Rosebud wins Inshore Verve Cup

Chicago Yacht Club members Pamela Rose, Taylor Canfield, Will Holz, and Scott Ewing won the J/70 Class at the 25th Annual Verve Cup Inshore Regatta, hosted by Chicago Yacht Club, on August 25-27 in Chicago, IL.

This year’s Verve Inshore featured a three-day course race from Friday through Sunday and included the first ever model sailboat regatta.

“The event was very challenging because of the conditions,” said Rosebud skipper Pamela Rose. “We had some strong lake chop and wind and we were thrilled to have success and victory in the regatta. The key was teamwork. Taylor Canfield, another CYC member, was tactician and was an extremely strong sailor pushing everybody very hard to win each race.”

The winning skipper has only been racing for two years and this is her third-year sailing. “I’ve worked very hard to try to learn the sport and I’ve been taking it seriously,” shared Rose. “I love the competitive nature of sailboat racing and I personally felt very good to have reached this point. I’m very excited about continuing to grow in the sport and I want to keep winning. The Chicago J/70 fleet has been very helpful to me personally the past couple of years, there was a big learning curve for me and a number of fellow Chicago Yacht Club members were offering lots of guidance and encouragement along the way.”

The wind came out of the South-Southeast all weekend at speeds of 7-18 knots. The wind was amazing but incredibly shifty and really kept the Race Committee on their toes. With five races on Friday, four on Saturday and two on Sunday the J-70 class certainly got their money’s worth. For the Sonars, Colgate’s and Etchells they each got 4-6 races off on Saturday and two on Sunday, when the weather did not cooperate.

Verve Inshore Regatta Chairman Ted Towey said, “We had a great weekend of racing up at Chicago Yacht Club’s Belmont Station. There were four different fleets racing and what’s great is we had the first race of Dragon 65 model sailboats.”

The Club’s Sonars were sailed as a class for the first time in the Verve, with two Chicago Yacht Club Women on the Water Women’s Committee boats competing. This was a huge step forward for the WOW women who have been sailing Thursday nights at Belmont Station during the season and attending classes and lectures all winter.

Fifteen Dragon Force 65 model boats competed in the exciting and new class where after racing on Saturday, sailors gathered with the favored beverage (Heineken beer or Mount Gay Rum) and completed five short races.

Chicago Yacht Club Commodore Leif Sigmond said, “They were out sailing all day at the Inshore Verve and then they got to race radio controlled model yachts. It’s the first ever model yachting event at the Inshore Verve, it’s a little bit of chaos but a lot of fun and whole new thing for members.”

With sailors ranging in age from 15 to over 70, Chicago Yacht Club is excited to bring this very special class of sailing to multiple regattas throughout the year.

One Design Division awards to each of the racing sections:

J/70:
• First Place: Rosebud, skippered by Pamela Rose, Chicago Yacht Club/Coral Reef Yacht Club
• Second Place: USA 167, skippered by James Prendergast
• Third Place: Berteau Group, skippered by Mark & Sarah Renz, Chicago Yacht Club

J/70 – Corinthian:
• First Place: Rip Rullah, skippered by Bob Willis, Columbia Yacht Club
• Second Place: Aquaholiks, skippered by Martin Johnsson, Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club
• Third Place: Pale Horse, skippered by Jake Christy, BYC

Etchells:
• First Place: Hokule’a, skippered by Richard Sidell, Chicago Yacht Club
• Second Place: Dixie, skippered by Fred Joosten, Chicago Yacht Club
• Third Place: Brass Monkey, skippered by Michael Frerker, Chicago Yacht Club

Sonar:
• First Place: Split Decision, skippered by Mark Norris, Chicago Yacht Club
• Second Place: Saucy, skippered by Mike Better, Chicago Yacht Club
• Third Place: SD II, skippered by Patrick Norris,

Colgate:
• First Place: Cretin Hop, skippered by Michael Leslie, CCYC
• Second Place: Columbia Sailing School, skippered by Columbia Sailing School, Columbia Sailing School
• Third Place: Naked Dance, skippered by Adam Hinz, Sail Chicago

Dragon 65:
• First Place: OG Dragon, skippered by Chuck Dragonman
• Second Place: Napiat, skippered by Dyoll Nezrak, Chicago Yacht Club
• Third Place: Hot Lips, skippered by Michael Whitford, Chicago Yacht Club

Complete results for all Verve Inshore Regatta sections are available here.

Source: Tracy Gladden, CYC