Excerpt from: First Day of the Lands End St. Petersburg NOOD Regatta Begins With Breeze, February 18, 2005, by Tony Bessinger

The first day of the 2005 Lands End NOOD regatta was a great day of racing, with enough breeze—12-to15 knots—for [the Soverel 33 Class] to get four races off. Wind speeds hovered in the low teens, the sky was crystal clear, and the air temperature, while a little chilly, kept crews cool despite the red-hot competition.

Excerpt from: Great Racing Continues at the Lands' End St. Petersburg 2005 NOOD, February 19, 2005, by Tony Bessinger

It was another terrific Florida day at the Lands' End St. Petersburg NOOD, with [the Soverel 33 Class] getting in two races. The sky was crystal clear, the breeze stuck around longer than was forecast, and the party held at the St. Petersburg YC after racing was rocking. Since some classes have sailed seven races in the first two days of the regatta, some sailors seemed a tad sore and a little tired, but that didn't stop them from tossing back a few refreshing beverages at the NOOD party before heading home to rest up for the final day of racing.

. . . Matthew Dalton, of Apollo Beach, Fla., who's clinging to fifth place with his boat Ka-Ching, but is feeling OK about his scoreline. "We're staying out of last place and I'm happy with that," said Dalton. "I knew that I'd be struggling to stay out of last because I've had the boat two years and I've never raced against another Soverel 33 and I've never seen one sailing. They're pretty, no matter what angle you look at them from." Dalton is looking to tomorrow's forecast of lighter wind. "I like sailing in light air because things happen at a rate we can capture and make good decisions," he said. "It'll be good conditions for the Soverels."

Sunday will be the final day of the Lands' End St. Petersburg NOOD, and there'll be fewer races, especially since the forecast is for lighter conditions, with a possibility of a seabreeze in the afternoon. Once racing is over, the awards ceremony will be held at the St. Petersburg YC, which has done a great job of running the race circles, keeping the cocktails flowing, and feeding the hungry crews as they return from their racecourses at the end of each day.

Excerpt from: 2005 Lands' End St. Petersburg NOOD Wrap-Up, February 20, 2005, by Tony Bessinger

The final day of the 2005 Lands' End St. Petersburg NOOD regatta ended with a whimper, with the breeze shutting down after [the second race for the Soverel 33 Class], but with [eight] races sailed for the three-day event, nobody seemed all that bothered.

Manhattan Magic, a Soverel 33, owned by Jeffrey Guice, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, won their six-boat class with a scoreline that would have rivaled John Bertrand's if they hadn't broken a main halyard in Race 4, which pushed them back to last place for the race. But Guice and his crew bounced back and finished the event off with three straight first-place finishes, which gave them not only the class win, but the Soverel 33 Midwinter Championship. "We had good teamwork and a great crew," said Guice. "But we also had a little bit of luck. Today we got out on the left side and it worked out for us."

Setup - Rig Measurements

See http://www.soverel33.com/Articles/Content/LoosRRTGauge.html for explanation on the Shroud Tension numbers.

Rake/Headstay length was taken from halyard hoisted (w/ attached tape) to the top of the boom fitting (square pivot fitting) [gooseneck] or at the upper edge of the black band, for all boats the deck to "black band" was not all the same. The halyard was then swung out to the headstay (which is is tensioned). Measurement was taken from the halyard down to the Stainless Steel stem fitting intersection of the bow and deck plates.

Click on image to see Rake Measurement

Shroud Tension: Measured with Loos Tension Gauge, Model RT-10, numbers in brackets are from the needle position on the gauge. Lowers and Uppers are 0.198" dia., and Intermediates are 0.172"

Shirts

Click on image to enlarge

A limited number of polo-style shirts are available for $15 each, write check out to Soverel 33 Class Association, send e-mail to if you are interested.