Chicago Match Race Center - Two for the price of one

by Mary Anne Ward on 15 Sep 2009 In an unprecedented attempt to optimize time, talent, and valuable ISAF Grade 3 match race points, the Chicago Match Race Center (CMRC) will host two consecutive match race events to close their 2009 competitive season.

The first, held over Thursday, September 17th through Friday, September 18th, will feature eight invited teams from around the US, while the second, held over Saturday, September 19th through Sunday, September 20th, will add two more teams for a field of ten.

'This was an idea we had to try and get as much bang-for-the-buck value as possible in terms of competitive time on the water and accrual of points on the ISAF Ranking List,' said CMRC Director Bill Hardesty. 'It will be risky to get the full format of racing into the short amount of time that we have, but our race management, umpire, and logistic teams have been superb this season, so we’re confident they can work with whatever weather comes our way.'

These two events will be the third and fourth Grade 3’s of the CMRC season, and come on the heels of last month’s successful Grade 2 Chicago Match Cup event which attracted 11 teams from seven countries. No other facility has organized and hosted this number of Open-graded America’s Cup-style match race events in the US, and none with the level of opportunity and access to spectators and sponsors as along the Chicago waterfront.

Half of the competing skippers in the first event are from California. These include Alan Field, from Los Angeles; Bill Hardesty, from San Diego; Kristen Lane, from Tiburon, and Chris Nesbitt, from Corona Del Mar. The remainder are from Chicago – Hans Pusch, Chris Wurtz, and Don Wilson – and Mark Johnson, from Appleton, WI. Of these, favorites would have to be Don Wilson, who won the first CMRC event in June, and Bill Hardesty, who was on the Match Race World Championship-winning team in 2007.

In the second event the field remains unchanged, except for the addition of Mike Buckley from Balting Hollow, NY, Nathan Hollerbach, from Detroit, MI, Mark Kroening from Newport, RI, and Steve Lowery from Chicago. Chris Wurtz and Mark Johnson will not compete in the second event.

The racing venue could not be easier for those spectators, as CMRC race managers plan to position the course immediately adjacent to the entrance of Belmont Harbor, where the stadium-like setting in the lakefront park allows direct viewing just a few yards away from all the action. The event will also be accessible to spectator craft based in both Belmont and Montrose harbors. Racing is scheduled to start daily at 9 AM, depending on weather conditions, and be conducted in the CMRC’s dedicated fleet of eight equally-matched TOM 28 class yachts, each with a team of four crew.

CMRC’s floating base of operations will be on its 70-foot houseboat moored at the North end of Belmont Harbor, immediately adjacent to the Belmont Yacht Club. This makes for easy access for participants and public alike.

'Many non-sailors in Chicago are aware only of the annual Chicago-Mackinac Race, where there is a lot of excitement and activity prior to the race, and a parade in front of Navy Pier, but once the race starts the fleet disappears over the horizon,' explained Hardesty. 'Our events here at CMRC bring the excitement and drama of competition right to the shoreline, and provided the wind holds the action lasts throughout all of each day of competition. Our venue is very accessible, and so anyone from the park or the bike path can come and have a look.'

And after racing the public is also invited to attend the daily press conferences held by CMRC to hear the skippers personally explain their perspectives on the day. These are often highly entertaining, as the tensions from the action on the water get diffused through humor and repartee among the participants.

CMRC is the only center of its kind in the US founded to promote and grow the sport of match race sailing. Besides being used in the America’s Cup, match race sailing has recently also been adapted as a Women’s discipline in the 2012 Olympic Games. As part of its mission, CMRC has ordered for delivery next year 4 Elliott 6M class yachts, the type that will be used in the Games, and will use them to train and race teams with Olympic aspirations.

'This is our first season, but we’ve been very pleased at the response to our regattas and programs,' said CMRC founder Don Wilson, CEO of Chicago-based DRW Trading. 'We have a unique situation as being a center for world-class sailing on the doorstep to a world-class city, so we’re pleased to be able to bring the best of both together in events such as the Chicago Match Cup.'