WILSON THE WINNER IN CHICAGO
6/7/2009

Takes it to three in exciting Final Round action of Chicago Match Race Center’s inaugural ISAF Grade 3 event 

Chicago, USA – Don Wilson and his team of Bill Hardesty, Matt Cassidy, and Hans Pusch marched through the ranks of seven other teams to win this weekend’s inaugural Chicago Match Race Center ISAF Grade 3 event. In an exciting first-to-three point Final, Chicago-based Wilson defeated Detroit-based Nathan Hollerbach after losing the first match and rallying to win the next two. 

Meanwhile in Petite-Final action, Olympian Debbie Capozzi managed to defeat local-based David Wagner in two matches, but only by winning the decisive match by less than a second in an exciting come-from-behind effort achieved in just the last few metres of the match. 

And while decisive, Wilson’s victory was far from assured, as Hollerbach was the only skipper to go undefeated through all previous stages of the two-day competition: he defeated all seven rivals yesterday in the single Round Robin, defeated Wilson’s sister Jennifer Wilson in the first-to-two point Quarter-Finals, and then Wagner in the first-to-two point Semi-Finals. His poised performance highlighted his experience as a former US Match Racing Champion and winner of the Grade 2 Detroit Cup. But Wilson, who finished the Round Robin in only 5^th place, came on strong in the end with good speed, positioning, and teamwork to win his first ISAF Grade 3 event. 

And while pleased with this win, Wilson said it was also gratifying to see the level of excellence this event managed to achieve in its inaugural run, as Wilson is the prime mover behind the Chicago Match Race Center’s infrastructure of eight Ceccarelli-designed TOM 28’s, umpire and race committee boats, and the shoreside venue situated at the north end of Chicago’s Belmont Harbor. There were few breakdowns and collisions involving damage, the brand-new boats performed exceptionally well throughout the competition, and race mangers managed to keep up with what at times was very challenging conditions. 

“Last year when I said what my vision was for this match racing center, there were many people who said it could not be done on our own,” said Wilson, “But all the CMRC staff, volunteers, race management and sailors this weekend proved them wrong. This has been a fantastic start to our program of match race sailing here in Chicago.” 

Besides weekday evening match race sailing throughout this season, CMRC has two more Grade 3 and one more Grade 2 event planned in each of the next three months. Invitees include prominent international and national match race talent, as well as those local-based teams who can qualify through feeder events at CMRC. This and other features makes CMRC the only fully-functional program dedicated to match race sailing in the Western Hemisphere. 

For more information, photos, and videos of the CMRC’s inaugural Grade 3 event, visit the CMRC website atwww.chicagomatchrace.c