GoPro Match Cup at CMRC

by Tod Reynolds on 23 Jun 2011 The GoPro Match Cup is the second event in an active season of match race sailing. It commences Friday 24th June and 13 teams from the US, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and Greece will battle for two consecutive two-day regattas.

This two-for-one format, where 10 teams will compete in the A and B events, maximizing the opportunity for teams to earn ranking points towards the World Match Race Ranking list. Seven of the 13 teams will race in both regattas.

CMRC Sailing Director Taylor Canfield from the US Virgin Islands recently graduated from Boston College as the reigning Intercollegiate Match Race Champion, runner-up in the US National Match Race Championship, and is the highest-ranking competitor in the field at 29th in the ISAF world rankings.

 
Last regattas winner, Don Wilson, entering at 53rd in the world, has been honing his skills at numerous match race events throughout North America over the past three years, with his latest victory being at the CMRC's Spring Invitational in May. He will be accompanied by Mandy Markee, Eric Champaign, Steve Hunt and Hans Pusch.
 
Guy Mossman from Mt Pleasant, SC is an active Melges 24 sailor and CMRC alumnist. He will be sailing with Matt Woodworth, and US Team AlphaGraphics members and Olympic aspirants Genny Tulloch and Jen Chamberlain. Genny and Jen are fresh off a fourth place finish at Kiel Week, the final stop on the Sailing World Cup Series.
 
Jen Wilson from Chicago has been on several winning teams at CMRC events over the past 2 seasons. Her knowledge of the TOM 28 Class boats will make her a formidable opponent to any rival in the GoPro Match Cup A, where she has assembled a talented team of US Team AlphaGraphics Olympic aspirant Sally Barkow, Jacob Karlin, Megan Six and Zac Hernandez.
 
The cultivation of young match race talent is a priority at CMRC, and at the GoPro Match Cup four young skippers will be entered to test their skills against the more experienced teams in the field. Chris Segerblom, hailing from Costa Mesa, CA, will be a sophmore at Yale. He is sailing with a young team of college and high school students in the GoPro Match Cup A. 

Stephanie Roble from East Troy, WI has just graduated from Old Dominion University, was recently named an Intercollegiate Sailing Association All-American for the second year in a row, and led her team to qualifying for the ICSA Women's and Coed Nationals three times during her college career.

Another star college sailor is Nicholas Dugdale a junior at Stanford University and former Governor's Cup skipper.  For the past two years, Lance Fraser from Hamilton, Bermuda has trained with the top World Match Racing Tour skippers during their preparations for the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda. Last year he was the youngest ever Junior Athlete of the Year Nominee.
 
Also in attendance at this regatta will be Leo Vasiliev (USA), Colin Rathbun (BVI), Nevin Snow (USA) and Lars Hansen (USA). Racing is scheduled to start daily from Friday to Monday, June 24-27at 9 AM on courses set off the park seawall at Belmont Harbor.
 
Chicago Match Race website

GoPro, a manufacturer of lightweight waterproof digital video cameras used throughout adventure sports, is a new sponsor at CMRC.

'We're very pleased to have GoPro as a new partner, and CMRC looks forward to working with GoPro to develop unique and exciting ways to capture the excitement of match race sailing,' says CMRC Director Tod Reynolds.

'They offer a one-of-a-kind product to the adventure sports world that the sailing community is just starting to take full advantage of. You now see GoPro's in use with the America's Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and Extreme Sailing Series down to a local coach gathering some footage for training. With our commitment to developing the highest quality event video packages, partnering with GoPro was a clear choice.'

'GoPro is thrilled to work with the Chicago Match Race Center for the upcoming sailing season,' said Jonathan Bernbaum, International Inside Sales Support Manager for GoPro. 'The close combat style of racing provided by the Chicago Match Race Center is the perfect place to showcase the versatility of our product while also providing a great training tool for the world's best sailors. GoPro looks forward to some fantastic footage and fantastic racing from this great event!'