J/70, J/88, J/105 and Offshore J/Teams Shine at Helly Hansen Chicago Regatta

(Chicago, IL)- The 2026 Helly Hansen Sailing World Chicago Regatta was hosted by Chicago Yacht Club last weekend for 100+ keelboat teams competing in various one-design and offshore handicap racing fleets. It was an action-packed start for the summer of sailboat racing on Lake Michigan. The regatta included one-design classes for J/70s, J/88s, and J/105s. Plus, there was an enthusiastic group of J/Teams sailing in the offshore ORC/PHRF handicap divisions.

J/70 Class
The ten-boat fleet featured several class newcomers and some wily veterans. Not surprisingly, John Heaton’s EMPEIRIA crew dominated the fleet, posting four 1sts and four 2nds for just 12 pts, to easily take the gold medal. Sailing like a man possessed was Martin Johnsson’s team on AQUAHOLIKS, posting their best finish ever in the regatta, winning two races, getting two seconds, and closing the regatta with 23 pts to take the silver medal! The bronze medal went to top woman helm Laura Sigmond on NORBOY, winning the last race to post 28 pts.

The balance of the top five included Bruno Pasquinelli’s legendary STAMPEDE team from Dallas, TX in fourth with 32 pts and Adam Brown’s BLACK PEARL in fifth place with 44 pts.

J/88 Class
The Chicago J/88 fleet fielded a strong eight-boat fleet and the results reflected that highly-competitive racing. Sailing a great regatta was Dave Dennison’s PIRANHA team, winning three of the seven races to take the gold medal with 16 pts. Ben Marden’s BANTER crew also posted all top five finishes to take the silver medal with 21 pts. Then, rounding out the podium for the bronze medal was Dave Tufts’s GAUCHO with 26 pts. The rest of the top five included Andy Graff’s EXILE in fourth with 28 pts and Brian Kaczor’s ERICA in fifth place with 31 pts.

J/105 Class
The thirteen-boat fleet had its usual class veterans vying for class honors, many of them past regatta winners and Chicago-Mackinac race winners. However, it was relative newcomers within the past decade that topped the podium! Sailing a strong regatta with mostly top five finishes in the nine-race series was Steve Kindra’s PURA VIDA, winning with 34 pts.

The “come-back-kid” award goes to none other than Rich & Lori Stearns’s FIVE team. Starting out with a dismal 8-4-7, they were nowhere near the top five in the standings after the first day. However, after shedding a few leftover cobwebs and overcoming rusty crew work from a long winter of hibernation, the FIVE team rebounded in spades in their last four races, posting a mind-blowing 3-1-1-2 to scream up the leaderboard to snag the silver medal with 39 pts! Lori and the girls were happy with that outcome!! LOL!

Rounding out the podium were long-time J/105 veterans on Jon Weglarz’s THE ASYLUM; also redeeming themselves in their last four races with a thrilling 2-2-7-2 to take the bronze medal with 43 pts.

The balance of the top five included Josh & Laura Lutton’s KINSHIP in fourth place with 46 pts and Mark Fruin’s NYCTOSAUR in fifth place with 53 pts.

ORC 1 Division
The Lone J/Ranger in this seven-boat fleet also happened to take it to the locals in the big boat fleet and post two bullets to take the gold medal! Happily walking off the podium with a bucket of champagne and the gold medal was Kenny Kluckman’s team on the classic J/44 CHEEP’N’DEEP II! Fun-loving crew they are, wow!!

ORC 2 Division- J/Sweep!
It was inevitable there would be a J/Sweep in this division of seven boats, since all of them were either J/122s or J/111s!! Hahaha. Perhaps what surprised everyone was that the J/122s as a group swept the podium, much to the J/111 sailors dismay, or perhaps even shock! Winning was a past Chicago-Mackinac Race Overall Winner- Doug Evans and his ELBOW ROOM team, posting a runaway 1-1 for 2 pts.

The silver and bronze medals were determined by a three-way tiebreaker with each boat having 6 points apiece- Len Siegal’s J/122E LUCKY DUBIE, Matt Songer’s J/122 EVVAI, and Jeff Davis’s J/111 SHAMROCK. With two teams posting the same records of 2-4, the “Dubsters” got the silver medal in the tiebreaker “countback” for taking 2nd in the last race. Settling for the bronze medal was the EVVAI crew. Getting the very short end of that stick was Davis’s J/111 SHAMROCK, posting a 3-3 to end up in fourth place!

PHRF 1 Division
Sailing in this fleet of eleven boats were four J/Teams. However, just two made it into the top five. In a similar scenario that played out in ORC 2 division, a three-way tie at 11 points apiece determined the bronze medal winner and the balance of the top five. After the tiebreaker countback process, Mark Olsen’s J/120 JAHAZI took fourth place, while Tracy Hixon’s J/112E AXOLOTI finished in fifth place.

PHRF 2 Division- J/Sweep!
This dozen-boat fleet experienced a sweep of the top four spots by J/crews. Winning was James Nachtman’s J/99 RAMBLER with two bullets in their scoreline. Second went to Andy Camarda’s J/7 daysailer J/BIRD, while Judith & Ross McLean’s J/105 ESPRIT d’ECOSSE took third place. Another J/105, Branwell Lepp’s IT WASN’T ME finished fourth.

PHRF Division- course racing
Winning this ten-boat fleet by a comfortable margin was Tod & Heidi Patton’s J/112E BLONDIE winning five of nine races for 17 pts total. Taking the bronze medal was Jim Caesar’s J/109 LIQUID LOUNGE II with all top five scores for 29 pts total, missing the silver medal by a mere point! Peter Priede’s J/109 FULL TILT took fifth place with 36 pts total.

For more Helly Hansen Sailing World Chicago Regatta information
https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series-chicago/