2007 SEASON ENDS

La Tempete WINS 20-MILE COMMODORE'S CUP

TSUNAMI WINS SEASON SERIES

(Chicago, Sunday, September 9, 2007) The Commodore's Cup Regatta, held today on Lake Michigan by Chicago Yacht Club, was the final regatta of the 2007 season that counted for any of the season series for the Chicago Beneteau 40.7 fleet. In the end, after a 20-mile windward/leeward 5-leg course, it was Tom Weber's well-sailed La Tempete that took the gun. By doing so, La Tempete moved up in the "LMSRF Best 40.7 on Lake Michigan" standings to 3rd place. Don Hayes' Tsunami, who took 2nd place in the regatta, and Ron Buzil's Vayu, who took 6th place, cemented their respective 1st and 2nd place positions in the 15-race series which began in June.

If the buoy racing among the 40.7's has been dominated by any single boat this year, it was Tsunami. Don, with his son-in-law Tory Enerson as tactician, and his son Bryan as the primary driver, won the 40.7 section at the West Marine Regatta in June, took 2nd place at the NOOD regatta (also in June), and won the Verve Cup Regatta in August. Tsunami also won two of the five Area III buoy events - the Mayor Daley Regatta in July and the Herb Kazczmarek Regatta in August.

Among the 40.7 skippers and crew polled after today's racing, the consensus was that holding a windward/leeward race of 20 miles was excessive and not as much fun as the day could have been had two shorter races been held. The race consisted of five 4-mile legs with a direction to the windward mark of 5°. The wind was north at about 13 knots at the start, with seas running 2-3 feet. Three of the nine starting boats did not finish. Skipper Bob Vickery of Collaboration reported that his boat withdrew from the race after one of his crew was hit on the head by the boom during a jibe. The crew member is fine but Bob felt that being short on crew in the first place, it was the prudent thing to withdraw.

Updated standings for the 40.7 Fleet are at:

40.7 Standings

Updated histories of all series standings for the fleet are at:

40.7 History

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