(Chicago, IL)- Hosted by Chicago Yacht Club and held concurrently with
the Verve Cup Offshore Regatta is this year's J/109 North Americans.
The J/109 sailors will be treated to excellent on-shore entertainment
and activities and, most importantly, will be in the hands of the
award-winning CYC Race Management team-- renown for conducting good
racing on the challenging waters of Lake Michigan.The weekend's forecast looks a bit sketchy for the sailors. With the backdrop of the spectacular skyscraper skyline of Chicago, the sailors will first have to contend with a frontal system moving through Friday with breezes shifting from the southerly quadrants that are feeding the front to having to possibly face northwesterly breezes after the frontal passage. Saturday's sailing looks to be a classic northeaster, with sun and partly cloudy skies and with good size chop (not exactly waves on Lake Michigan) bouncing off the concrete bulkheads on Chicago's waterfront, creating messy seas and shifting winds slowly veering to the east. By Sunday, it looks like the winds will have clocked into the northeast-easterly quadrants and the local sea-breeze reinforcement will bring another classic sunny day to close out the regatta! At least that's what the local "chamber of commerce" is claiming.
With
the J/109 North American Championship trophy on the line, the eleven
boats will have their hands full taking on long-distance traveler Rick
Lyall on STORM-- a team from Wilton, CT (Long Island Sound) that are
past North American Champions, Block Island Race Week champions, New
York YC regatta champions and one of the most highly decorated J/109s in
recent history. Another top visiting team will be Albrecht Goethe's
HAMBURG from Seabrook, TX (Galveston Bay), also a champion team from the
Gulf of Mexico/ Houston area. Not taking the challenge lightly will be a host of local teams that know their waters well. Based on their recent performances in the Chicago NOOD Regatta held in the same race course area earlier this summer, you should see teams like MOMENTUS (Kevin Saedi- the winner), VANDA III (Jack Toliver), FULL TILT (Peter Priede), CERTAINLY (Don Meyer) and KIII (Irv Kerbel) all posting top five finishes in their bid to take the crown or at least a podium finish! Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/Daniel Forster For more J/109 North Americans sailing information
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