Opening the door to more people

One of the casual, gateways to the sport is summer beercan racing. Chicago Yacht Club has taken a look at their Wednesday night series and made a few changes they hope will open the door to more people. The first change was to remove the ‘beercan’ label. Here are some of the areas they addressed…

The name is changing to Wednesday Night Skyline Series.
We will do racing just like you’ve experienced on Wednesday nights, with a few changes. First, we selected a name that reflects what we actually do: spend the evening racing with Chicago’s skyline as our backdrop (at sunset, no less), capping off the evening at the Club with food, drinks, friends, and Navy Pier’s fireworks display. It’s really about sharing this great Wednesday tradition with family, friends and newbies. Yes, we’ll still be drinking beer out of cans, but that’s just one aspect of what we do.
2. The racing will start and finish much closer to shore.

Wednesdays@CYC: competitive & fun racing, food, drink, awards, fireworks.
After racing, we’ll have live music on the patio to go with your burgers, brats, beer or rum. Did we mention there will be Mount Gay rum? Mostly because sailors like Mount Gay rum … and red hats. After the night’s racing prizes are handed out, racers can compete with a joke, funny story, or sing for an additional prize. Then the 9:30 fireworks will help put an exclamation point on your night.

We’re thinking ‘outside the can,’ so to speak.
We will have racing just like you’ve known it in the past, but closer to shore and with more exciting courses. We’ll also have two unique races on the schedule this year: Pursuit Races with a Harbor Start. These are unlike anything we’ve had in recent years. Friends and spectators will cheer skippers on as they’re counted down by the CYC flagpole, then they rush to their boats, motor-sail to the outer break-wall, then sail around the crib and finish upon returning to the outer break-wall.

We will be able to score each boat, whether you have a rating or not.
If you don’t have a PHRF Certificate, we have a committee in place that will determine a fair rating for your boat so you can participate.

Full list here.