Verve Cup Regatta
2009 Offshore Verve Cup Fleet Preview
August 14, 2009 (CHICAGO) -- The 2009 Offshore verve Cup Regatta is underway! There are 161 boats on three racing circles off of downtown Chicago this weekend. In fact, for the first time in recent memory, the Offshore Verve began on a Thursday, with the first day of the J 109 North American Champions, being held in Conjunction with the Verve.
The J 109s experienced light winds today in their first day of racing. IN fact, the forecast for the regatta looks like fair weather and light winds, due to high pressure holding over Lake Michigan. Lake breezes will likely dominate the regatta on Friday and Saturday. Conditions are a bit more uncertain for Sunday, with the possibility of stronger winds—or very light winds—still on the table. “These varying wind patterns will give the competitors an interesting challenge this weekend,” said Winn Soldani chairman of the Verve.
Sailors will compete on windward/leeward courses throughout the weekend. After a hard day of sailing, skippers and crew will enjoy good food, good drink and good music at the Chicago Yacht Club.
Check out the Verve Cup website for updates, photos, and video of all the excitement at www.vervecup.com. Here’s a preview of the racing action and some of the boats to watch.
Circle A
Among the one design sections, in Circle A the Great Lakes 70s are always among the favorites to watch. Back to defend their 2008 Verve win, Stripes, skippered by Bill Martin of Ann Arbor, Mich., is also looking to sweep the major CYC events, having won their section in the 2009 Chicago NOOD and the 2009 Race to Mackinac. Surely they will have tough competition from Evolution and Nitemare.
Among the Farr 40s, Helmut Jahn’s (Chicago, Ill.) premier racing vessel Flash Gordon is back this year to defend their 2008 Verve win. Jahn will go head to head with Don Wilson’s Convexity (Chicago, Ill.), the defending champion of the section in the 2007 Verve. Also, in this section is Defiant from Canada. The Farr’s will be tuning up for their North American Championships hosted by Chicago Yacht Club next month.
PHRF 1 is a big boat section, featuring boats all around 50’ long. Bill Dooley and crew have made the transition from sled to a new ILC 46, Mirage, and will test their skills in this competitive PHRF section. They’ll have their hands full defending against other hot boats in this section such as the Nelson Marek 43 Tyrant, skippered by Don Thinschmidt (Macatawa Bay, Mich.) and Goblin, a Nelson Marek 50, skippered by Lindy Thomas (Glenview, Ill.). This should be a section to watch for some great sailing competition.
In PHRF 2, top ’08 finisher Raven, owned by Stan Bailey (Lisle, Ill.), is back and will compete against the three Sydney 38’s, led by favorite Eagle, skippered by Chicagoans Jerry and Shawn O’Neill, who have proven they are hard to beat at the Verve Cup regatta. Also in this section is Overall 101st Mac winner, George Miz and crew on Zoom (Chicago, Ill.).
The PHRF 3 section is dominated by sport boats like the hot Melges 32s and Flying Tiger 10Ms, as well as several talented crews. Returning this year is George Petkovic of Chicago, who won PHRF 3 aboard 007 in 2008. The well known DeVos Family has both Melges’ Alpha One and Delta competing in this section. Also, the smallest boat in the regatta this year, Viper 830 Wanda at 27’ is in this section.
Circle B
The J109 Fleet began racing Thursday led by three-time consecutive Verve winners Robert and Cornelia Zerban from Kenosha, Wisc. on Zeitgeist. Not only is Zeigeist defending their top spot, but they are also contending for the fleet’s North Americans being raced this weekend. This 14 boat section has drawn boats from Connecticut, Texas, and California.
Also hosting their fleet’s North American Championships, the 12 boat fleet of Beneteau 40.7s are led by 2008 Overall Verve Cup winner Robert Vickery of Barrington, Ill. on Collaboration II. Other boats to watch include Vayu, Spanker and Mojo in this very competitive fleet.
The top spot in the eight boat handicap section of PHRF 4 is open for contention. Boats to watch in this section include Surface Tension, skippered by Jeffrey Schaefer (Elm Grove, Ill.) and Regardless, skippered by Dan Griggs (Wilmette, Ill.).
Beneteau 36.7 fleet has 16 boats this year and is the second largest section in the regatta. Look for strong competition from fleet favorite Tried and True, owned by Robert Foley (Glencoe, Ill.), who is on a roll in Chicago Yacht Club races. “T&T” won last year’s Verve and the 2009 NOOD and Mac races. Karma, owned by Lou Sandoval (Chicago, Ill.) and Maggie May, owned by Peter and Dan Wright (Chicago, Ill.). are sure to provide strong competition in this top fleet.
With 14 boats, the J105s are ready to sail. Hot off his overall win in the 101st Mac, John Weglarz and crew on The Asylum could take the top spot, but not without sailing well against Vytis and Gigi.
Circle C
This year’s 34 boat T-10 fleet is once again the largest one design fleet in the regatta. Chicago boats Norboy and Winnebago, are fresh off the T-10 Nationals held last weekend in Ohio, but will have to beat Martin Plonus from Evanston, Ill. and his crew on Tango and Steve Knoop on American Flyer, who has made a strong campaign in the fleet this year.
PHRF 5 once again has the tightest rated section in the regatta with only 3 seconds separating the fastest and slowest boats. The section hosts past overall Verve Cup winner, the J35 Aftershock, owned by William Newman (Muskegeon, Mich.). Aftershock is pitted against rival Bozo’s Circus, owned by Bruce Metcalf (Burr Ridge, Ill.).
The PHRF 6 is the second tightest rated section with ratings from 78 to 93. This section features two new Jenneau Sunfast 3200’s Relentless and Dare Dare and Beneteau 10R Twisted Fish, skippered by Rolland Cohee. The top spot is up for grabs, and this section will most likely come down to the last race.
And last, but certainly not least, PHRF 7 features a variety of boats that always battle it out on the race course. Will last year’s PHRF 6 winner Thomas Barnes of Oak Park, Ill. on “Whisper,” now in PHRF 7 go for win number 2? Log on to www.vervecup.com for all the action this weekend.
Chicago Yacht Club is proud to host this prestigious sailing event, and welcomes you to be a part of all of the action this weekend. The race would not be possible without the support of SLAM, as well as Supporters and Suppliers Karma Yacht Sales, UK Halsey Sails, and Mount Gay Rum.
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The J 109s experienced light winds today in their first day of racing. IN fact, the forecast for the regatta looks like fair weather and light winds, due to high pressure holding over Lake Michigan. Lake breezes will likely dominate the regatta on Friday and Saturday. Conditions are a bit more uncertain for Sunday, with the possibility of stronger winds—or very light winds—still on the table. “These varying wind patterns will give the competitors an interesting challenge this weekend,” said Winn Soldani chairman of the Verve.
Sailors will compete on windward/leeward courses throughout the weekend. After a hard day of sailing, skippers and crew will enjoy good food, good drink and good music at the Chicago Yacht Club.
Check out the Verve Cup website for updates, photos, and video of all the excitement at www.vervecup.com. Here’s a preview of the racing action and some of the boats to watch.
Circle A
Among the one design sections, in Circle A the Great Lakes 70s are always among the favorites to watch. Back to defend their 2008 Verve win, Stripes, skippered by Bill Martin of Ann Arbor, Mich., is also looking to sweep the major CYC events, having won their section in the 2009 Chicago NOOD and the 2009 Race to Mackinac. Surely they will have tough competition from Evolution and Nitemare.
Among the Farr 40s, Helmut Jahn’s (Chicago, Ill.) premier racing vessel Flash Gordon is back this year to defend their 2008 Verve win. Jahn will go head to head with Don Wilson’s Convexity (Chicago, Ill.), the defending champion of the section in the 2007 Verve. Also, in this section is Defiant from Canada. The Farr’s will be tuning up for their North American Championships hosted by Chicago Yacht Club next month.
PHRF 1 is a big boat section, featuring boats all around 50’ long. Bill Dooley and crew have made the transition from sled to a new ILC 46, Mirage, and will test their skills in this competitive PHRF section. They’ll have their hands full defending against other hot boats in this section such as the Nelson Marek 43 Tyrant, skippered by Don Thinschmidt (Macatawa Bay, Mich.) and Goblin, a Nelson Marek 50, skippered by Lindy Thomas (Glenview, Ill.). This should be a section to watch for some great sailing competition.
In PHRF 2, top ’08 finisher Raven, owned by Stan Bailey (Lisle, Ill.), is back and will compete against the three Sydney 38’s, led by favorite Eagle, skippered by Chicagoans Jerry and Shawn O’Neill, who have proven they are hard to beat at the Verve Cup regatta. Also in this section is Overall 101st Mac winner, George Miz and crew on Zoom (Chicago, Ill.).
The PHRF 3 section is dominated by sport boats like the hot Melges 32s and Flying Tiger 10Ms, as well as several talented crews. Returning this year is George Petkovic of Chicago, who won PHRF 3 aboard 007 in 2008. The well known DeVos Family has both Melges’ Alpha One and Delta competing in this section. Also, the smallest boat in the regatta this year, Viper 830 Wanda at 27’ is in this section.
Circle B
The J109 Fleet began racing Thursday led by three-time consecutive Verve winners Robert and Cornelia Zerban from Kenosha, Wisc. on Zeitgeist. Not only is Zeigeist defending their top spot, but they are also contending for the fleet’s North Americans being raced this weekend. This 14 boat section has drawn boats from Connecticut, Texas, and California.
Also hosting their fleet’s North American Championships, the 12 boat fleet of Beneteau 40.7s are led by 2008 Overall Verve Cup winner Robert Vickery of Barrington, Ill. on Collaboration II. Other boats to watch include Vayu, Spanker and Mojo in this very competitive fleet.
The top spot in the eight boat handicap section of PHRF 4 is open for contention. Boats to watch in this section include Surface Tension, skippered by Jeffrey Schaefer (Elm Grove, Ill.) and Regardless, skippered by Dan Griggs (Wilmette, Ill.).
Beneteau 36.7 fleet has 16 boats this year and is the second largest section in the regatta. Look for strong competition from fleet favorite Tried and True, owned by Robert Foley (Glencoe, Ill.), who is on a roll in Chicago Yacht Club races. “T&T” won last year’s Verve and the 2009 NOOD and Mac races. Karma, owned by Lou Sandoval (Chicago, Ill.) and Maggie May, owned by Peter and Dan Wright (Chicago, Ill.). are sure to provide strong competition in this top fleet.
With 14 boats, the J105s are ready to sail. Hot off his overall win in the 101st Mac, John Weglarz and crew on The Asylum could take the top spot, but not without sailing well against Vytis and Gigi.
Circle C
This year’s 34 boat T-10 fleet is once again the largest one design fleet in the regatta. Chicago boats Norboy and Winnebago, are fresh off the T-10 Nationals held last weekend in Ohio, but will have to beat Martin Plonus from Evanston, Ill. and his crew on Tango and Steve Knoop on American Flyer, who has made a strong campaign in the fleet this year.
PHRF 5 once again has the tightest rated section in the regatta with only 3 seconds separating the fastest and slowest boats. The section hosts past overall Verve Cup winner, the J35 Aftershock, owned by William Newman (Muskegeon, Mich.). Aftershock is pitted against rival Bozo’s Circus, owned by Bruce Metcalf (Burr Ridge, Ill.).
The PHRF 6 is the second tightest rated section with ratings from 78 to 93. This section features two new Jenneau Sunfast 3200’s Relentless and Dare Dare and Beneteau 10R Twisted Fish, skippered by Rolland Cohee. The top spot is up for grabs, and this section will most likely come down to the last race.
And last, but certainly not least, PHRF 7 features a variety of boats that always battle it out on the race course. Will last year’s PHRF 6 winner Thomas Barnes of Oak Park, Ill. on “Whisper,” now in PHRF 7 go for win number 2? Log on to www.vervecup.com for all the action this weekend.
Chicago Yacht Club is proud to host this prestigious sailing event, and welcomes you to be a part of all of the action this weekend. The race would not be possible without the support of SLAM, as well as Supporters and Suppliers Karma Yacht Sales, UK Halsey Sails, and Mount Gay Rum.
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