Chicago Match Race Center’s Autumn Open B - Rebound and a win

by Beth Paul on 27 Sep 2010 Chicago Match Race Center’s (CMRC) Autumn Open B regatta.

After losing twice in the Round Robins to event leader and CMRC newcomer Wataru Sakamoto (JPN), CMRC Founder Don Wilson (USA) and his team of Eric Doyle, Bill Hardesty and Matt Cassidy rebounded to win in an exciting 3-0 Final to take the Chicago Match Race Center’s (CMRC) Autumn Open B regatta. This is Wilson’s second Grade 3 win of the year after winning the CMRC Spring Invitational in May.

Eight of the top ten teams from yesterday’s Round Robin advanced to race another Round Robin today, where monstrous lumpy seas on Lake Michigan made maneuvering in the 10-17 knot nor’easter conditions very difficult, prompting reefed mains for all the teams.

It is these huge seas and finding the right groove in steering in and around them that gave Wilson and his ‘dream team’ of Rolex Award winners and past World Champions an edge over the competition, including a seemingly unbeatable Sakamoto who had dominated this fleet in the last two days on an amazing 15-1 record.

In the first-to-three point Final, Wilson took all three matches, but not without a fight from Sakamoto, who had some brief periods in the lead but was inevitably passed downwind as the Dream Team demonstrated their skills at sail trim and boathandling in the huge seas.

In Petite Final action it came down to the third and final match between Steven Lowery (USA) and Krzysztof Rosinski (POL), with the Polish team poised to have to accept fourth when Lowery had a sizeable lead in the first run of the match. But the spinnaker halyard fell without warning, take the sail with it into the water and stopping the boat, allowing the Poles to slide past and around the track ahead to earn their second decisive win. This was all the more tragic given that the team had suffered a similar accident in their first match too.

Nonetheless, once again there was uniformly high praise among the teams for CMRC in having created the opportunity for them to come from around the US and the world to compete in the Center’s equally-matched TOM 28’s and enjoy a high quality of race management and event hospitality, all in one the world’s most accessible urban venues for sailing.


Final results, CMRC Autumn Open B regatta:

1. Don Wilson (USA) 7-2, 6-1, 3-0
2. Wataru Sakamoto (JPN) 9-0, 6-1, 0-3
3. Krzysztof Rosinski (POL) 4-5, 5-2, 2-14. Steven Lowery (USA) 6-3, 2-5, 1-2
5. Clay Bischoff (USA) 6-3, 2-5
6. Jennifer Wilson (USA) 5-4, 2-5
7. Danielle Soriano (USA) 3-6, 3-4
8. Austin Dias (USA) 3-6, 2-5
9. Erich Christman (USA) 1-8
10. Bruce Stone (USA) 1-8

Official Partners of the CMRC include CME Group and the City Inns family of hotels, and NYSE LIFFE is CMRC’s official Boat Sponsor and Line Honors is the Official Clothing Supplier to CMRC.

www.chicagomatchrace.com