69th Chicago-Waukegan Race welcomes nearly 100 Racers!
Oktoberfest brought the best of the wurst
Oktoberfest was a fun time at the club. Guests dined on bratwurst, smoked sausage, sauerkraut, and hot homemade pretzels. Oompah band music filled the air and people were dancing polkas in the club.
Don’t miss the upcoming Sail-A-Bration and Commodore’s Ball.
All members are invited! Don’t miss the biggest party of the year!
Sail-A-Bration Goes Off with a Bang!
Almost 90 members and guests came to Waukegan Yacht Club on Saturday, November 16, to celebrate the 2019 boating season, our racers and Commodore Jim Hellquist. The club opened at 6pm and our guests started to gather for cocktails and appetizers.
Dinner was served at 7pm. The buffet of mandarin orange salad, roast beef, chicken piccata, grilled vegetable medley and mashed potatoes was generous and delicious.
The sail awards were given out at 8pm. Among the winners were crews of Sirocco III, Spitfire, American Dream, Unplugged, FasTen, Elecktra and Lucille Marie. Click here to check out all the awards.
After the awards were completed, the band Sons of Chicago kicked off the dancing. The dance floor was full of revelers most of the evening.
Black and Blues Dinner and Party fun for all!!
Members and guests dressed in black and white and came to celebrate one of the BLUES, a truly American forms of music!
Dinner was Shrimp or Chicken Jambalaya and Red Beans and Rice and hot and moist cornbread!
Oktoberfest is scheduled for October 19th!
Don’t miss it!
Last Race Race to Kenosha Huge Success!
The Waukegan Yacht Club hosted the annual Last Race Race the culmination of our racing season. This race has been held every year for many years since the club was founded. The race is sponsored in conjunction with the Kenosha Yacht Club who hosts the racers at their dock wall for drinks and dinner.
Fifteen boats participated this year, half coming from Wisconsin. Most arrived at the club around 0900. The club was opened and a bartender served the racers as they arrived. Many of the boats had to leave earlier from Kenosha to make it to Waukegan in time for the start.
The boats tied up along side the dock wall picking their spots carefully so they could get a good start at the proper time. The Last Race Race uses a Le Mans style race start. All skippers have to come inside the club and wait for their starting time, determined by a reverse PHRF calculation. The fastest boats are given starting times staggered to take into account their typical speed over distance.
Unplugged, a Waukegan boat, is readied for the start
The racers came in all sizes and the smallest was actually an 18-foot Buccaneer, which actually finished well up in the pack.
Racers came in all size, big and small, like this 18 ft Buccaneer.
The weather was cloudy with blustery winds coming from the southwest. Waves were one to two feet. Many boats launched their spinnakers after leaving Waukegan harbor or deployed spinnaker or whisker poles to sail wing on wing north.
The wind hit 15-20 knots at points in the race and running downwind the boats hit hull speed or better if flying their spinnakers. Many reported surfing on the fast moving waves. All the boats were moving quickly and promised to arrive in Kenosha in record time.
Final Results
The following results are final. We have received confirmation of finish times by several participants. One racer noticed that our original handicapped starting times were incorrect due to an incorrect distance used from Waukegan to Kenosha. After correcting the error we applied the resulting difference to all finish times to achieve the following standings. We apologize for the previous error. Congratulations to all the participants in this fun race! If you notice your corrected time is wrong please contact Sail@waukeganyachtclub.com and we will update the results as soon as possible. (Updated 9/28)
| Place | Boat | PHRF | Corrected Start | Actual Start | Difference | Finish | Corrected finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DERAILER | 165 | 10:41:02 AM | 10:39:36 AM | 0:01:26 | 12:38 PM | 12:39 PM |
| 2 | JOAN CLAIRE | 153 | 10:43:48 AM | 10:42:00 AM | 0:01:48 | 12:50 PM | 12:52 PM |
| 3 | UNPLUGGED | 168 | 10:40:21 AM | 10:39:00 AM | 0:01:21 | 12:54 PM | 12:55 PM |
| 4 | MADCAP | -30 | 11:25:53 AM | 11:22:00 AM | 0:03:53 | 12:53 PM | 12:56 PM |
| 5 | PATRIOT | 150 | 10:44:29 AM | 10:42:36 AM | 0:01:53 | 12:58 PM | 1:00 PM |
| 6 | KOOKABURRA | 132 | 10:48:37 AM | 10:46:12 AM | 0:02:25 | 1:02 PM | 1:04 PM |
| 7 | RHEA | 213 | 10:30:00 AM | 10:30:00 AM | 0:00:00 | 1:07 PM | 1:07 PM |
| 8 | SIROCCO | -3 | 11:19:40 AM | 11:13:12 AM | 0:06:28 | 1:01 PM | 1:08 PM |
| 9 | SERENITY | 153 | 10:43:48 AM | 10:42:00 AM | 0:01:48 | 1:10 PM | 1:12 PM |
| 10 | TAKEDOWN-2 | 90 | 10:58:17 AM | 10:54:36 AM | 0:03:41 | 1:09 PM | 1:12 PM |
| 11 | LUCILLE MARIE | 186 | 10:36:12 AM | 10:35:24 AM | 0:00:48 | 1:14 PM | 1:14 PM |
| 12 | CARAMAR | 207 | 10:31:22 AM | 10:31:12 AM | 0:00:10 | 1:16 PM | 1:16 PM |
| 13 | SMOKIN’ J | 87 | 10:58:58 AM | 10:55:12 AM | 0:03:46 | 1:15 PM | 1:19 PM |
| 14 | FREEDOM | 201 | 10:32:45 AM | 10:32:24 AM | 0:00:21 | 1:24 PM | 1:24 PM |
| 15 | CLARA MARIE | 204 | 10:32:04 AM | 10:31:48 AM | 0:00:16 | 1:29 PM | 1:29 PM |
Movie Night at the Club!
Friday, September 27, 8:00pm
Come watch the worst movie about sailing ever made.
Contest and Games!
Win a prize for finding all the errors and goofs.
Club is open for dinner and drinks
Pig and Corn Roast Amazing
The Pig and Corn Roast on Sunday celebrated the First Annual Mayor’s Regatta. Spitfire was declared the winner of the regatta and received an award directly from Waukegan’s Mayor, Sam Cunningham. The mayor participated in the race by sailing on Sirocco 3. Unfortunately, some boats forgot to mark their times of finish and could not be scored.
Once all the racers made it back to the club the Pig and Corn Roast formally began.
The tables were bursting with wonderful food, including Pulled Pork, Barbecue Ribs, Baked Beans, Creamy Hash Brown Casserole, Corn on the Cob, Taffy-Apple Salad, bread and muffins. Even the Mayor joined us for a wonderful meal.
The meat was traditional pit barbecue cooked at the club by member volunteers in a smoker using Apple wood chips.
Over 60 people went through the line and no one went away hungry. All the food was delicious and everyone had a great time.
The event was topped off by free shots of Mount Gay rum provided by the Regatta winner. If you didn’t stick around you missed out!
THANKS!!
We want to give special thanks to our members who volunteered to prepare and serve the amazing dinner and run the Mayor’s Regatta:
Thanks go to Viki Rollins, Don Pound, Jeanne and Russ Valin (and their friend Karen), Susan and Jim Maivald and Howard Larson who helped to set up the tables and cook and serve the food. Thanks to Denise Lapins who made the Creamy Hash Brown Casserole and Taffy-Apple salad. Yummy!
More thanks go to Bob Christenson and Howard Larson who volunteered to operate the committee boat during the Regatta and Mark LeVan and Jim Hellquist who worked with the crew to set the race marks. You guys did an amazing job! If you see any of the volunteers around the club, give them a kind word.
Volunteers make this club work! Please consider lending a hand soon. There’s lots to do around the club and it won’t get done without you!
88th Annual Chicago-Waukegan Race amazing!
On June 22, the Waukegan Yacht Club hosted the 88th Annual Chicago-Waukegan Race. Over 120 boats participated in this year’s race. Over 500 sailors descended on the club and the weather turned out nicely although rain threatened all day. Want to know who won? Check out the list of finishers here.
Over all the racers who participated in the race in 2019, many chose to dock and raft off at the club. The dock offered food and drink to the thirsty and hungry racers. Mount Gay flowed liberally.
Dinner was served starting at 5:30pm and ending at 7:30pm. A live band played after dinner and well into the night and the dance floor was full.
Many volunteers turned out to help with the committee boat, ticket sales, dinner, and the party on Saturday night and for the breakfast on Sunday. Thanks to all those volunteers who came out to help. We could not have done it without you!
Want to get a piece of history? Buy our 2019 commemorative Chicago-Waukegan Race t-shirt. The 100% heavy-weight cotton t-shirts were very popular Saturday and Sunday, but we still have some shirts on hand for sale. Order one today and pick it up tat the club, or have it shipped right to your house. Don’t wait. we only have a few shirts left in each size!
87th Chicago-Waukegan Race Great Success!
On June 16th the Waukegan | Joseph Conrad Yacht Club hosted the 87th annual Chicago-Waukegan sailboat race. Nearly 130 boats registered for the race and over 100 took part in the race.
This year the weather was unpredictable as usual. The wind started briskly coming from the south from 5-7 knots. Most boats immediately launched their spinnakers and the various sections started to battle it out for the lead.
A little over an hour after the last boat crossed the starting line the wind abruptly swung around to the northeast at over 10 knots. The shift caught many boats unprepared as their crews jumped into action to dose their chutes.
Now the race had shifted to a close hauled beat to windward. But, as they say, “if you don’t like the weather in Chicago, wait five minutes.” Less than another hour passed and the wind began to shift around to the east and not long afterward back to the south once more.
Chutes came out again and this to stay. At first, the wind was steady and strong, but ebbed over the next few hours. Fortunately, for most of the fleet they were able to stand to Waukegan and the finish line. By 2:00pm, the majority of racers had crossed the line and retired to the north harbor where they rafted off the club dock, or to berths they had rented in the south harbor. Waukegan racers simply went off to their own berths.
The weather in Waukegan was sunny and warm and perfect for a cookout. Grills were fired up and many racers grabbed a burger, brat or hot dog and a cold brew or rum and coke. The club and dockside was alive with members, racers and guests.
Dinner was an Italian buffet and was served starting at 5:30pm. Food went fast and actually ran out by 8:00pm. Live music started by 7:30pm and rocked the club for a few hours before the awards were made. The party continued well into the night.
Sunday morning came early and many sailors and guests took advantage of Bo Harper’s Bloody Mary bar! Many took advantage of the hot breakfast provided by the club. By 8:00am, the Committee boat cast off to set up the starting line. The first section started at 9:05 and each following section went off in 5 minute increments. In less than an hour all 9 sections were gone.
The Board of Directors would like to thank the following volunteers who made this event a major success:
Claudia Aisenberg, Larry Beliant, Jeff Bernachi, Colin Classen, Richard Fee, Yvonne Fee, Mary Ellen Giffels, Jose Guzman, Bo Harper, Lynne Hellquist, Erik Hellquist, John Johnson, Barbara Klupiec, Chris Klupiec, Mark LeVan, Jim Maivald, Paul McEntee, Aaron Milks, Kim Nerheim, John Rouse, Viktoriya Rouse, Tom Sivia, Nikki Sullivan, and Al (Jeep) Trefts. Let us know if we missed your name.
