he ONE Regatta (Offshore New England Championship) in Marblehead was conducted in ideal conditions over a period of three days, August 26-28, off Marblehead, MA. Boston Yacht Club Race Committee did a brilliant job by orchestrating no less than 10 races in very difficult conditions at times, led by PRO Karen Tenenbaum. This was an all-time high number of races for this event, spanning over 30 years (formerly called “PHRF NEs”). The fleet of 14 J/105s had a star studded cast: Merlin sporting no less than two Malory Cup winners, Got Qi with stand-out intercollegiate sailor Dave Nelson at the helm, last year’s winner and multiple MA Bay Champions Blown Away, Fleet 2 captain Fred deNapoli’s allegro semplicita with intercollegiate All-American Nick Burke calling tactics, and visiting teams from as far away as Dallas, Texas (including last month’s Marblehead NOOD regatta runner up Two Feathers). After an extremely challenging first day, it was a local boat Knotless, helmed by Marblehead sailor Ken Bowden, who topped the leader board, and another new addition to the fleet Aqua Boggie (formerly Steal Away) in the hunt, with Got Qui and allegro fighting it out for third and fourth. The second day, Karen ran no less than five races, and when the smoke cleared once again Knotless held the lead, while Got Qui and allegro were in close pursuit. The final day’s three races saw Nelson and deNapoli trade off firsts with a do or die final shoot out with the score tied. DeNapoli was over early by a foot, and so after 10 races Nelson and his team went on to win the final race and the event by 2 points