One group of sailors will be double dipping at this year's National Offshore One-Design Regatta in Annapolis.
The winner of the Melges 24 class will claim not only the local title, but also the national championship. The race within a race has attracted some of sailing's top competitors and almost tripled the number of entries over last year's fleet.
"We have a fantastic lineup," said Bill Blank, Melges class coordinator for the Annapolis Yacht Club, the host organization. "There's a whole heap of talent out there. It's anybody's race."
FOR THE RECORD - Because information supplied by a public relations firm confused two persons of the same name, The Sun misstated the background of Annapolis sailor John Bertrand in an article in yesterday's editions. In February, he won the first leg of the nine-stop National Offshore One-Design regatta in St. Petersburg, Fla. He is competing in the Annapolis NOOD regatta this weekend.
John Bertrand of Australia won the America's Cup in 1993. He is not competing this weekend.
The Sun regrets the error.
Competition will begin today just south of the Bay Bridge at the mouth of the Severn River and will conclude Sunday. More than 270 boats are entered in 17 classes.
Perhaps the biggest name on the Melges 24 roster is that of Annapolis resident John Bertrand, skipper of Fusion M. The Olympic bronze medalist won the first NOOD event of the nine-stop circuit this year, and his local knowledge is an asset.
Bertrand is perhaps best known as the skipper of Australia II, which in 1983 beat Dennis Conner and broke this country's 132-year hold on the America's Cup.
But the rest of the 39-boat field won't roll over. The top three finishers here last year - John Pollard, Joe Woods and Bob Dockery - have signed up to compete again. Pollard, of Great Britain, was ranked No. 1 last year in North America and sixth in the world. Dockery, of St. Petersburg, Fla., leads the 2005 world rankings.
Two other entries will boast Olympic-caliber crews: Texan Charlie Ogletree, silver medalist at the Athens Games, will be crewing for Geoffrey Pierini aboard Gazoo; and Florida's Morgan Reeser, a 1992 silver medalist, is on Neil Sullivan's M-Fatic.
For authenticity, you can't beat Jeff Ecklund, who has an honest-to-goodness Melges - Harry, the son of the company owner - as one of his three crewmen aboard Star. The two men won the 2002 Melges 24 world championship.
Since its introduction a dozen years ago, the 24-foot boat has become racing's hot ticket. The design borrowed several elements from the 1992 America's Cup contenders, including a carbon-fiber spar, rudder, bowsprit and vertical keel fin.
"These boats are coming on strong," said Blank. "We're trying to gain attention for them and bring fleet racing to this area."
The NOOD, in its 18th 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.
