“Tastes Like Chicken” vann NOOD
Steve Tedeschi har varit ett av mina bollplank när det gäller segeltrim. Hans J/109 “Tastes Like Chicken” går alltid fort och nu vann de solklart Sailing World NOOD på Long Island Sound. 58% av deltagarna seglade J/Boats, och J/27, J/30, J/105 & J/109 hade egna klasser…
In sailboat racing there are two degrees of quickness: there’s fast and then there’s blazing fast. Ask Stephen Tedeschi where his J/109 team fell in that range at this weekend’s Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta in Larchmont and I guarantee he have no qualms confessing that his Tastes Like Chicken is plenty fast: fast enough, that is, to earn the regatta’s overall trophy and a trip to the British Virgin Islands for the Caribbean NOOD Championship in November.
Tedeschi’s crew, a mix of Chicken veterans and some fine young imported talent, put on another stellar performance on the water today, finishing the first of its two races some 3 minutes ahead of the second-place boat, and then wrapping up the regatta with a second Related Resources
In the first race of the day, most of the J/109 fleet were OCS, leaving Tastes Like Chicken—perhaps a bit close to the line themselves—a virtually open racecourse and an easy win. But the last race was the toughest of the series, courtesy of Rick Lyall’s Storm (fourth overall), which justifiably dragged them into a drawn-out, sweaty tacking duel. Tastes Like Chicken crewmember Forrest Williams estimates they rolled through at least 20 tacks.
The old saying in one-design sailing circles is that you look smart when you’re fast, but for Tedeschi’s clan, victory wasn’t just about being fast, it was about being smart, aggressive when they needed to be, and sailing their own race when they got away. They’d get far enough ahead, says Tedeschi’s crew, and everyone else would end up battling it out for second place, slowing each other down at every opportunity.
