(Chicago, IL)-
What a fun concept, goofy sailing competition and pursuit racing thrown
into the mix. Here's the report from Rich Stearns, J/Dealer in
Chicago:"On Saturday, the wind was from the North at 15-20 kts with 5 ft waves. Not exactly what we had signed up for. The wife's and kids were ready to go have fun, but then the fog came in. We lost a few boats, but the fog lifted and we still had great racing! The course was moved inside the outer breakwater. I can't remember racing inside the breakwater before, it was a bit tight and you had to dodge the commercial boats, but waves were only 1 foot. The start was less than 100 yards off the Adler Planetarium (at the south end of the harbor) and the weather mark was near the Chicago Light house (at the north end of the harbor off the famous Navy Pier complex).
Many
in the fleet had not done a pursuit race before and there was a bit of
confusion at the start, but J/105's prevailed with the J/70, J/109's,
and J/111 right there at the finish. The J/120 and J/133 had both just
finished an overnight race but managed to get around the course in great
shape. The fun race had water balloons that, if your boat was hit,
caused you to do a 360 and Frisbees that, if you could get it in the
little pool, got you back 30 seconds credit! Way too funny. With so
much wind no one was able to hit the pool! In the end, we had a
fantastic barbecue hosted by Columbia YC with pulled port and beer and
munchies. Fun event! Will do again for next year!"
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