Daily Reports

 

Saturday, July 30

US Independence Cup / North American Challenge Cup Day one saw sunny skies in Chicago and an Easterly breeze at 5-8 knots.  Some 2 foot swells were left over from a Northerly flow earlier in the week, and tested our sailor's skills with light and lumpy conditions.  The sea breeze filled in a bit for the afternoon sessions and made for improved conditions.
 
The morning heat saw 2.4mR sailors Rick Doerr, Clifton NJ and John McRoberts, Victoria BC with the best performances.  McRoberts managed this despite a 2 place penalty in race #1.  The morning heat for the Freedom 20's saw Lance Hinrich, Falls Church, VA and crew Robert Klein, Washington, DC matching the performance of local sailors Mike Jaffe and Dan Daniher.
 
The afternoon heat for 2.4mR's the battle was on between returning champ, Nick Scandone, Fountain Valley, CA, and Paul Tingley, Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Nick had the best performance of the afternoon, and it should in the day's overall results.  For our Freedom 20 sailors in the afternoon, we saw Joe Cook, Fort Lauderdale, FL with crew Carlos Rodriguez, Miami, FL battling for line honors.  The afternoon sessions top sailors ended up topping the fleet for the day.

Sunday, July 31

Day Two of the US Independence Cup / North American Challenge Cup saw more beautiful, though still hot, weather in the windy city.  A 10 -12 knot southwest shore breeze got our morning heats off to a fast start.  Waves were one foot or less which was a welcome change from the lumps and light air on Saturday.  The southwestern breeze can have some shifts when it flows out of the city, so the sailors had to be nimble.

 

The first heat saw defending Freedom 20 champions Karen Mitchell (Deerfield Beach, FL) and crew Kerry Gruson (Miami, FL) off like a rocket as they took three bullets.  Donna DeMarest (Waterbury, CT) and crew Paul McKenna (Newport, RI) managed to hang fairly close with a 2, 3, 3 for second best performance in the heat.

 

Our afternoon heats were hoping for some 12-15 knot breezes when the wind died out.  Race Committee moved the course out about another mile and after about an hour hour postponement, found a building sea breeze that 8 knots and building.  By the third race of the heat, the wind was getting light again, but we managed to get all six races in for the day.

 

In the Freedom 20's, Tim Flynn (Ashaway, RI), and crew Paul Coquette turned it on with two bullets in the afternoon heat.  Joe Cook ( Fort Lauderdale, FL)  and crew Carlos Rodriguez, Miami, FL managed to stay in the running with the only other bullet in the afternoon heat.  Their performance was good enough to keep them in the top three for the finals on Monday.  Our 2.4mR afternoon heat saw Saturday's leader, Nick Scandone (Fountain Valley, CA) still dominating the fleet with three first place finishes in the afternoon heat.  Mark Bryant (Estero, FL) had some consistent top finishes in Sunday's racing, and worked his way into the Gold Fleet on Monday.

 

Monday, August 1

Jim Armstrong, chair of the IC/NACC reports:

 

Today was Championship Day in Chicago for the US Independence Cup / North American Challenge Cup.  The fleets for both 2.4mR and Freedom 20 had been split with a hard cut into Silver and Gold.  Silver fleets raced in the morning with a light offshore breeze to start. By 10:30 or so the breeze died down and it made it difficult for boats to start, and one of the three scheduled Freedom 20 races had to be abandoned. 

 

The light air didn't stop Charles Rosenfield (Woodstock, CT) and crew Joe Del Vecchio (East Providence, RI) from finding some speed as they won both races sailed.  Their performance cemented their first place in the Silver Freedom 20 Fleet.

 

Another light air speed demon was 2.4mR sailor Mike Hersey (Hyannis, MA) who took to firsts and and a second to finish first in the Silver Fleet.  Craig Wilson (Oakham, MA) and Lee Buratti (Corte Madera, CA) both  battled hard for second in Silver Fleet with Wilson winning Race 8 to break the tie.

 

The Gold Fleet had the benefit of clear sunny skies, temps in the 90's on land and a nice sea breeze at 8-12 knots - Arguably the best conditions of the regatta.  Karen Mitchell (Deerfield Beach, FL) and crew Kerry Gruson (Miami, FL) repeated the Freedom 20 class.  This is the third straight win for the team.

 

Two more first place finishes and a second place sealed the deal for returning champions in the 2.4mR, Nick Scandone who repeated his 2004 win and did so with consistent top three  finishes for the whole event.