J/105 FIVE and J/109 COURAGEOUS Win Verve Cup Offshore Regatta
(Chicago, IL)- Chicago Yacht Club’s Verve Cup, an annual world-class sailing event attracting many national and international sailors to sail on Lake Michigan, just completed the offshore edition this past weekend. Racing took place off the beautiful Chicago lakefront, with the skyline in view. The regatta featured one-design fleets for J/105s, J/109s, as well as PHRF/ ORC offshore handicap racing. There was blistering hot competition over the weekend, especially in the 105 class. Here’s how it all went down.
J/105 Class
Fifteen J/105 teams, many of them class veterans from around the Midwest, witnessed a formidable duel erupt at the top of the leaderboard for the podium. In the end, Rich & Lori Stearns’s FIVE won the regatta with a remarkably consistent scoreline of 2-2-1-4-3-4-2 for 18 pts over the seven races. Mark Fruin’s NYCTOSAUR battled them to the very end, winning three of the races. In fact, after five races, Fruin’s team held a strong lead with three bullets and a 2-3. However, the last day proved to be their epic nightmare, sending their good fortune down the proverbial “mine shaft” with a 7-6 tally to end the regatta with 21 pts. Rounding out the podium to take the bronze medal was Jon Weglarz’s team on THE ASYLUM, posting a steady top five scorecard of 4-3-5-1-4-5-1 for 23 pts.
Rounding out the top five was Steve Kindra’s PURA VIDA in fourth with 27 pts and Keith Krause’s VYTIS in fifth place with 37 pts.
J/109 Class
A half-dozen J/109s sailed over the weekend with a few class veterans in the mix. However, a relative newcomer to the Chicago fleet skated away with class honors with a surprisingly strong performance! Ray Douglas & Kristine Maybach’s COURAGEOUS posted an unassailable scoreline of 3-1-1-2-1-1-2 for 11 pts to win by a country furlong! However, it was a much different story for the balance of the podium! That turned into a “mano-a-mano” battle between Mike Hendrie’s BULL and the quartet on SMEE AGAIN (Miz/ Dreher/ Hatfield/ Newman). After the smoke cleared on the battlefield in the seventh and final race, both teams were tied at 20 pts apiece! Winning the tiebreaker countback process was Hendrie’s BULL to take the silver medal, while the SMEE AGAIN “four amigos” had to settle for the bronze.
The balance of the top five included Peter Priede’s FULL TILT in fourth with 27 pts and Jim Caesar’s LIQUID LOUNGE II in fifth place with 29 pts… another close finish!
Chicago Tour ORC 1 Division- J/Domination!
Winning this seven-boat fleet was Len Siegal’s J/122E LUCKY DUBIE. Taking the silver medal was Tom Papoutsis’s J/133 RENEGADE.
Chicago Tour PHRF 2 Division- J/Sweep!
This random-leg fleet “tour” of the spectacular Chicago waterfront saw J/88s sweep the podium! Winning her first major event was Bridget Groble’s JULIA; Brian Kaczzor’s ERICA followed her in second, and Dan Floberg’s MISTY in third place.
Chicago Tour PHRF 3 Division
Vince Camarda’s team on the J/9 YAHOO proved that a very comfortable daysailer can be both fast and cozy. They garnered the bronze medal for their efforts over the weekend offshore, no doubt sailing in “couch-like” comfort all day long!
Verve Cup results:
https://theclubspot.com/regatta/CNipkLWuYn/results
For more Verve Cup Offshore regatta sailing information
https://www.vervecup.com/