Girls got Game

US Independence Cup / North American Challenge Cup, Double-Handed Class
Chicago Yacht Club
July 30 to August 1, 2005

L to R 2nd place Ken Kelly and Bob Jones 1st place Kerry Gruson and Karen Mitchell 3rd placeTim Flynn and Paul Choquette

Twisted, broken or parts missing….Nooo….. I’m not talking about boats. I’m talking about the sailors that sail them. The bodies may be twisted or broken but the spirits are not. None of the sailors at this competition are quitters. And when we get in a boat the spirit is lifted even higher….something about sailing. Every year either by winning a regional qualifying regatta or invitation, sailors from around North America converge on Chicago at the end of July. The event is two regattas run simultaneously Chicago Yacht Club’s “North American Challenge Cup” (NACC) and US Sailing’s “Independence Cup” (IC).

The US Sailing’s IC has two divisions, Single and Double handed. There was lots of talk behind the scenes this year about the future of the IC. USS wants the IC to be under the umbrella of the Championship Committee which runs the other national championships (Prince of Wales, Mallory, etc, etc). We’ll discuss this in another article.

The NACC, owned by Chicago Yacht Club and partnered with The Judd Goldman Foundation is sailed concurrently with the IC. This year won for an unprecedented third time in a row by two women from South Florida Kerry Gruson and Karen Mitchell (maybe we should call them K2). As the regatta progressed the temperature got hotter and the wind was from a different direction each day. The following report on the Double-Handed class is from K2 and as victors they get to write history. Enjoy

Kerry Gruson and Karen Mitchell report on the double handed class
Sailing photos by Greg Scott

Back L to R Jim Armstrong and Jessica Brandenburg Front L to R Kerry Gruson and Karen Mitchell

We, Karen Mitchell [Deerfield Beach, FL] and Kerry Gruson [Miami, FL], did it again and thus enter the history books of US Sailing as the first team to win the US Independence Cup / North American Challenge Cup [IC/NACC] for three consecutive years. (Robbie Pierce, [Newport, RI], also has won the event three times, but not in a row). First held in 1990, it has become the premiere competition for North America's disabled sailors.

And win we did, by a 12 point lead.

The olde saw asks," how do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
The answer: "Practice, practice, practice!"
This holds water, just as much for sailboat racers who want to perform well as it does for musicians.

Light air start

Early this year we both neglected our own beloved 23' Sonars, to practice here as a team on Biscayne Bay at the Wednesday eve "beer can" races. We compete aboard a "water-buffalo" - our nickname for the Freedoms we also race in Chicago. We each helm our Sonars. However, in the 20' Freedom it's always Karen at the tiller in back and Kerry in the front seat to work the jib and other forward sail controls.

Over the years, sailing separately, we may have jointly logged more time-on-the-water than all the rest of Shake-A-Leg Miami's [SALM] racers put together. Additionally, we benefited from the founding this spring of "teamPARADISE", the Sydney Olympic Gold Star boat medalist Magnus Liljedahl's new SALM-based organization. Magnus has dedicated it -- and himself -- to training prospective Paralympians as well as other disabled sailors interested in "elite" racing.

Close quaters, light air and slop

2005 is also the year that SALM's trials qualified the largest delegation at this prestigious annual Regatta, organized by the Judd Goldman Disabled Sailing Program and hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club. Four of the fourteen Freedom teams were from So. Florida -- two ending up in the "gold" [the top seven scorers for the first two days of the Regatta] and two in the "silver" fleet [the remaining seven teams]. This year marked Kerry's tenth IC/NACC with her first appearance at the event in 1993; it was Karen's ninth, beginning in 1997. In 1998, we joined forces to become the first all-woman disabled team to compete on a national level. It didn't take us long to break into the gold fleet. But it seemed we were forever doomed to be "bridesmaids," alternating our finishes with repeated second and third places. Finally in 2003, we achieved our goal of winning the event. We successfully defended our title in 2004 and now again this summer.

Convergence

DAY ONE
Saturday July 30: The light winds combining with the "washing machine" chop left from a Northerly flow earlier in the week made it a test of the sailors' skill. The Chicago skyline saw sunny skies with an Easterly breeze of 5-8 knots, filling in as the day progressed. Lance Hinrichs, [Falls Church, VA] and crew Rob Klein, [Washington, DC] lead the morning heat. Local Chicago sailors, Mike Jaffe and Dan Daniher, representing the Judd Goldman Program were in hot pursuit.

Joe Cook, [Fort Lauderdale, FL] with crew Carlos Rodriguez, [Miami, FL] took the lead in the afternoon. We scored an unimpressive 1, 3 and 5 [taking a two point penalty] in this second heat.

Back upwind after the leeward rounding

DAY TWO
Sunday July 31: The windy city brought a gentle 10-12 knot Southwest shore breeze for the first heat with waves of one foot or less. Since wind flowing from the city is very shifty, these were the perfect conditions for sailors who "keep their heads out of the boat and quickly shift gears" to make big gains. Today we sailed fast and smart. The left side of the course near the start line generally had more wind with a light spot in the middle and a freshened breeze and lift on the weather mark starboard lay line. Proving that these are our favorite conditions, we tacked away from the fleet, taking three first place "bullets" in the morning heat. This proved to be our best performance of the Regatta, perhaps, not coincidentally, because our able-bodied assistant was Chris Del Vecchio, wife of fellow competitor Joe. An all-estrogen team! Donna DeMarest, [Waterbury, CT], and crew Paul McKenna, [Newport, RI.] took a 2, 3, 3, scoring second best.

In the afternoon, the heat building over the city caused the shore breeze to die, resulting in an hour postponement for this group. Luckily, a building lake breeze of 8 knots enabled the sailors to get all three races in. At the end of the day, the wind began to die and clock back to the prevailing southwestern breeze. Tim Flynn, [Ashaway, RI], and crew Paul Choquette, [East Greenwich, RI] sailed to the tune of two bullets, with Joe Cook and Carlos Rodriguez also taking a first.

2 for the rounding

DAY THREE
Monday August 1: Teams were divided into the silver and the gold fleet based on their first two days' scores. The silver fleet competed in the morning, with Charles Rosenfield and Joe Del Vecchio getting two bullets to place first in that group.

The gold fleet sailed in the afternoon in Southeast winds of 10 to 13 knots. We scored two firsts and a second with Ken Kelly [Victoria, BC] and Bob Jones [Issaquah, WA] winning the last race. Overall, we ended up with 6 points, beating Ken and Bob, who were in second with 18 points. They won the tie breaker over Tim Flynn and Paul Choquette who were third, also with 18 points.

"The racing in the fleets of both classes [Freedom and 2.4mR] was highly competitive this year," said Betsy Alison [Newport, RI], head coach of the US Disabled Sailing Team and clinic instructor at the U.S. Independence Cup. "I think this was the strongest competition we've seen at this event," she added. (Joining Betsy on the coach boat for the first time at this venue was the ever-cheerful and irrepressible Lee Icyda, whose effervescent energy led Betsy to describe her erstwhile Olympic campaign sailing partner as the “mini-me.”)

As for us, we (Karen and Kerry) are definitely looking forward to sailing on Lake Michigan again next year. This time we will be entering the Chicago Mackinac Race. Hold it, we are just kidding (well, maybe not). The IC/NACC is one of our most eagerly anticipated events, bar none! The strategic planning for our renewed competition in 2006 is already under discussion.

Final Results