Grizzly Strengthens Lead at Beneteau First 36.7 North Americans

Chicago, IL (September 3, 2016) – Racing continued on day three of the 14th annual Beneteau First 36.7 North American Championships at Chicago Yacht Club’s Belmont Station on Saturday.

Detroit boat Grizzly added to their considerable overall lead by winning the day with a 1-3-2. Competition among the rest of the fleet remained strong, albeit behind Grizzly, with Chicago boats Maggie Mae, FOG and Tequila Mockingbird separated by six points and finishing in second through fourth place overall respectively.

Today featured three races with the first presenting light winds 5-7 knots out of the Northeast. Seas had flattened considerably from the first two days of the regatta. Olof Andersson, regatta PRO said, “the race committee was chasing the wind all day today. The first race, we changed course three times, at the top mark, at the bottom mark and again at the top mark. After that, the wind shifted 75 to 85 degrees and stayed there for the remaining two races, requiring no changes at all.”

Andersson added, “it was nice to see a lot of position changes among the boats. Soulshine, skippered by Jarrett Altmin who is also the NAC chair, won the second race and recorded its first bullet.”

Ontario boat, Zingara, the defending NAC champions, won the final race. However, Grizzly’s 21-point lead over the second place boat, combined with their consistently fast sailing, makes catching them a challenge with only two races to go in the regatta.

Eleven races are planned for September 1-4.

Day Three Results (15 boats; 9 races)
1. Grizzly, Charles Bayer , USA – 6 -2 -1 -2 -1 -1 -1 -3 -2 ; 19
2. Maggie Mae, PeterWright / Dan Wright , USA – 5 -4 -7 -1 -2 -11 -3 -4 -3 ; 40
3. FOG, Charlie Wurtzebach/Mike Bird , USA – 1 -6 -3 -5 -8 -5 -7 -2 -5 ; 42
4. Tequila Mockingbird, Chris Duhon , USA – 3 -3 -9 -7 -6 -2 -5 -7 -4 ; 46
5. Zingara, Richard Reid , CAN – 2 -16 -5 -3 -7 -4 -4 -5 -1 ; 47
6. Arwen, Joonas Sandholm , FIN – 4 -1 -11 -10 -3 -3 -2 -6 -14 ; 54
7. Soulshine, Jarrett Altmin , USA – 9 -8 -2 -11 -10 -6 -11 -1 -10 ; 68
8. Program, Earle Atwater , USA – 8 -13 -4 -8 -13 -9 -8 -10 -6 ; 79
9. Split Decision, Mark Norris , USA – 10 -9 -12 -6 -4 -8 -14 -8 -9 ; 80
10. Patriot, Ken Sharpe , USA – 7 -7 -8 -14 -5 -12 -10 -9 -8 ; 80
11. JoieDeVie, Donna Hastings , USA – 11 -5 -10 -13 -9 -10 -9 -12 -7 ; 86
12. Sorcerer, Don Draper , USA – 13 -12 -14 -4 -12 -7 -12 -14 -11 ; 99
13. Tango, Chuck Norris , USA – 14 -11 -6 -9 -11 -13 -13 -13 -12 ; 102
14. Erizo de Mar, Antoni Czupryna , USA – 15 -10 -13 -12 -14 -14 -6 -11 -13 ; 108
15. IMP, Blair Jones , USA – 12 -14 -16 -16 -16 -16 -15 -15 -15 ; 135

Event details – Scoreboard

Report by Sue Marshall.