Chicago Match Cup - Ten teams ready to race

by Dobbs Davis on 13 Aug 2010 Starting tomorrow, ten teams from five nations will be bringing top-level match race sailing to Chicago’s Belmont Harbor waterfront in the Chicago Match Race Center’s (CMRC) Chicago Cup. At ISAF Grade 2, this three-day event is the highest-ranked of any in the CMRC’s 2010 season, and is one of only three Grade 2’s held in the US.

The winner of this year’s Chicago Match Cup will qualify for an invitation to the 2011 Danish Open in Denmark, an ISAF Grade WC prize money event on the World Match Racing Tour.

One of the reasons for the strong turnout of teams from overseas is the close coordination Chicago Match Cup has made with two other Grade 2 events in the US, the Toyota International Match Race for the Detroit Cup, held over 18-22 August at Bayview YC, and the Knickerbocker Cup, held over 25-29 August at Manhasset Bay YC in Port Washington, NY.

These three constitute what’s being called the August Grade 2 Trifecta of match racing, where each event is a qualifier to events on the World Match Race Tour, and the overall winner amongst entries in all three will get an invitation to the Long Beach YC’s Grade 1 Congressional Cup next March.

'This event is the jewel in our crown,' says CMRC Director Bill Hardesty, 'because it forges such an important link in our efforts to build and promote match race sailing in North America to the talent and competition found elsewhere around the world. We feel fortunate to have attracted five teams to come here from overseas, and expect to show them what a great place Chicago is for world-class sailing.'

Top-ranked among the invited skippers at 18th in the world is Reuben Corbett (NZL), whose is coming off a runner-up finish at the Grade 1 Internationaux de France de Match Racing Manu Minard Trophy last month, as well as a win at the Grade 1 Sails of White Nights – The National Congress Place Cup in St Petersburg, Russia in June. Corbett will be sailing with Thomas Bentham‚ Bradley Farrand‚ and Andrew Clouston.

Next in the ranking list at 35th is Sergey Musikhin (RUS), who won the Grade 3 Sails of White Nights Qualifier in June and finished fifth in the main event. Over the past two years Muskhin has been extremely active, having competed in 14 Grade 1, 2, and 3 events in Russia, Spain, Bahrain, Croatia and the US. His team this week includes Kirill Luzin‚ Yury Popov, and one more crew to be named tomorrow.

At 38th in the world Chris VanTol (USA) is the top-ranked US skipper, hailing from Detroit, and has had a successful 2010 season thus far, winning two Grade 3 events in June - the US Sailing Area E/K Qualifiers and the Great Lakes International Challenge Cup - and was runner-up in another Grade 3 event in April, the Bayview Spring Invitational. VanTol is also a former US Match Race Champion and will be sailing this week with John Van Tol, Dave Schriner, and Michael Hoey.

William Tiller (NZL) represents one of the youngest members of a new generation of up-and-coming match race talent from New Zealand, having climbed to 42nd in the world rankings in just two years of mostly youth match race sailing Down Under as well as in the US, where just last month he won the Grade 3 Governor’s Cup in Newport Beach, California.

In February he won the prestigious Warren Jones International Youth Regatta in Perth and last November he also won the Harken International Youth Regatta in Newport, Australia. Tiller will have as crew Harry Thurston, Daniel Pooley and Jimmy Maloney.

Hailing from the US Virgin Islands, but residing this summer in Chicago, is another talented youth sailor, 46th-ranked Taylor Canfield (USVI). In his second summer of competing at several CMRC and other events around the region, Canfield has won two Grade 3’s - June’s Chicago Match Race Open A event and last year’s CMRC July Open event – but has yet to get a podium finish at any higher-graded events. But with help from his team of Alden Reid, Matt Clark, and Tod Reynolds, this may be his chance.

Nicolai Sehested (DEN) is yet another talented 21-year old in this field, and at 52nd in the world rankings has made a meteoric rise through the ranking list, being the product of the extremely active Scandinavian match race scene: Sehested has competed in no less than 19 Grade 2 and 3 events in the past two years. But among the quantity there is also quality, having scored victories in the last two Danish Youth match racing championships. His team for this event will be Thomas Hedegaard, Søren Secher, and Casper Hjaltelin.

The other Kiwi in the field is Laurie Jury (NZL), who at 61st ranking has not been quite as active of some of the younger teams, but is the reigning New Zealand Match Race Champion. In the last few months on a European tour Jury has had podium finishes in two Grade 3 events – the Trapani Match Race in Italy and the Coupe D’Ete de Match Racing in France – and a fifth in the Gdynia Match Race in Poland. Jury will be sailing with Logan Fraser‚ Mike Edmans‚ and Adrian Short.

At 76th in the world, Don Wilson (USA) is the second-highest ranked US skipper in the field, and is the inspiration for the founding of CMRC and its mission for growing match race sailing in the US. But more than just an inspiration, Wilson has also been a credible threat on the water, having won the first CMRC event this year, the Grade 3 Spring Invitational, and last year’s Grade 3 Chicago Match Race June event. Wilson will be sailing with Steve Hunt, Hans Pusch, Matt Cassidy, and Sarah Callahan.

Another skipper intimately involved with CMRC is Bill Hardesty (USA), who is the Director of CMRC but is also the reigning US Match Race Champion and at fourth was the top US-based finisher at this year’s Congressional Cup, the only Grade 1 event in the US. He and his team have also won two Grade 3 events this year: the CMRC Summer Classic A regatta in June, and the Bayview Spring Invitational in April. Hardesty will be sailing this week with Jack Jennings‚ Mal Parker‚ and Cy Thompson.

And in only his third match race event as a skipper, Mike Buckley (USA) is deep in the triple digits in his world rankings but has a strong background in the game having raced in many events as crew. Nonetheless, he has already shown promise on the helm, with his best finish to date as skipper being a runner-up performance in the CMRC’s Grade 4 Key West Invitational in January. Sailing with Buckley this week will be Nathan Hollerbach, Dave Hughes, Danielle Soriano, and Mark Pinney.

Racing will be held in eight equally-matched TOM 28 Max keelboats, with a Round-robin, Quarter-Final, Semi-Final and Final format anticipated. An important element to the success of the Chicago Cup and all other CMRC events is the event organization led by Chairman Mary Anne Ward, umpiring talent led by Chief Umpire Tom Rinda of Tampa, FL, and the Race Committee team led by Principal Race Officer Bill Canfield of St Thomas, USVI.

Live commentary will be provided on site by America’s Cup veteran Geordie Shaver and match racing veteran Dobbs Davis, as well as live coverage, updates, results, photos from renowned yachting photographer Peter MacGowan and videos provided on the internet through the CMRC website.

Racing will be held near the entrance to Belmont Harbor, with starts each day intended for 9:00 AM. Shoreside activities including competitor briefings, press conferences, umpire debriefs and awards ceremonies will be held before and after racing in and around the CMRC floating regatta center moored at the North end of Belmont Harbor.

Official Partners of the CMRC and the Chicago Match Cup include CME Group and the City Inns family of hotels, and NYSE LIFFE is CMRC’s official Boat Sponsor.

Event website click here