Grizzly wins Beneteau First 36.7 North Americans

Chicago, IL (September 4, 2016) – Detroit boat Grizzly completed a dominating performance today to win the 14th Annual Beneteau First 36.7 North American Championships at Chicago Yacht Club’s Belmont Station. This is their second time winning the NAC’s, taking the title two out of the last three years.

Posting a 1-1, Grizzly, skippered by Chuck Bayer, consistently outsailed the fleet and won by an impressive 23 points. Local boat, Maggie Mae, skippered by Pete Wright, placed second and Toronto’s Zingara, skippered by Richard Reid, finished third, overcoming a DNS on the first day. Chicago boats, Tequila Mockingbird, owned by Chris Duhon, and FOG, owned by Charlie Wurtzebach and Mike Bird rounded out the top five for podium finishes. Additionally, Arwen, the Finnish boat, won the Corinthian division.

Olof Andersson, the regatta PRO said, “Today’s conditions were excellent, sunny with a steady 8 knot wind out of the Southeast. There was a steady shift to the left but it did not affect the racing and we did not make any course changes. We decided to do two races today, with the second one being a longer mile and a half. The 2-5 positions going into that race were very tight and we wanted to give them the chance to fight it out, which they did.”

Jarrett Altmin, fleet captain and 2016 NAC chair commented, “Chuck sailed a near-flawless regatta and is more than deserving of the championship. We saw all possible conditions that Chicago has to offer and finished with perfect sailing. Most importantly, everyone had a great time and the comradery shown by the fleet was incredible. In fact, there were no protests filed during the entire regatta.”

Grizzly’s Chuck Bayer, who incidentally was thrown into the lake by his crew said, “CYC is one of the best clubs in the country and the race committee is outstanding. The competition here is at the pinnacle with excellent sailors representing multiple countries. Chicago seems to be a lucky club for us even though our entire crew are members of Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit. In all seriousness, the crew is the reason we do so well. They are exceptional and proved that again in this regatta.”

Eleven races were held on September 1-4.

Final Results (15 boats; 11 races)
1. Grizzly, Charles Bayer , USA – 6 -2 -1 -2 -1 -1 -1 -3 -2 -1 -1 ; 21
2. Maggie Mae, PeterWright / Dan Wright , USA – 5 -4 -7 -1 -2 -11 -3 -4 -3 -2 -2 ; 44
3. Zingara, Richard Reid , CAN – 2 -16 -5 -3 -7 -4 -4 -5 -1 -3 -3 ; 53
4. Tequila Mockingbird, Chris Duhon , USA – 3 -3 -9 -7 -6 -2 -5 -7 -4 -6 -4 ; 56
5. FOG, Charlie Wurtzebach / Mike Bird , USA – 1 -6 -3 -5 -8 -5 -7 -2 -5 -5 -12 ; 59
6. Arwen, Joonas Sandholm , FIN – 4 -1 -11 -10 -3 -3 -2 -6 -14 -8 -7 ; 69
7. Soulshine, Jarrett Altmin , USA – 9 -8 -2 -11 -10 -6 -11 -1 -10 -7 -11 ; 86
8. Program, Earle Atwater , USA – 8 -13 -4 -8 -13 -9 -8 -10 -6 -4 -5 ; 88
9. Patriot, Ken Sharpe , USA – 7 -7 -8 -14 -5 -12 -10 -9 -8 -9 -8 ; 97
10. Split Decision, Mark Norris , USA – 10 -9 -12 -6 -4 -8 -14 -8 -9 -12 -6 ; 98
11. JoieDeVie, Donna Hastings , USA – 11 -5 -10 -13 -9 -10 -9 -12 -7 -11 -10 ; 107
12. Sorcerer, Don Draper , USA – 13 -12 -14 -4 -12 -7 -12 -14 -11 -13 -9 ; 121
13. Tango, Chuck Norris , USA – 14 -11 -6 -9 -11 -13 -13 -13 -12 -14 -13 ; 129
14. Erizo de Mar, Antoni Czupryna , USA – 15 -10 -13 -12 -14 -14 -6 -11 -13 -10 -16 ; 134
15. IMP, Blair Jones , USA – 12 -14 -16 -16 -16 -16 -15 -15 -15 -15 -14 ; 164

Event details – Scoreboard

Report by Sue Marshall.