Chicago Match Race Center’s July Grade 3 event

by Faye Durran on 28 Jul 2009
21-year old Taylor Canfield from the US Virgin Islands won the Chicago Match Race Center’s (CMRC’s) July Grade 3 Event, defeating runner-up Jon Singsen (USA) in an exciting 3-0 Final sailed in front of the Chicago lakefront’s Belmont Harbor.

Canfield sailed with Cy Thompson also of the USVI, Matt Clark and Todd Reynolds, who are both from Chicago. And in Petit Final action, another young skipper, Dustin Durant (USA) from Long Beach, won third place in a 2-1 round against local-based Steve Lowery (USA).

This was the third and final day of racing in equally-matched TOM 28’s among 12 teams entered in this event, the second of four scheduled for this year’s CMRC 2009 season.

July 26th and 10-15 knot westerly conditions were shifty, but otherwise perfect for match race sailing, with nearly every match providing high drama for spectators arrayed on shore at the lakefront park at Belmont Harbor or on CMRC’s floating regatta center moored just metres from the pre-start area. Matches in the Canfield-Singsen Final were especially close and aggressive, with multiple penalty flags and no contest won by more than a few seconds.

'My heart never beat so fast as racing against Singsen,' said an elated Canfield. 'All our matches with him were really close. My team really helped pull us through some tough situations, so all credit goes to them and their performance.'

Singsen and his team were clearly on a roll and hungry to win, having been last after Friday’s first day of competition, but yesterday qualified for today’s Final Four and then went on to win their Semi-Final round to go to the Finals.

'Hats off to Taylor and Dustin, I hope they continue to hone their talents,' said Singsen. 'The young guys on the World Tour also worked hard at their age, and they are on the Tour only a few years older than these two.' Singsen referred to Adam Minoprio (NZL) and Torvar Mirsky (AUS), currently ranked 2nd and 4th respectively on the World Match Racing Tour standings.

'We’re really pleased the weather held and thankful of the phenomenal work put in by our race management team led by Bill Canfield and umpires led by Tom Rinda,' said CMRC Director Bill Hardesty. 'To get in so many races and rotations among the 12 teams we had here is a testament to how well this team performed, and its helping validate our vision for providing regular high-quality Open match race competition here in the US.'

For more information, photos, and complete results, visit the CMRC website at www.chicagomatchrace.com

The Chicago Match Race Center’s mission is to provide the highest-level match racing training facility for professional and amateur sailors in the United States. Weekly training from May through September is offered to CMRC members, and regattas are held monthly. The new fleet of TOM 28’s are raced close to shore at the spectator-friendly Belmont Harbor. CMRC founder Don Wilson, an avid racer, along with former Match Raceing World Champion and the CMRC Training Director Bill Hardesty are confident the popular lake shore at Belmont Harbor will be instrumental in assisting this new Olympic sport gain exposure and popularity in both Chicago and throughout North America.

For more information about the Chicago Match Race Center, visit the CMRC Web site at www.ChicagoMatchRace.com