2010 MCSA Match Race Championship

by Tod Reynolds on 20 Oct 2010 On October 23 and 24, five Midwest collegiate sailing teams will gather in Chicago to compete in the 2010 MCSA Match Race Championship and vie for two coveted spots at the 2010 ICSA Match Race National Championship, hosted by the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), in Kings Point, NY from November 19-21st.

This marks the first year that college sloop nationals will be held as a match race, as opposed to a fleet race, a shift that reflects match racing’s growing popularity nationwide.

The Midwest—and Chicago in particular—has been a recent hotbed of match race competition and the Chicago Match Race Center (CMRC) is excited to welcome the next generation of match racers to the shores of Lake Michigan. Teams will be putting their skills to the test in CMRC’s fleet of identical TOM28 sailboats.

To qualify for the event, MCSA teams competed in regional clinics hosted by Minnesota alum Dave Elsmo at Wayzata Yacht Club on Lake Minnetonka and Detroit local Pat Healy at Crescent Yacht Club in Detroit. At these 'clinegattas,' teams received on- and off-water match-race coaching, followed by heated racing in J/22s in Minnesota and Flying Scots in Detroit.

At the Crescent Yacht Club, Purdue University beat Ohio State University in a tiebreak, followed by the University of Michigan in third place. At Wayzata Yacht Club, the University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota traded off victories all weekend. All five teams will be competing in Chicago for a spot at the National Championship.

Racing will be hosted by the Chicago Match Race Center and will take place just off the seawall on the north side of Belmont Harbor. Local alumni and other Chicago sailors are encouraged to come cheer on these Midwest teams,
shoreside viewing is available all along the North Belmont Harbor seawall. Additionally, live race updates will be available at www.chicagomatchrace.com