Verve Cup Offshore Regatta Preview

(Chicago, IL)-Beginning Thursday, August 10 – 13, 2023, the Chicago Yacht Club will host the 31st annual Verve Cup Offshore Regatta. This event will feature three days of offshore buoy racing and a separate Saturday distance race.  

Annually, this event hosts over 100 yachts ranging in size from 25 to 70 feet and carries crews from 4 to 20 racers. During this regatta, the Chicago Yacht Club looks forward to welcoming more than 2,000 racers, family members, and friends to its award-winning lakefront Monroe Station Clubhouse. 

For the 3-day regatta, boats will sail either in a handicap section or a one-design section. Brag flags and prizes will be awarded to the top finishers in each section. The winner in what is determined by formula to be the most competitive section- “The Elite Fleet”- will be awarded the perpetual Verve Cup Trophy. The Verve Cup trophy dates back to 1893 and is the Chicago Yacht Club’s oldest trophy. 

The event is the last large offshore regatta of the season on Lake Michigan. As a result, it’s always well-attended by a large fleet of J/teams. Participating this year are J/88, J/105, and J/109 one-design classes. In addition, J/122s and J/133s are sailing in the ORC and PHRF offshore fleets.

J/88 Class
The eight-boat class features most of the top Lake Michigan teams. Fresh off their podium performances in the Chicago to Mackinac Race Doublehanded Division and the Harbor Springs Ugotta Regatta is Andy Graff’s EXILE. Joining them will be Ben Marden’s BANTER, Dan Floberg’s MISTY, John & Jordan Leahey’s DUTCH, and Tim Wade’s WINDSONG. 

J/105 Class
Will we see a repeat of the Sailing World Regatta back in June where two new faces rose to the top of the leaderboard over long-time class veterans? The eight-boat fleet will have Mark Fruin’s NYCTODAUR and Josh & Laura Lutton’s KINSHIP back in the action. Class veterans like Jon Weglarz’s THE ASYLUM, Clark Pellett’s SEALARK, and Gyt Petkus’s VYTIS will be hoping to regain their past form and rise to the top of the class. 

J/109 Class
The eight-boat class features all of the J/109s that featured in the top 15 overall in the Chicago to Mackinac Race! Leading that charge may be Jim Caesar’s LIQUID LOUNGE II, with the quarter on SMEE AGAIN (Miz/ Dreher/ Hatfield/ Neenan) hoping to better them around the cans. Other teams that should factor on the leaderboard include Peter Priede’s FULL TILT, Robert Evans’s GOAT RODEO, and Jeremy Alexis’s NORTHSTAR.  

Offshore ORC/ PHRF
Sailing in these classes on the offshore buoy and government marks courses are Doug Evans’s J/122 ELBOW ROOM, Len Siegal’s J/122e LUCKY DUBIE, and Tom Papoutsis’s J/133 RENEGADE. 
For more Chicago YC Verve Cup sailing information