The National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta was hosted by Chicago Yacht Club over the weekend of 13-15 June. 1,000 sailors from around the world, including Ireland, waited anxiously on Sunday to see if races would be held on the third and final day due to stormy weather conditions. And with less than 20 minutes before the regatta was scheduled to be cancelled, the storm passed, the sun appeared and sailors took to the waters of Lake Michigan.
Among the 267 boats within the 15 various fleets competing was Dave Dwyer of Cork's RCYC and his boat 'Marinerscove' who paced the Etchell class on each day and finished with a final score of 34 points, putting him in second place. Unfortunately not enough to beat Australian Jake Gunther on 30 points. American's Marvin Beckmann and Justin Palm finished third and fourth respectively on 48 and 53 points.
The star-studded international fleet of over 80 etchells converged on Chicago Yacht Club's Belmont Station last week in preparation for the 2008 Etchells World Championship, which takes place June 21-28 next. Dwyer will have tough competition including USA's own Jud Smith who has been runner-up five times.
Other top names like Simon minoprio of New Zealand, marco Cimarosti of Italy and Bill Hardesty of San Diego are sure to raise the level of competition. The Etchell being a fast, stable 30-foot sloop is the focus of 'World Sport Chicago' who have presented this prestigious international sailing event with their aim being the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid and bringing world-class Olympic sporting events to Chicago
