Chicago’s Laura and Tone Martin have a lot of Mackinac races between them and for this summer’s edition they’re together onboard their new-to-them Farr-designed STP65, Sagamore. Aiming for line honors and a section win, the Martins assembled a crew of friends and longtime mates and immediately set out to learn the boat’s systems and build playbook for getting right sails flying at the right time. Two days of distance racing at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago was a start and Sailing World‘s Dave Reed joined them for a day to capture the experience. Come onboard to see how the Sagamore team gets this boat around the track in its second race.

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FINAL RESULTS

REGATTA PHOTO GALLERY

Brian Kaczor’s Team on Erica was ready for the big breeze coming their way on the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago, but they were unprepared for how difficult it would be to defend their lead and pull off a win in the ever-competitive Tartan 10 fleet. After six challenging races in all ranges of wind, Team Erika’s winning margin was a single point, and it was this point they had fight for in the final race.

“We hung on to first place, barely,” Kaczor said. “We had a tough day with tactics and my driving, but we were able to make up a lot of it on the downwind stuff.”

Their downwind speed in top-end conditions, Kaczor says, was all down to the crew (Corey Fast, Christa Georgeson, Scott Melanson, Seth Morrell, Brian Nelson, and Chuck O’Donnell). “They were the key in the last race. We had to catch one more boat and there was no question that the chute had to go up to catch that one boat in front of us,” he said. “The crew was amazing, and was able to handle that and pull it off.”

The class win also earned Kaczor’s team the regatta’s overall title and a berth at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Caribbean Championship in October, hosted by Sunsail in the British Virgin Islands. The team will face winners from the regatta series’ other stops, as well as the 2023 defending champion.

For many sailors in the fleet, Sunday’s strong winds were reminiscent of Friday’s. A fast-building northwest wind pushed boats, gear, and crew to their limits, with more than one team reporting breakages and blown sails. Still, the Chicago and Corinthian YCs gave the sailors a full slate of races and enough stories to share all summer. This edition of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta will certainly be remembered for its testing but tasty champagne conditions. Beneteau 36.7 skipper Robert Nelson’s lasting memory was challenges his team on Free Radical faced in the final race while persevering to win the class.

“It was incredibly close racing,” Nelson said. “The biggest key for us on Friday was keeping the boat under control and under the chute. We made out that day and were 1-2-1. Keeping your air clean and the boat under control. When it’s as windy as it was, with the Beneteau 36.7, the winning technique is the helm and main trimmer being in sync. This was some of the most competitive racing I’ve experienced in this fleet and I’ve been in the fleet since 1996.”

On the One-Design White Circle, Andy Graff’s Team Exile experienced its share of broaches, as they had on Friday, and had a tough day today but pulled off a 4-point win. “We entered the day with a 1-point lead and in the first race we just covered the boats near us in the standings. In the last race I didn’t know the scores of the boats behind us, but we didn’t want to put a kite up—knew we just had to finish. The last race was a hard race…we were just trying to get around without hurting anything or breaking anything.”

In the J/105 class, John Kalanik’s Pura Vida pulled off an impressive win in the big breeze, earning the team’s first win in the boat. “We went in leading and had two good races and were still leading,” says Jim Elvart, Kalanik’s helmsman for the weekend—they trade off between helm and mainsail trim. “But in the last race we hit the weather mark. We were last for a bit and had to come back to save enough points. Over the weekend we had a few great experiences, but this is a great first regatta win for this new team.”

The regatta’s distance racers were again treated to 20 miles of fast sailing that had the first boats across the line after less than four hours. Thomas Papoutsis J/133 Renegade won its second race of two to win its ORC 1 division; Ben Wilson’s Rambler won its ORC 2 division and Tomasz Kokocinski’s Koko Loco 2 survived the day to enjoy a 1-point win in PHRF 1. Ben White’s Farr 38 Radiance was the top boat in PHRF 2 with a second in the day’s race, which was won by Branwell Lepp’s J/105, It Wasn’t Me.

Action on the Green Circle continued into the final race with Scot and Yvonne Ruhlander’s team on Mojo strolling away with the class win with a 10-point margin over Tom Weber’s La Tempete.

Michael Hendries’s J/109 Bull was a standout performer this weekend with four wins in six races. Hendrie has been racing the boat for 14 seasons as its helmsman under the ownership of local sailor Jim Murray [Calisto], but this was his first win as the new owner and driver of the boat, renamed Bull.

“It was a relief to win,” Hendrie said. “I didn’t sail much last year and to come to this regatta and pull it all together was a relief because we started with a few mishaps on Friday—our jib halyard shackle broke twice and that set us back initially.”

Bull was down by 3 points going into the day, but they made their move to the top of the scoreboard with a win in the first race. “We had a great start, tacked, crossed the fleet and knocked it out from there. It was shifty, though, and we played the shifts really well in that race.

“But the next two races we did not have great starts—were over early on the third one, came back and were able to claw our way back in that big breeze. We are good and set up well for the heavy breeze, we’re comfortable in it. When the big breeze comes on, we were able to minimize the errors and sail fast.”

Shawn and Jerry O’Neill’s Sydney 38 Eagle won its ORC division; Tod and Heidi Patton’s J/122e Blondie was the top PHRF Spinnaker winner and Jim Murray’s Calisto Racing [Hestia] was the top J/70, winning four of six races to beat out Laura Sigmond’s Norboy by 5 points. Norboy was the top Mixed-Plus J/70 team and Bob Willis’ Rip Rullah was top Corinthian.

Roman Plutenko and Csilla Gal were the regatta’s top ILCA sailors (6 and 4, respectively) with three races counted.

The post Kaczor’s Tartan 10 Erica Wins Regatta Series Chicago appeared first on Sailing World.

Preliminary Results

Regatta Photo Gallery

As Tomasz Kokocinski and his crew of the Beneteau 40.7 Koko Loko 2, secured dock lines and flaked sails at their slip at the Chicago Yacht Club, the sky suddenly darkened and strong gusts shook their boat’s rigging. They were happy to be at the dock having finished their 23-mile distance race just ahead of the approaching squall, but they were equally delighted to learn they’d won their PHRF division on corrected time

“It was a really cool race with all sorts of conditions,” Kokocinski said. “It was light to moderate and later down totally, and then up 15 to 18 knots at the end, which was a really nice way to finish.”

Kokocinski typically races his Beneteau 40.7 in the local one-design fleet, but for the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago he prefers the distance racing option as preparation for the annual Mackinac Race. As Mac Race winners they clearly know how to get the most from this popular cruiser/racer.

“It’s a heavy boat with a lot of furniture, so we really have to watch the speed,” Kokocinski said. “We’re going pretty well in the light wind, but we made the decision to jibe toward the city where the wind came from and that was our big jump early in the race. There were only one or two other boats that came with us and when the wind did die, everyone that was further out in the lake stopped. We were in the middle, closer to the city, which was better, and maybe a bit of luck.”

Benjamin White’s Farr 38 Radiance won its PHRF 2 division, besting William Bartz’s Hunter 355 Ranger and David Baker’s Beneteau First 10R Handsome Pete, second and third respectively.

Thomas Papoutsis, ORC1 J/133 Renegade was the top boat in ORC 1 and Ben Wilson’s J/99 Rambler was the top team in the ORC 2 division, which was a close battle from start to finish among the top-three finishers. While Rambler won on corrected time, only 10 seconds of corrected time was the difference between the two J/122s that ultimately claimed second and third.

“It was a really good race,” said Andrew Kerr, crew on Mathew Songer’s Evvai. “It was a downwind spinnaker start and the boats that went out on the lake made early gains. It was on the long beat back in a fading breeze that we were pleased to lead the whole time, but we gave up the lead at the end to [Douglas Evans’] Elbow Room. They hooked into a shift and were able to get ahead. They’re an excellent team, and we were 1-2 at the finish, but it was great sailboat racing, great race management and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

While the distance racers laid tracks across Lake Michigan, the buoy racing fleets picked up where they left off after yesterday’s high-wind survival fest. Today’s benign conditions, however, did nothing to change the pecking orders in most fleets.

Scot and Yvonne Ruhlander’s Beneteau 40.7 Mojo extended its winning streak to four and now has 5 points of cushion to Thomas Weber’s team on La Tempete. Raymond Douglas Kristine Maybach’s team on the J/109 Courageous won the day’s first race but posted a fifth in the next, which reduced their lead to 3 points, with Michael Hendrie’s Bull within striking distance with one more race day remaining.

Shawn and Jerry O’Neill’s team on the Sydney 38 Eagle posted a 1-2, winning the ORC fleet’s first race by a country mile, but John Gottwald’s Grand Soleil 44 Eagles Wings won the second race to shave the O’Neill family’s lead to 3 points.

Tod and Heidi Patton J/122e Blondie went 1-2 in its seven-boat PHRF Spinnaker fleet and now has a 5-point lead over Jamie Downing’s much smaller Beneteau Platu 25 Ravn.

On the One-Design Red Circle, with the Tartan 10s and J/70s, shifting winds wreaked havoc on the race committee, which managed to get in two races before abandoning a fourth. With only one race sailed on Friday and two today, Brian Kazor’s Erica leads the standings with a 3-point cushion over Amy Cermak’s Diamond Girl. Edward Mui and Craig Roehl’s Meat, winner of the third race, moved into third overall, only 6 points from the top. Jim Murray’s Calisto continued its winning streak with two wins in the J/70 fleet. Laura Sigmond’s Norboy went 2-2-4 and now sit 5 points behind Calisto.

The three ILCA dinghy fleets, blown out on Friday, got in two races today after a long morning wait for wind. The regatta’s 2023 winner, Roman Plutenko, won both races in the ILCA 7 and Csilla Gal won both races in the ILCA 6. JP Crabb is the top ILCA 4 sailor after two race wins as well.

Distance Race fleets will have another long one tomorrow for some fast miles and the forecast is for a building breeze, which should allow every fleet to complete a full set of races to wrap up the weekend series.

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PRELIMINARY RESULTS

PHOTO GALLERY

Cliché as it may sound, the Windy City indeed lived up to its reputation on the opening day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago, hosted by Chicago Yacht Club with more than 150 race teams participating. The warm bright morning sunshine and the blocking of the architectural giants of the lake front may have duped many of the competitors into thinking conditions were benign as they slipped their lines this morning. But out on the open water, northwesterly gusts peaked into the high 20s, catching many teams off guard. The day was good fast sailing for some, while for many others today’s races were all about the preservation of gear, sails and crew. 

Those who were willing and able excelled in the gusty conditions, however, including Richard Stearns’ team on the J/105 Five. They won the day’s only race for the 105s, and while others in their fleet played it safe by sailing runs under main and jib only, Stearns’ crew had no trepidations in setting the spinnaker. “There were four strong women keeping everything going at the front,” said crewmember Lindsey Hernandez. “We didn’t wipe out once, and the driving was perfect.”

Stearns, a veteran helmsman, has plenty of experience in all conditions and was happy with the team’s performance. “It was all having them pulling the sails around perfectly timed,” he said. “I’m just following what they’re doing.” 

The J/105 class shared the White Circle with the Beneteau 36.7s and J/88 fleets. The J/88s were the first fleet start of the morning and as they were rounding their first weather mark, the forecasted wind increase came on fast, and quickly built into the high 20s. As soon as their spinnakers were full, boats were simultaneously wiping out. Daniel Burns, bowman on John and Jordan Leahey’s Dutch, confessed to three broaches for his time in one race—a personal record for him. “They were fun though,” he said. “We did it in style. We were surprised by the first one, but the next two we were like, ‘let’s just get this over with.’”

Using a smaller spinnaker for the day, Grace and Michael Gillian’s Julia won the J/88’s only race, finishing ahead of Andy Graff’s team on Exile. Dave Dennison’s Pirahna was third. 

Robert Nelson’s Beneteau 36.7 Free Radical beat Silviu and Cristina Petrea’s Nomad in their fleet’s only race. Earle Atwater and Chris Metcalf’s Program were third and happy to have survived the day with sails and boat intact. 

Atwater’s advice once ashore and safely in their slip at CYC, was to “remember to ease the lazy guy in the jibe,” to avoid the broach. That didn’t happen once, so for the remainder of the race, they sailed the runs under jib and main only. “We were safely in third so we figured,” Atwater said. “So, why blow it?”

The big boats of the Division 3 racecourse, set straight east of host Chicago Yacht Club, were fortunate to get in two races. Scot and Yvonne Ruhlander’s crew  on the Beneteau 40.7 Mojo, racked up wins in both races and begin the series with a 3-point lead over Thomas Weber’s La Tempete. Mojo was quick upwind and clean on the runs by eventually leaving the spinnaker in its bag. Weber’s team was equally quick upwind, but could not match Mojo’s pace. 

“We’ve been doing it a long time,” said Tempete, nonplussed with the wild conditions. “We kept it together, but we got it rocking pretty good in the waves at times. Upwind, once we got it in the groove and everything tuned well, it was pretty easy. On the first upwind leg I had some trouble on port tack, but on the next three upwind legs we got it dialed in really well. The main trimmer gave me more play on the main and we were able to keep our speed up.”

Raymond Douglas and Kristine Maybach’s crew on the J/109 Courageous also won both races and have a 3-point lead over Jim Caesar’s crew on Liquid Lounge II. Both teams managed their spinnakers well enough to capitalize on good starts. 

The collective experience of Shawn and Jerry O’Neill’s crew on the Sydney 38 Eagle had them confidently guiding their boat around the course. Careful sail handling and clean starts got them two wins on the day to lead the ORC division. The disappointing news from the ORC division was the dismasting of Phil Dowd’s Farr 40 Inferno. They’d finished second in the day’s first race, but halfway down the first downwind leg of the second race, while leading the fleet, the mast broke and had to be cut away and scuttled to prevent damage to the boat. 

Tod and Heidi Patton’s J/112e Blondie also went two-for-two in the PHRF spinnaker division and have a 3-point lead over Jim Banovitz and Gary Feracota’s Aria, a Beneteau Figaro 3 that was quite quick on under jib and main only. 

Only one race was sailed on the One-Design circle with Brian Kaczor’s Erica winning the Tartan 10 race, ahead of Adam Prettyman’s Two Trailer Park Girls and Amy Cermak’s Diamond Girl. Jim Murray’s Hestia was the top J/70, edging out Laura Sigmond’s Norboy and James Prendergast’s USA167. 

The Laser divisions did not complete races due to the high-wind conditions, but will be on the water tomorrow along with the Distance Race divisions, with more than 30 teams getting underway in the early morning for what promises to be another challenging day on Lake Michigan.

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FINAL RESULTS

Inside Chicago Harbor, the northerly wind blowing through the protected mooring field was deceiving. Conditions appeared benign enough to send the sailors out for the final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago, but out beyond the breakwater, whitecaps frothed and the weather stations reported the truth: it was gnarly out on Lake Michigan, just too much for safe racing. Ahead of the official 0900 morning signals, organizers made the preemptive call and hoisted signal flag N over signal flag A on the yardarm: Racing was abandoned and the previous day’s preliminary results were toggled to final. With two solid days of racing in the books, the regatta came to early close, but competitors were happy to have a complete series.

From among the winners of 17 individual classes and 162 teams, one overall winner was later selected to represent the Chicago regatta at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Caribbean Championship in October.

Jeffrey Davis, skipper and owner of the J/111 Shamrock, emerged as the challenger and while his team delivered the boat back to its homeport of Cleveland, Ohio, the veteran skipper shared his thoughts on the weekend’s races and the developing dynamics of his winning crew of Bob Knestrick, Danny Corrigan, Samantha Foulston, Stu Johnstone, Michael Lis and Travis Odenbach. Shamrock won five of six races.

Sometimes, winning a three-boat fleet can be just as difficult as a larger fleet, especially when everyone’s at the same level, like it was for the J/111s this weekend in Chicago.

Yes, we’ve raced against each other in the past, so they’re fairly well-matched boats. The J/111 class is fairly strict, so we’re very competitive, all of us. I think this weekend was really a function of the fact that we tend to be light-air sailors and inland like sailors, and so for us, we really thrive in these kinds of conditions.

Flat water, light air, shifty conditions are your strength then?

They really are. The boat is really set up for light air. I think the crew, we’ve all been sailing together probably for about 15 years. And since our base is in Cleveland, Ohio, for us, it’s a light-air lake. So, these conditions really fit our boat, our rig, our tune and ourselves. We set up the boat for light breeze. But as most sailors know, you gotta pick the shifts. And there’s a little bit of luck involved.

In the first and second race, we did a good job of really picking the right shifts and the right side of the course to be on and we had good starts. In the third race, we wound up second and it was really a function of us being on the wrong side of the course. And it’s really hard to come back from that. You know, when your competitor keeps picking the right shifts, you just never catch up.

Having only two boats to beat, how did that change the tactical approach to the weekend?

We tended to stay pretty close together, in part because we’re using this for North Americans, which will be here at the Chicago Yacht Club later in the year. So, we wanted to see what kind of conditions we would have and what kind of conditions that we would be competing in and what the setup of our boat was going to be like compared to others. There was a little bit of match racing going on and a little bit of that in terms of our tactics.

Speaking of tactics, you had a new crew calling the shots this weekend.

We did. We’ve been sailing for about 15 years with Wally Cross who was unable to sail this regatta, so we had a new tactician. Travis just did a great job. He built on what we have been working on with Wally at Quantum Sails, and Travis just expanded the base for us. He brought in some new ideas, but he amplified some of the things that we normally do.

What were some of his ideas that made a difference over the weekend?

We’ve spent a lot of time maybe over tweaking the rig. He was more inclined to just set the rig to the standards that we have developed and not make as many changes. His focus was a little bit more on tactics, especially the start.

Did you notice the change from the first day of racing into the second?

I think each day and each race we got better and the chemistry developed more. We did have one day of practice which helped us a lot. Then, what you gradually see is we’ve developed a language. After you’ve been sailing with somebody like Wally Cross and the same team for 15 years, you get accustomed to the communication style everybody has. Travis was new and he had to try to adapt to our communication style and we had to adapt to his. It made a huge difference once we started getting on the same language especially in the starts and the comfort in the corners. The corners are where you’re usually gonna mess up. And because we all spoke the same language and we got more comfortable with each other, it just got smoother and the crew work got better.

You’ve got a big event coming up later this summer.

We do have North Americans coming back here and it’s something that we’ve been working on for most of the year. Last year we had a very disappointing North Americans for us. It was based in Cleveland, but we were over early in the first two races and the fleet is so tight and so competitive. We wound up fourth, but this year, we’re really looking forward to coming back and we’ve got something to prove.

The post Jeff Davis’ Team Shamrock Overall Winner In Chicago appeared first on Sailing World.

Final Results

Four minutes. For Daniel Koules’ team on the Beneteau First 40 Badge, that was difference between finishing and not finishing after navigating a patience-testing 30-mile distance race on the second day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago. Earlier this morning 35 teams set off from a starting line near the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse with one hard deadline: finish by 1600. Only 13 boats managed to do so and Badge was almost another casualty to the time limit.

“We knew that when we made the turn at Montrose [the final mark of the course near Montrose Harbor] we had to get to the finish, and somehow we were able to make up some time,” Koules says. “It was a good point of sail for us and we were comfortable with what we were doing, and the crew made every effort to get us across the line.

What exactly transpired over the nearly 30 miles, five hours, 10 sail changes and nine-mark roundings was a blur for helmsman Koules, but his navigator, Jim Gignac, plotted the course says the key to both finishing within the time limit and winning the ORC1 division was one easily identifiable point in the race. “The forecast called for the thermal to build in the afternoon, but it came early and that was where things changed. There was a battle between the thermal and the southeasterly and you had to find your way through. It was a matter of understanding where the thermal was and where it wasn’t and not going to where it was dying…you could see the light spots creeping across the course.”

At one point, Gignac says, they were making their way north under jib on port tack, and 100 yards east of them was a boat with flying a spinnaker. “We elected to just live with jib, fight through it, and wait for the shift. When it finally came, we popped the spinnaker and got away from rest of the fleet.”

Jeff and Jane Hoswell’s Nelson Marek 46 Skye was the only other boat in the 10-boat ORC1 division to finishing within the time limit, but in the ORC2 division, which sailed a shorter course, all but one completed the course on time, but even then, they were cutting it close.

“There was a huge park-up at the southern end of the course,” says Luke Wolbrink, who’s C&C35-3 Zella topped its fleet of seven. “We were stuck there for about 30 minutes trying to make any headway—1 knot at times,” Wolbrink says. “We were fortunate enough to get just enough separation from our fleet and get our kite up first.”

As the slowest boat in its fleet, a heavy-displacement classic of the 1980s, Zella not only won its fleet but won boat-for-boat, which Wolbrink says, is “miraculous.” “Our boat is terrible in those conditions, but we sail in this area lot and we knew what the wind would likely do.”

The two PHRF Distance Race classes were not so fortunate: none of the PHRF 1 or 2 entrants finished in time, but the smallest boats of PHRF 3 did all managed to finish behind Bill Bartz’s Hunter 355 Ranger. For these unfortunate teams, redemption should come on Sunday for the final day of the regatta where the wind forecast is promising fresher breezes and a much rougher sea state from the north.

While the Distance Racers were battling farther out on the lake, the regatta’s one-design classes were enjoying shifty, but moderate conditions closer to shore once the sea breeze established itself later in the afternoon, allowing race committees on those circles to complete three more races to bring the series for most fleets to six races to date. Here, Gary Powell and Scott and Yvonne Rhulander’s Mojo continue to shine in the Beneteau First 40 fleet with a second and a pair of firsts to pad their lead to an impressive 8 points. Jeffrey Davis’ J/111 Shamrock went on a winning streak as well and now sits 5 points atop its three-boat fleet.

In the J/109 division, Team Northstar won two of three races to move into the overall lead by a single point over George Miz’s Smee Again.

Shawn O’Neill’s Eagle, with a four-legged crew onboard to sniff out the windshifts, padded its lead in the ORC division to 3 points with a run of seconds in the three races and in the PHRF 1 fleet, Tod Patten’s J/112e ran the table with three wins to put them solidly at the standings with one more race day to go.

Richard Witzel’s Rowdy, with tactician Carlos Robles calling the shots, remains the top J/70 with top-5 consistency in what is a fleet stacked with pro talent. Rowdy goes into the final day of racing with a 14-point lead over Fernando Perez Ontiveros’s Black Mamba, from Mexico. Bob Willis’ Rip Rullah is the top Corinthian, currently sitting seventh overall in the 24-boat fleet. William Howard and his junior sailing teammates on the Grom Squad are the top junior team, in 14th overall after six races.

The standings tightened in the 18-boat Tartan 10 fleet with Timothy Rathbun’s team on Winnebago winning back-to-back races after posting a sixth in the morning’s first race.

Brian Kaczor’s Erica is sitting on 3-point overall lead after putting up a pair of top-five finishes, setting up what will surely be a final-day battle for T10 bragging rights.

The Battle for the Beneteau 36.7 title a now a 4-point affair between helmsman Jim Clouser and his team on Joie de Vie, yesterday’s leader and Jarrett Altmin’s Soulshine, the defending champion. Clouser did himself no favors with a terrible start in the day’s first race in which he was “absolutely buried,” but they came back from the depths of the 12-boat fleet to salvage a sixth. After another bad start in the next race, they once again clawed back to finish third. At that point, frustrated with his performance, Clouser committed to winning the final race of the day. “I said we were going to win it, and I know I’m not supposed to because we’d jinx ourselves,” Clouser said. “But we able to get off the start, get right and a get a jump and do all we could to stay in front of Soulshine. They’re the team to beat and that’s not easy.”

With Sunday’s wind forecast to be a strong northerly with high seas and heavy rain, there’s a strong probability today’s results might stand, which would be fine for Clouser and Roman Plutanko who’s running away the regatta in the ILCA fleet. But for the top two teams in the J/88 and J/105s fleets, tied respectively, there’s hope for at least one race to shake out the standings without having to resort to a tie-break finale.

The post Distance Racers Battle the Wind and the Clock appeared first on Sailing World.

Final Results

While Daniel Floberg was at work on a glorious summer Friday in Chicago, he turned the his J/88 Misty to his crew, which did their skipper proud on the opening day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series by not just winning the first race of the morning—by a Lake Michigan mile—but then winning the next one and finishing fourth in the third to close the day with a 1-point lead in the seven-boat class. This was, of course, easier said than done with flat water and an easy breeze that slowly built but often shifted dramatically, catching some teams off guard.

For the first day of this early-season Chicago summer classic, three races were scored across all four race circles and with winds on the tamer side, conditions were ideal for race teams new and old to re-acclimate with their boats and their positions after the long offseason. But for Tod Patton, the professional sailmaker and skipper of the J/122e Blondie, today was an opportunity to better understand a boat that is new to the team. “This is the first buoy race regatta we’ve done since we’ve gotten the boat,” Patton says, “and given that we’re happy with our results today—the crew work was great and that certainly helped.”

With a trio of second-place finishes in the six-boat PHRF division, Patton’s Blondie padded themselves a 3-point lead over Robert Smeeter’s Ohana, a Dehler 34c, but it’s not Ohana that Patton is most worried about. He says Joe Hummel’s C&C 115 Archimedes III, sitting in third, seemed to be the fast boat they’ll have to keep tabs on over the weekend. “They had good speed,” Patton says, “but for us, everything worked pretty smoothly, so that made for a good day to start with.”

Gary Powell and Scot and Yvonne Ruhlander’s Beneteau 40.7 Mojo, past overall champions of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago, got off to a good start with a second in the first race and race wins in the next two to establish a 2-point lead over Thomas Weber’s team on La Tempete, which won the day’s opening race. Jeffrey Davis’ team on the J/111 Shamrock also put a pair of wins on the scoreboard to lead its three-boat division.

In the J/109 fleet, George Miz’s team on Smee Again got off to rocky start with a fifth in the first race after seemingly getting caught out on the morning’s first big wind shift, but with that result behind them, they rallied with a 1-2 for the next races and closed the day tied at the top with Peter Priede and his team on Full Tilt, winners of the final race of the day.

For Mark Fruin and his teammates on the J/105 Nyctosaur, today on Lake Michigan was a banner day and an even better start to their season. After winning the first-race wire-to-wire they finished second to Josh and Laura Lutton’s Kinship in the next. Their win in the third race, Fruin says, was all on account of a full-speed start. From there, however, he doesn’t remember much. He was doing his job concentrating on driving and letting the crew do the rest of the good work, including his tactician, Bob Bernstein, a local champion with plenty of experience on Lake Michigan.

“It was all about the right side today and Bob put us in some great places.”

For Saturday’s coming races, Fruin says the plan is to stick with what’s been working: “We’ll just listen to Bob, put ourselves in clear air and sail fast.”

On the regatta’s one-design circle, which features the two largest classes—the J/70 and the Tartan 10s—it was all Richard Witzel’s team on the J/70 Rowdy, which went undefeated to build a 9-point lead over Dick Kalow’s crew on Superior 1. For the Tartan 10s, last year’s winning team on Brian Kaczor’s Erica remains on form with 1-3-2 scoreline which puts them 3 points ahead of their rivals on Edward Mui and Craig Roehl’s Meat.

“We were expecting lighter winds all day and were happy to have the breeze we did,” Kaczor says. “For the first race, we had the boat set up for lighter winds and it was quick, but when the wind built for the scone we didn’t shift gears very and missed some shifts, but were happy to claw back from seventh to third in that race. Overall, we’re pretty happy with being a bit more consistent than the rest of the fleet. The crew did great and I think we are sitting in a good place but we know there are a lot more races to go.”

With a good forecast for Saturday’s races, the regatta’s Distance Race fleets, topping more than 30 boats, will join the action with longer courses across the lake. Once ashore, all competitors will gather at host Chicago Yacht Club’s Monroe Station for the weekend’s biggest party and the ultra-competitive remote control racing with the Dragon Force 65 fleet.

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When the calendar in Chicago finally rolls over to June, the entire city, from the Lake Shore to the West Side comes alive with an unmistakable urgency and hustle: like, hey man, summer’s too short, so let’s get to it, and make the most of it. There’s a seasonal switch for Chicago’s sailors, too, because once the annual Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series kicks off the action in a big way on June 8, summer—and all the sailing that comes with it—bursts to life. And this year especially, with an early departure of Lake Michigan ice and seasonable weather for on-time yacht launches, the regatta will welcome more than 150 teams set to race in 14 divisions.

“Team Mojo is as prepared as it can be,” says Yvonne Ruhlander, co-owner of the regatta’s past winner of the Beneteau 40.7 division. “The boat has received all the love we could possibly give her: the bottom, the woodwork…you name it.”

Mojo’s sailing squad of 14 sailors has gotten its season off to a good start with a few practice days to acclimate two new additions to the team. The new sharp-looking team uniforms are in, and all the pieces are in place for another successful regatta, adds Ruhlander, especially the crew. “I think our secret has really been the greater Mojo family over the years,” she says. “We’ve been consistent in our positions—we kind of believe in position specialties if at all possible.”

The Beneteau 40.7 class lineup includes most of the Chicago area’s regulars, and as the entry window was closing, the fleet was calling in at six boats, with a possible seventh, which will guarantee the close racing the fleet has enjoyed for many years.

The Tartan 10 class has been a permanent fixture of the regatta series since its inception in the early 1990s, and while the fleet numbers aren’t what they used to be in the heydays of the T10 era, past champion Brian Kaczor, says the crème of the fleet that exists today is what makes it one of the toughest one-design classes on Lake Michigan.

Kaczor’s Erica is one of the most immaculately maintained T10s of the fleet, but even for this perfectionist, the long offseason has given him a chance to make a few upgrades to make the yacht even better after winning last August’s Tartan 10 North American Championship title. “Hopefully we’ll have another good season,” says Kaczor. “Last year was remarkable. I didn’t expect it to be that good, so we’re hoping to at least make it the same as last year.”

What was the magic of 2022?

“Everything started to click,” he says. “We were just really in tune to the boat and to each other, making it go fast, and I think it was just the amount of sailing we did every weekend. Sailing with the same seven people makes a big difference.”

Other prominent one-design classes in attendance include the J/70, which remains the regatta’s largest one-design fleet, at 24 entries. The class is sailing at a particularly high level these days with the J/70 World Championships to be contested in Florida this fall. For the top and professional-laden teams of the class, the next several months are about getting maximum races ahead of this rare domestic championship opportunity, so the Helly Hansen Regatta in Chicago marks the beginning of the big summer push toward perfection.

One key initiative of the regatta is to provide access to keelboat racing for junior sailors at all stops of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series, and in Chicago, three all-junior teams will be competing in the J/70 fleet—two for their first time. Three 15-year-olds will skipper these entries, alongside their respective yacht club and high school teammates, and will be mentored by other fleet members.

Jarrett Altmin’s Beneteau 36.7 Soulshine, last year’s winner in this highly competitive local fleet, which will be training hard ahead of the class’s North American Championship in September in Chicago. In 2022, Soulshine won the Helly Hansen Sailing World regatta in the final race, with a winning delta of only 3 points after seven races.

“It was a heck of a regatta last year,” Altmin says, “and obviously, it was hard fought and we were awfully proud to get that one. This year, we have a similar lineup, but we also have two new boats that have joined the fleet. The boat called Tried and True won the Beneteau 36.7 championship here in Chicago for years and years when the fleet was new, and now the owner’s son has taken over the boat, so this will be their first regatta after a number of years. We’re excited about that, and that our fleet numbers remain strong.”

Altmin, who has raced Soulshine for longer than he can recall, says he’s confident going into the season because his team of regulars “continues to rely on our strength, which is effectively that the same crew has raced together for more than a decade. That has certainly been the secret to our success—consistency with the crew work is so important in these boats.”

While many recurring regattas often feature returning fleet winners like Soulshine, one interesting trend to note for this year’s Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series stop in Chicago is the absence of several 2022 winners on account of their boats being sold outside the area. Last year’s winner in the J/111 fleet, John Kalanik’s Pura Vida, for example, has traded hands, as has the winning J/109 Callisto, of Kate and Jim Murray, and last year’s top J/88, Banter, of Ben Marden, will not be sailing, opening the door for other teams to lay claim to their respective class titles.

While the event’s founding in 1989 as the National Offshore One-Design Regatta Series reflected the yacht racing scene of the time—that being larger one-design keelboats—the growth in popularity of handicap and distance racing in the US has since skewed the entry lists of the events toward the mixed fleets of PHRF and ORC. Host Chicago YC’s Race to Mackinac later in the summer is the bucket list sailing experience for area sailors, so the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series’ addition of two days of long-course racing around navigational marks is an opportunity for teams to rattle the off-season rust, train new crew, and prepare new sails and hardware for the big race to come.

In Chicago, these 31 teams will navigate day-long courses on Saturday and Sunday only, with only one race per day starting and finishing in the vicinity of the Chicago YC, allowing competitors to stow sails and gear and head straight to the nightly parties at the club, which are considered the best sailor parties of the summer.

On Thursday night at the Club, Sailing World will host and roast six-time Kiteboard World Champion and four-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the year Daniela Moroz, and Saturday night, alongside the bulkhead of the club, the regatta’s smallest fleet of racing yachts, the 25-inch remote controlled DragonForce 65, will provide dockside competition for those with controls in hand, and party side entertainment for those with Mount Gay cocktails in hand.

While all the action and entertainment will be hosted at Chicago YC’s Monroe Station, regatta organizers have added dinghies to the mix as well, with ILCAs and ILCA6s sailing out of Montrose Harbor further north and closer to their racecourses.

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During the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago, Quantum Sails will be providing free in-depth daily weather briefings with Sailflow’s meteo guru Chris Shea, via Zoom. Sign up here to register.

Combining my five years of experience on Lake Michigan with the wisdom of sailors who’ve been here far longer, we look at the typical—and atypical—conditions we’ll see the during the second weekend of June. For additional advice I’ve tapped Seth Morrell, a successful Chicago area racer, who offers his insight on local knowledge. So read on and get the inside on local knowledge Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series stop in Chicago.

Typical Summer Sailing

Gradient winds, when not under the influence of a frontal passage, are commonly from the south to southeast. On sunny days and early in the season, it is normal for a thermal lake breeze to develop as Chicagoland heats up, usually after noon or occasionally a little earlier on warmer days. Small cumulus clouds forming over the city are the telltale signal of rising air onshore, so expect the thermal to come in perpendicular to the city from the east.

If the gradient is from the south or southeast, the city thermal will shift the mean breeze left and toward the east. You will experience puffs and left shifts from the east/left on the racecourse. This combination of gradient and thermal breeze is common on most summer days, but the gradient can be so weak the racecourse will be light and variable and dominated by the thermal. In both cases, however, the breeze will fill from offshore/east/left. In these conditions, wind direction will vary between about 85 degrees and 130 degrees depending on how the gradient and thermal get along.

Once the wind has settled, you will usually see 8- to 10-degree oscillations every 5 to 8 minutes on either side of the mean direction. The rule of thumb in these conditions is to favor the left side of the beat and the right side of the downwind legs while watching for the oscillations.

On days with a solid, strong south/southwest gradient, the thermal has less impact, but it will be there and it will have an influence. Be aware.

Less Typical Summer Sailing

If a north or northeast gradient breeze arrives, it’s usually associated with the beginning of a front. Expect lumpy conditions from the long fetch, and when it cooler, the wind will be steady but can still oscillate.

If it is warm enough for a thermal, the breeze will again shift to the east—a right shift in this case—so the rule of thumb is to favor the right side of the beats and the left side of the run. Generally, these are the safest moves in these conditions.

West or northwest breezes are seen after a frontal passage and blow offshore. By nature, they are puffy and shifty, which is made worse by the many tall buildings lining the shoreline. These conditions are least predictable, so getting in phase with shifts and puffs takes a lot of work and focus.

This is the least predictable condition we experience in regards to when and how strong the shifts and puffs are. Since this breeze comes from the shore, it is strongest but also shiftier close to shore. The rule of thumb is to go toward the shore for the best pressure; the majority of these shifts tend to be lefties.

 While you’re in town, our local Quantum team is here to help with any need — from sail repairs to tactical discussions. Good luck, and welcome to Chicago!

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