Convexity wins Overall Verve Cup Trophy
By Christie Denson on August 16, 2009 at 6:17pm
Sunday, August 16, 2009 (CHICAGO) -- The word of the day is carnage. Thankfully all competitors and race committee are accounted for after a wet and wild day on the lake, complete with blown spinnakers, broaches, man-overboards, and even a capsized race committee boat.
Testing the boat handling skills of the crews, the morning winds were the strongest of the regatta, blowing about 15-20 knots. Mains were reefed, and some boats were on the run without spinnakers. But it was the afternoon storm cell that really shook up the regatta, as puffs up to 30 knots forced a number of boats to retire, Circle C to abandon their second race of the day, and drew the Coast Guard out to aid in the rescue of an injured crew member aboard Sociable and the Marine Police to aid three crew on board the capsized race committee whaler.
The big boats on Circle A were flying downwind in these conditions, with boat speeds up in the high teens. Among the Farr 40s, Hotlips lost a spinnaker forcing them to withdraw, which is just one example of the aftermath of today’s storm. Convexity pulled out a close win over Flash Gordon, taking first by one point.
“It was great and exciting racing.” said Don Wilson owner of Convexity. “Race committee lined up the races well, one after the other…boom, boom, boom.”
In PHRF 1 trouble for Pinball Wizard forced them to withdraw during the final race. “A big breeze came in and we lost control of steering,” explained Pepe, crew on Wizard who was leading into the final race. Their “DNF” helped Bill Dooley and crew on Mirage, who also sailed a consistently strong regatta, to secure the top spot.
Stan Bailey high-fived his crew of Raven after seeing the cumulative results posted that they pulled out the overall win in PHRF 2. Stripes, owned by Bill Martin won the GL70s. Stripes has now swept the CYC races in his class winning the 2009 Chicago NOOD, Chicago Race to Mackinac and now Verve Cup.
“We have an experienced crew who’ve been sailing together for a long time,” Stripes tactician Bruce Nelson said about their success this summer. “We also got new sails.”
On Circle B, Beneteau 40.7 Turning Point had to rescue two crew who went overboard, which forced them to retire from the regatta. During the final race, almost half the fleet withdrew and called it a regatta. Spanker, skippered by Jim MacDonnell, pulled out the overall win in this section, as well as the overall for the 40.7 North American Championships.
Among the extremely competitive J105 section, Vytis was able to pull out the win above John Weglarz’s The Asylum. Vytis was one a few boats awarded redress for their aid in to Sociable, who had a crew member injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. In PHRF 4, only three boats completed the last race of the day and Obsession, of Elk Grove Village, pulled out the win.
The other section racing for a North American Championship was the 14 boat J 109 fleet. Storm, skippered by Rick Lyall of Connecticut sailed a great regatta, winning the section and the championship with a score of 24, a 16 point lead ahead of second place finisher Surprise/Team Hamburg of Texas.
“It was an intense day of racing,” said Ryan crew of Storm. “Overall the Verve was a great event. The race committee did a great job. They treated us out of town boats really well, and it was a solid weekend of racing.
Dan and Peter Wright on Maggie May won the 36.7 section after a tie-breaker with Tried and True. Bob Foley and crew on T&T had a disappointing day on the course following a collision that forced them to withdraw from racing.
On Circle C, the fleet was only able to complete one race today.
“We were disappointed to have to abandon the last race of day because we were winning, but Race committee did a really great job.” commented Pierce Hasler, foredeck on Skidmarks. Despite the abandonment, Skidmarks pulled out the overall win among the 33 boat T-10 section.
In PHRF 5, Falcon won overall. In PHRF 6, Twisted Fish, sailed an amazing regatta having bullets in every race, except the final race where they placed 7th. And finally, congratulations to Bill and Vivianne Smith on Awesome, who took first in PHRF 7.
Stay tuned for more on the Overall Verve Cup Trophy winner and the Lake Michigan PHRF Champion. For complete results, CLICK HERE.
By Christie Denson on August 16, 2009 at 6:17pm
Sunday, August 16, 2009 (CHICAGO) -- The word of the day is carnage. Thankfully all competitors and race committee are accounted for after a wet and wild day on the lake, complete with blown spinnakers, broaches, man-overboards, and even a capsized race committee boat.
Testing the boat handling skills of the crews, the morning winds were the strongest of the regatta, blowing about 15-20 knots. Mains were reefed, and some boats were on the run without spinnakers. But it was the afternoon storm cell that really shook up the regatta, as puffs up to 30 knots forced a number of boats to retire, Circle C to abandon their second race of the day, and drew the Coast Guard out to aid in the rescue of an injured crew member aboard Sociable and the Marine Police to aid three crew on board the capsized race committee whaler.
The big boats on Circle A were flying downwind in these conditions, with boat speeds up in the high teens. Among the Farr 40s, Hotlips lost a spinnaker forcing them to withdraw, which is just one example of the aftermath of today’s storm. Convexity pulled out a close win over Flash Gordon, taking first by one point.
“It was great and exciting racing.” said Don Wilson owner of Convexity. “Race committee lined up the races well, one after the other…boom, boom, boom.”
In PHRF 1 trouble for Pinball Wizard forced them to withdraw during the final race. “A big breeze came in and we lost control of steering,” explained Pepe, crew on Wizard who was leading into the final race. Their “DNF” helped Bill Dooley and crew on Mirage, who also sailed a consistently strong regatta, to secure the top spot.
Stan Bailey high-fived his crew of Raven after seeing the cumulative results posted that they pulled out the overall win in PHRF 2. Stripes, owned by Bill Martin won the GL70s. Stripes has now swept the CYC races in his class winning the 2009 Chicago NOOD, Chicago Race to Mackinac and now Verve Cup.
“We have an experienced crew who’ve been sailing together for a long time,” Stripes tactician Bruce Nelson said about their success this summer. “We also got new sails.”
On Circle B, Beneteau 40.7 Turning Point had to rescue two crew who went overboard, which forced them to retire from the regatta. During the final race, almost half the fleet withdrew and called it a regatta. Spanker, skippered by Jim MacDonnell, pulled out the overall win in this section, as well as the overall for the 40.7 North American Championships.
Among the extremely competitive J105 section, Vytis was able to pull out the win above John Weglarz’s The Asylum. Vytis was one a few boats awarded redress for their aid in to Sociable, who had a crew member injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. In PHRF 4, only three boats completed the last race of the day and Obsession, of Elk Grove Village, pulled out the win.
The other section racing for a North American Championship was the 14 boat J 109 fleet. Storm, skippered by Rick Lyall of Connecticut sailed a great regatta, winning the section and the championship with a score of 24, a 16 point lead ahead of second place finisher Surprise/Team Hamburg of Texas.
“It was an intense day of racing,” said Ryan crew of Storm. “Overall the Verve was a great event. The race committee did a great job. They treated us out of town boats really well, and it was a solid weekend of racing.
Dan and Peter Wright on Maggie May won the 36.7 section after a tie-breaker with Tried and True. Bob Foley and crew on T&T had a disappointing day on the course following a collision that forced them to withdraw from racing.
On Circle C, the fleet was only able to complete one race today.
“We were disappointed to have to abandon the last race of day because we were winning, but Race committee did a really great job.” commented Pierce Hasler, foredeck on Skidmarks. Despite the abandonment, Skidmarks pulled out the overall win among the 33 boat T-10 section.
In PHRF 5, Falcon won overall. In PHRF 6, Twisted Fish, sailed an amazing regatta having bullets in every race, except the final race where they placed 7th. And finally, congratulations to Bill and Vivianne Smith on Awesome, who took first in PHRF 7.
Stay tuned for more on the Overall Verve Cup Trophy winner and the Lake Michigan PHRF Champion. For complete results, CLICK HERE.
