Racing was held August 28-30 for the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Annapolis. The final of three days of racing treated sailors across 78 teams to cooler temperatures, sun and moderate (but signature Annapolis shifty) winds for the final two to three races among the two divisions and 10 fleets. First-time Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Annapolis competitor John Heaton on his Chicago-based Empeiria adapted quickly to Annapolis’ tricky sailing conditions, winning the 11-boat J/70 fleet by 17 points over Cate Muller-Terhune on Murder Hornet. “Hats off to Annapolis; wow, what a challenging place. You can see why sailors here are very good tactically; it’s just so shifty,” said Heaton. “It’s a great venue, and we’re thrilled with how much racing we got in. It was fun to sail against other, new boats here.” According to Heaton, Sunday was about transitions, with special attention paid to crew movement as the wind strength went up and down. “Our first race started a bit slow; I think we rounded the top mark in eighth, but we just focused on sailing the boat well and grinding boats down,” he said. “We ended up second, holding off two boats right at the end. A really fun, super competitive race, and I was really proud of us to keep our heads up and sail hard.” Henry Filter’s Wild Child topped the Corinthian division. Complete results are available at https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=9673.