College keelboat racing on Great Lakes

The 2021 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta will be held September 24-26 in Chicago, IL. This annual fall regatta provides an opportunity for collegiate sailors to experience offshore keel-boat racing with past participating teams coming from college sailing programs in the Midwest and beyond.

Chicago T10 and J/105 fleet members provide the sailboats and are on-board during racing as a safety precaution; the collegiate sailors drive, crew the boat and manage strategy and tactics; Chicago-area yacht clubs provide facilities and the fleets provide financial support, participant gifts and awards.

The regatta consists of windward/leeward buoy races on Lake Michigan offshore of Chicago. Teams arrive on Friday and have the opportunity to practice on their assigned boats that afternoon. Race committee attempts as many races as possible all day Saturday and on Sunday morning. Award ceremonies are Sunday during lunch and teams have the afternoon for travel back to campus.

Past participating college teams – Michigan, Michigan State, Miami of Ohio, Hope College, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Grand Valley State, Toledo, Northwestern, St. Mary’s College of Md., Michigan Tech, Minnesota, Ohio State, South Florida, Miami, Baldwin Wallace, Indiana University, Marquette, Cleveland State University, United States Naval Academy, University of South Carolina, Notre Dame, Illinois-Chicago and more.

After last year’s pandemic-related cancellation, the event also has Storm Trysail Club (STC) and Columbia Yacht Club (ColYC) joining forces as the Organizing Authority for 2021 and beyond.

“The new partnership this year between the STC and ColYC is something we are very excited about. STC brings a lot of experience, along with Larchmont Yacht Club, as they have been running the largest big-boat collegiate regatta in the country on Long Island Sound for many years,” says Steve Karstrand, GLIOR Event Co-Chair. “In addition, we are very pleased to announce that we will be waiving this year’s entry fees in order to encourage as much participation as possible, especially after last year’s COVID cancellation.”

Event Co-Chair Nick Zomer adds, “The Collegiate sailing community is full of anticipation; teams are indicating to us they are ready to jump back into the Fall season with deep involvement in events such as ours.”

Event information – Race details – Facebook