North American Challenge Cup - Day 2 gets off

by Rachelle Treiber on 29 Jul 2013 The second day of racing at the 2013 North American Challenge Cup in Chicago Yacht Club’s saw a continuation of the unseasonably cold weather from Saturday, with early morning weather reports promising even colder temperatures than the previous day.

Winds were strong, but very shifty and it wasn’t until well into the day until gray skies switched over to sun allowing the sailors the chance to warm up a bit.

The 2.4mR fleet managed to get in four races with Charley Rosenfeld from Woodstock, CT achieving a resounding bullet in each race, giving him a perfect record of all firsts in every race over the past two days for a score of seven. Tim Ripley from Randolph, NJ turned in a solid performance coming in second with a score of 17. Jody Hill from Miami, FL is in third place with 19 points, Tracy Schmitt from Canada is in fourth place with 30 points, and Kevin Holmberg is in fifth place with 49 points and Paul Horton is in sixth place, also with 49 points.

The Freedom 20 fleet raced five races and Ken Kelly and Bob Jones continued to remain in first place, with a point score of 19. Local Chicago sailors of Bridget Bodo and Larry Campbell are in second place with 27 points, Chris Murphy and Donna Demarest are in third place with 31 points, Gary Pierce and Zak Kordik are in fourth place with 36 points, Rob Klein and Julia Dorsett are in fifth place, also with 36 points, Bonnie Everhart with local Chicago sailor Dan Daniher are in sixth with 44 points and Lans Hinrichs and John Tarrant are in seventh with 49 points.

The Sonar fleet completed four races with the team of Andy Fisher with Mike Hersey and Brad Johnson as crew capturing first place in every race to give them a total point score of 13. Jennifer French, racing with her husband, Tim along with Scott Ford are in second with 21 points, and close behind with a score of 22 points is Sarah Everhart Skeels, racing with her husband, Brian Skeels and Canadian Brenda Hopkins as crew in third place. The local Chicago team of Chris Martin, Ralph Brooks and Pat Loduca are in fourth place with 35 points, Ryan Porteous with Crew Cindy Walker and Kris Scheppe are in fifth place with 39 points, and the San Francisco Baads team of Jim Thweatt, John Wallace and Larry Young is in sixth place, also with 39 points.

Monday is the last day of racing and should prove to be a nail biter for a number of teams battling it out in for the top three spots. The regatta will conclude with the Winner’s Diner at Chicago Yacht Club Monroe Street station on Monday, July 29th.

Background: The Chicago Yacht Club is hosting the North American Challenge Cup (NACC), a well-respected sailing regatta for disabled adults. The regatta takes place July 27 – 29 at Belmont Station, 300 W. Belmont Street. The NACC is a very competitive regatta that has grown tremendously over the past two decades, from its inaugural year in 1992 with racing in only one class, the Freedom 20s, to the addition of two Paralympics class sailboats, the one-person 2.4mR and the three-person Sonar.

In past years, the NACC regatta has hosted competitors from around the globe, including many Paralympics medal winners. It is considered to be one of the 'must-do' regattas in the disabled racing circuit. This event is one of the premier disabled sailing regattas, and counts as one of the longest running events in the North American disabled sailing circuit.