Gorgeous sailing at Verve Cup Offshore Regatta
by J-Boats 20 Aug 2023 08:35 PDT
August 11-13, 2023
2023 Verve Cup Offshore Regatta © Chicago Yacht Club
August 11-13, the Chicago Yacht Club was quite busy co-hosting both their 31st annual Verve Cup Offshore Regatta and the J/111 North American Championship.
The Verve Cup Offshore started on Friday and offered sailors three great days of sailing. The event is the last large offshore regatta of the season on Lake Michigan. As a result, it's always well-attended by a large fleet of J/teams. Participating this year were J/88, J/105, and J/109 one-design classes. In addition, J/122s and J/133s were sailing in the ORC and PHRF offshore fleets.
J/88 Class
The eight-boat class had many of the top Lake Michigan teams participating. The top four spots on the leaderboard ended up becoming a true "dog fight" to the very last leg of the last race. All four boats involved in that fight- Andy Graff's EXILE, Ben Marden's BANTER, Dan Floberg's MISTY, and John & Jordan Leahey's DUTCH- won races as well as had roller-coaster scorelines.
J/105 Class
It was a near repeat of the Sailing World Regatta back in June for the top of the leaderboard. Winning the eight-boat class was Mark Fruin's NYCTOSAUR with 22 pts, followed by two long-time class veterans- Jon Weglarz's THE ASYLUM in second and Clark Pellet's SEALARK in third place.
J/109 Class
The eight-boat class featured extremely close racing for the top three podium spots. In the end, it was Team Northstar on NORTHSTAR with won by a whisker of one point over the quartet on SMEE AGAIN (Miz/ Dreher/ Hatfield/ Neenan). Then, just two points back was Mike Hendrie's BULL with 28 pts.
Full results can be found here.