If there is such a thing as nautical gridlock, Annapolis may provide Exhibit A this weekend.
The National Offshore One Design regatta, three days of racing that begins today, has so far attracted a field of 283 boats, just two short of the record for an event of this type.
Organizers say the combination of a highly competitive field that includes a number of world-class sailors, the prediction of consistent winds and the possibility of 50,000 spectators overhead Sunday during the Bay Bridge Walk, will likely push Annapolis past Chicago, which set the record three years ago.
The deadline for registering was last night.
"This is huge," says Dick Franyo, owner of the Boatyard Bar and Grill in Eastport, which will be producing daily video highlights of the regatta. "You have 1,000-plus people who will be heading out on the town after the official events."
The NOOD, in its 17th season, is the nation's oldest racing series. The Annapolis event is the third stop on the nine-regatta North American circuit that started in February in St. Petersburg, Fla., and will end in Galveston Bay in Texas in September.
The field today is expected to include Olympic silver medalist John Bertrand of Australia, Swiss Olympian Othmar Mueller von Blumencron and several former world champions and America's Cup veterans.
Sailors will be racing on four courses laid out from the Bay Bridge south to Thomas Point.
"The race committee is going to have its hands full," says Ray Wulff, coordinator for the J/22 class, with about 80 boats the largest sailing this weekend. "It's going to be a shock for some of these teams that aren't used to racing with that many boats. They may be used to 40, but 80 is a whole different animal."
Last year, the fleet of J/22s numbered 50, which still caused logistical and tactical problems. On the first day, it took the race committee four tries to get a clean start for the hard-charging fleet.
Sailors like the NOOD events because the boats compete against others of the same design, which tests skills and tactics rather than technology.
But the reason NOOD sailors flock to Annapolis, says Etchells class coordinator Sandy Morse, is that "the business of this town is sailing, and that makes it attractive to out-of-town boats."
Indeed, the NOOD kicks off a high-profile season that includes the J/22 World Championship, May 17-21, and the ISAF Women's Match Race World Championships, once known as the Santa Maria Cup, June 6-12.
