the NOODs as the top national event in each region of the country.
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