Light winds for North American Challenge Cup

Chicago, IL (August 2, 2014) – The Chicago Yacht Club’s 2014 North American Challenge Cup (NACC), one of the longest-running sailing events for disabled adults, saw its first day of racing today, and in spite of very light winds, managed to sail three races. Because winds were very light, the Race Committee was forced to postpone racing at the start until winds picked up enough to begin racing. Winds stayed light the entire day, starting out of the NNW and eventually shifting over to NE and eventually NNE.

The light airs forced the Race Committee to shorten course for the second race, and the two classes waited out on the lake for the winds to fill in. The wind eventually started to pick up enough to start a third race, but then began to drop forcing the Race Committee to also shorten course on the third race.

The Freedom 20 fleet has five boats competing this year. First place winners in 2013, Ken Kelly and Bob Jones (Victoria, BC and Seattle, WA), are tied with local Chicago sailors Gary Pierce and Zak Kordik for first place, at a point score of 5. Ashley Lauren Fisher (Morristown, NJ), is in third place with crew Tony Sanperre (St Croix, BVI) with 9 points. Fisher is a relative newcomer to the sport of sailing and has shown to be a quick learner and a strong competitor. Local Chicagoans Bonnie Everhart and crew Dan Daniher are in fourth with 11 points and another local team of Barbara Galinska and crew Larry Campbell are in fifth place with 15 points.

The Sonar fleet also has five boats, with a mix of teams running the gamut from a seasoned crew that has raced together for a number of years to teams of relative newcomers to sailing and sailboat racing. Point scores of the top three finishers are very close with only one point separating each place. The local Chicago team of Patrick LoDuca, Chris Martin and Ralph Brooks are in first place with a total point score of 5. Close behind in second place is Patrik Norstrom, from Boras, Sweden, with local Chicago crew members Will Howard and Sandy Stone, at 6 points, and in third place is local Chicago sailor Bridget Bodo with local Chicagoan Katherine Rohan and Mouad Yousef from Cleveland.

The Warrior Sailing Program has two teams competing in the Sonar class. Warrior Sailing Program is focused on introducing active military and veterans with disabilities to sailing, learning to sail and basic sailboat racing. Many of the Warrior sailors at the NACC are relatively new to sailing and sailboat racing. In fourth place is the Warrior Sailing team skippered by local Chicagoan RJ Anderson with crew member Chris Livesay and Aqeel Shhaib with a point score of 13, and in fifth place is the Warrior Sailing team of Steve Hammer, with crew members Scott Fisher and Kathy Champion with 14 points.

Racing continues through Monday. Event website: https://www.chicagoyachtclub.org/nacc

Report by Susan Kantor, CYC.