Without getting a direct “no” from his wife when he first broached the subject of trucking the boat from Long Island Sound to Chicago, Lyall decided to participate. “We had no idea how we would do against the boats we expected would be a top contenders, so I was a little apprehensive as we went out to practice the day before the regatta,” said Lyall. “As we tuned against other boats we were very pleased with our relative boat speed and point. The crew also seemed to work well together and my concerns began to abate. We did well the first day of the four-day regatta and our lead built each day after that.”

Racing began on Thursday, August 13th in sunny but very light conditions with winds as low as 2-3kts during the first race. Friday brought more sunshine and winds of 5-10 knots along with the addition of another 146 boats to the regatta. The “big boats” consisting of Great Lakes 70s, Farr 40s and three PHRF fleets of 30-50 foot boats competed on Circle A. Circle B included the Beneteau 40.7s, also racing for their North American title, J/109s, Beneteau 36.7s, a PHRF fleet of 30-40 footers and the J/105s. Circle C consisted of the 33-boat Tartan 10 class, and three other PHRF fleets.

Racing in the J/109 fleet was again tight with STORM winning the first race, David Gustman’s NORTHSTAR the second and SURPRISE/TEAM HAMBURG the third. Saturday dawned bright and sunny, with temperatures in the high 80’s. Winds were again expected to be in the 5-10 knot range, but actually ended up a bit stronger.

Sunday, the last and final day of the regatta, came with the promise of strong breeze and a chance of thunderstorms. Early forecasts called for 10-15 knots with the possibility of 20+ in the mid afternoon with approaching storms. “We soon learned that that would prove quite conservative!,” said Lyall. The fleet saw 15-20knots on the six-mile ride out to the racing area and the winds built to 20-25+ during the first race. STORM led around the course and took the gun followed by Jack Toliver’s VANDA III and SURPRISE/TEAM HAMBURG. The second race was even more “interesting” as winds built to 25-30kts. NORTHSTAR sailed a great race and led the fleet around the course to take the bullet. SURPRISE/TEAM HAMBURG also sailed a solid race but rounded up on the second downwind leg and managed to hold their position after dropping their kite and finishing with main and jib. STORM broached on the first downwind leg and dropped from 3rd to 7th at the gate but climbed back to finish 3rd. Elsewhere on the course there was havoc, with a number of “man overboards” hailed over the VHF.

And then things got even more interesting…..
The winds continued to build on the ride back to the dock. As the fleet approached the Dusable basin, a squall hit with torrential rain and winds of 50-60kts. The squall lasted only a few terrifying minutes but there was essentially zero visibility as the crews struggled to shorten or douse sails. This was clearly a terrific North American Championship for the J/109 fleet. The fleet raced in virtually all conditions that ranged from shifty, light five knots or less all the way up to a challenging 30-knot hang-on and hike-hard blow.

“I have sailed a reasonable amount with UK-Halsey’s Kerry Klingler over the last 6 years but I have to say he is currently at the very top of his game. He designed our sails and built them with Dimension/Polyant’s D4 MP, which we found to be very fast at Block Island Race week. Tactically, he was spot on. We were usually on the favored tack and in pressure when others found themselves out of position. Some of our competitors commented that, ‘It always seems you guys are going the right way! How did you do that?’ Simple answer: Kerry. Having fast sails, a new bottom, great crew work along with a world-class tactician is a very powerful combination. Butch Ulmer, Kerry Klingler and UK-Halsey have been great supporters of the STORM program over the years and I attribute a great deal of our success to that support,” said Lyall.