Chicago Match Race Center Spring Invitational

Over the weekend, a few upcoming match racers from our team competed in the Chicago Match Race Center Spring Invitational. After rolling out of Ann Arbor at 1 pm, we made it right on time for our practice slot on Friday. Since our team consisting of Will Cyr, Chris Cyr, Ryan Seago, Tom Etheridge and a high school kid named Austin, had never all sailed together before, we practiced hard to get through all possible maneuvers.

The conditions throughout the weekend were light and variable, with wind delays occurring every few hours or so. This was due to the thermal from lake Michigan fighting the persistent south westerly breeze. Chicago was not the windy city this weekend! The next day we only managed to complete 4 flights out of the 12 necessary to complete a full format “round robin”, where everyone races each other for semifinals rankings. We ended the first day with a 2-1 record.  We ended the day with a bye round, waiting aboard the large house boat sailing center during a light air postponement.

On Sunday, we sailed two more races before the regatta was ended due to time limits. We finished with a record of 4-1, tied for second place with Don Wilson the founder of CMRC and Nathan Hollerbach.. In a three way tie, there are ISAF rules applicable to any situation. We lost the tie breaker to Don Wilson and placed 3^rd,  even though we had beaten him. This was a great tune up event for our fall lead up to the ICSA Match Racing Championship to be held in St. Petersburg, FL. 

 -Will Cyr '14