HARDESTY CONTINUES WINNING WAYS IN CMRC SEPTEMBER
9/19/2009

Long day of 13 flights among 10 teams completes Round Robin

CHICAGO, September 19, 2009 – Bill Hardesty and his team continued their winning ways today in Day One of the September “B” Regatta of the Chicago Match Race Center, leading the pack on scores of 7-2 among the ten competing teams in this ISAF Grade 3 event. Hardesty, a past Etchells and World Match Race Champion, won the September “A” Regatta yesterday in an undefeated streak of wins that lasted through each stage of the event.

But also doing well in this stage of the competition is local-based Nathan Hollerbach, who also amassed a strong 7-2 score, but who falls to second to Hardesty on having lost to him in their only meet thusfar.

Conditions today were typical of Chicago off the Belmont Harbor seawall: lumpy seas and good but often shifty breeze. Perhaps not
surprisingly, Hardesty and other veterans of match race sailing in the previous two days of the “A” regatta are generally doing well in the standings, being accustomed to the highly-maneuverable TOM 28 class yachts used in this event.

When asked how he keeps his winning streak alive, Hardesty said “Thanks go to my crew, they keep me in line and won't let me do stupid things.”

Kristen Lane is sitting at the opposite end of the results than Hardesty, but still feels she’s improving. “We started better than we
raced around the course, but we seemed to have the Umpire Karma back on our side with the race against Alan Field. Thanks goes to CMRC and my crew, especially Alex a 12-year old Opti sailor. We are learning and I am excited to come back and try it again.” Thrown to the wolves with no previous time in the boats was Mike Buckley, who said “No question, figuring out how quick these boats can be and how to get them back to speed was difficult.”

Racing resumes tomorrow morning with the Semi-Finals and Consolation round. When asked about his pick to play against tomorrow, Hardesty said “We sail against Nate Hollerback here in practice all the time so we know that he would be tough, and I have sailed with Don so I know he is also good. I am going with Alan Field to see what’s up his sleeve.”

Besides having spectator-friendly racing close to shore and live Twitter updates, another innovative feature of this event is the live
streaming coverage on the internet as commentator Geordie Shave brings his expertise from past America’s Cups to narrate all the action from the Belmont Harbor waterfront.

Round Robin results, September “B” Regatta:

1 Bill Hardesty, San Diego, CA 7-2

2 Nathan Hollerbach, Chicago, IL 7-2

3 Alan Field, Los Angeles, CA 6-3

4 Don Wilson, Chicago, IL 6-3

5 Chris Nesbitt, Corona del Mar, CA 5-4

6 Stephen Lowery, Chicago, IL 4-5

7 Mark Kroening, Newport, RI 3-6

8 Hans Pusch, Chicago, IL 3-6

9 Mike Buckley 2-7

10 Kristen Lane, Tiburon, CA 2-7


About CMRC
CMRC is the only center of its kind in the US founded to promote and grow the sport of match race sailing. Besides being used in the America’s Cup, match race sailing has recently also been adapted as a Women’s discipline in the 2012 Olympic Games. As part of its mission, CMRC has ordered for delivery next year 4 Elliott 6M class yachts, the type that will be used in the Games, and will use them to train and race teams with Olympic aspirations.

For more information about the Chicago Match Cup, including complete results, photos and videos, and for more information about the Chicago Match Race Center, visit the CMRC’s website at http://www.chicagomatchrace.com