When Fun is the Goal

During the summer, somewhere in every city is “that event” on the weekend. Art festival, 10k run, free concert… whatever. It galvanizes the community as people of all walks of life come together. For the second year in a row, Chicago is doing that with boating too.

For many years, our sport has had a very narrow focus. For the most part, boats go out to the start line, bang around the cans, and come back to the dock. Most of our event don’t include cruising boat, power boats, or people that don’t own boats. Chicago Yacht Club is trying to change all of that with its Chicago Regatta, presented by Wintrust.

This year’s Chicago Regatta, scheduled for September 8th, features six different kinds of events – all running concurrently. CYC will host a buoy race for one-design boats, a distance race for offshore boats, a casual race for newer racers, a poker run for power boaters, and an M-32 catamaran race for boats in that class.

And when everyone gets back to the dock, everyone can participate in a new kind of racing at the Club – in Dragon Force 65 remote-controlled sailboats. To date, over 100 of these boats are registered as part of the Club’s fleet. “The goal, simply put, is to get as many people as possible on the water and have lots of fun,” commented CYC Rear Commodore Nick Berberian.

The Chicago Regatta also has a charitable purpose. Through this event, CYC hopes to raise funds for three different Chicago-area youth centered charities. While all of the Chicago Regatta events are free of charge, CYC is asking participants to consider making a donation to one or more of them.

“We are excited to partner with each of these great organizations – they do terrific work for Chicago-area kids in different ways. We are confident that, when our friends in the Chicago boating community learn more about these charities, many boaters will want to support them,” explained Greg Miarecki, CYC Past Commodore and chair of this year’s Chicago Regatta.

Last year’s Chicago Regatta raised more than $80,000 for these three charities, and CYC is looking to up that number this year.

The Chicago Regatta is not just an on-water event. CYC has planned a fabulous blues-themed dock party at its Monroe Station after the event, complete with live music, great Chicago-style food, a silent auction, and awards presentation. Last year’s event was a sellout, with more than 500 people in attendance.

Details here: www.chicagoregatta.com