J/111 Perseverance Wins Verve Cup Trophy

Chicago, IL (August 15, 2016) – Bennet Greenwald’s J/111 Perseverance won Chicago Yacht Club’s 2016 Verve Cup Trophy. This is the first time a J/111 has won the Verve Cup overall since first joining the regatta as a one-design fleet in 2011. Perseverance was tied at 15 points with Utah at the end of the day, but won the tiebreaker.

Chris Duhon’s Tequila Mockingbird is now a two-time Beneteau 36.7 section winner at the Verve Cup. Duhon was fresh off his win in the 108th Chicago Race to Mackinac, presented by Wintrust, and tied for points at the end of Saturday with Soulshine owned by Fleet Captain Jarrett Altmin.

“We started really well today. Once we got off the line with some speed – even though it wasn’t the best direction – we were able to flick a couple boats and cross them,” said Duhon. “FOG was right there with us and we just had a better angle on starboard than they did in the first race. That was the difference between first and second today. This fleet has so many top competitors; strikes and gutters are what it comes down to.” The Beneteau 36.7 fleet will have another opportunity for a showdown at their North American Championship at CYC September 1-4.

In the Farr 40 Fleet, Helmut and Evan Jahn made a triumphant return to the Great Lakes aboard CYC member Lloyd Karzen’s boat, Taipan, also known as Flash Gordon 6. This was Jahn’s first time racing back in Chicago since they dominated the 2012 Farr 40 Worlds. Flash Gordon will be making another Chicago appearance in September racing in the Farr 40 North American Championship.

Tom Weber’s La Tempete is now a five-time Beneteau 40.7 North American Champion after winning the last three years in a row. La Tempete started the day day tied in points with 2013 Champion Vayu, but were able to pull off two bullets to finish the regatta.

“The first race today, we were coming to the start line on port and there was a line of boats coming in on starboard. I couldn’t see any way for me to turn to get to the line,” reminisced Weber. “Then all of a sudden there was just a little hole that opened up and we were able to spin around behind everybody and get to the line unimpeded. We got enough speed to get going and just took off to lead the rest of the race all the way through.”

The largest fleet at the Verve Cup was once again the Tartan 10s with 19 boats on the line. Mark Croll’s Retention went into today’s last race tied with Lou Jacobs’ Skidmarks. “The first race was a heartbreaker at the start because we were over early; we were at the tail end of the fleet. Luckily that meant we were able to go to the right, catch a shift and we clawed our way up from being over early to first around the windward mark,” said Croll. “That race ended up very up and down.” Retention has never won their section in the Verve or the NOOD, but Croll explained, “I always feel like the luckiest guy in the world because I get to race with both of my kids.”

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Report by Event Media