2023 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta

The 2023 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta attracted 17 university teams for keelboat competition on September 23-24 in Chicago, IL. Purdue University dominated the 11-boat Tartan 10 fleet while Brown University won on countback over College of Charleston in the 7-boat J/105 division.

Details: yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=15965

Report from event organizer:
The 2023 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (GLIOR) was was co-hosted by the Storm Trysail Club and Columbia Yacht Club with support from the Chicago Tartan 10 Fleet and the Chicago J105 Fleet.

On Friday, 9/22 teams were invited to register and practice. Conditions were light, E winds of 4-6 knots were recorded and provided for excellent practicing conditions. Temperatures were a balmy 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit. It was partly to mostly cloudy throughout the afternoon.

On Saturday, 9/24 competitors were greeted in the morning with winds out of the S/SSE and variable clouds, the winds were variable, we saw winds velocity as low as 3 knots and as high as 10 knots. Swell and wave action were varied, by the end of the day the winds were directly out of the E. The PRO team was busy on Saturday, that’s for sure! The skipper’s meeting occurred at 0830 on schedule and the harbor start occurred at 0900 right on time. The PRO (Fields Gunsett) was able to run 5 races on Saturday, the race committee was presented with challenging winds all day and a number of course adjustments were made including some in-race. Post racing teams were invited to a banquet on the dock and enjoyed an incredible evening on the Chicago lakefront.

On Sunday, 9/25 competitors awoke to heavier winds from the ENE. Throughout the sleeping hours, winds were recorded higher resulting in lumpy conditions. Winds throughout the day hovered between 8 and 15 knots of speed. Temperatures remained stable in the low-70s with cloud cover present, occasional rain storms were present and caused some variability in direction and speed of winds. The PRO was able to kick off 3 races before the 1400 no racing time set by the notice of race (NOR). At the end of the day Purdue University continued their streak and was able to secure first place in the Tartan 10 fleet, Brown University tied with the University of Charleston, resulting in Brown winning due to tie breaking rules. Protests resulted in the awards being delayed, unfortunately a few teams needed to leave, include Brown, as a result some missing awards photos are present.

Collegiate teams in attendance this weekend where: Purdue University, Michigan Technological University, Grand Valley State University, Queen’s University, University of Miami (Ohio), Indiana University, University of Wisconsin Women’s, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Marquette University, Northwestern University, Brown University, College of Charleston, United State Naval Academy, University of Wisconsin, United States Coast Guard Academy, University of Michigan, and the University of Chicago.