Local Knowledge

Spirited

Corinthian Spirit is alive and well in Chicago. Last weekend Columbia Yacht Club hosted their popular West Marine One Design Regatta, a regatta born from the desire of a few one design racers to chase the cobwebs and tune up before the NOOD. They asked John Thomas (the legendary JT) to run some races for them and it has morphed in to a very popular weekend.

The regatta is preceded by the start of the race to Michigan City (a 100+ year tradition) that this year had been complicated by the news that the Michigan City channel was too shallow to accommodate the boats. In lieu of the port-to-port race, a distance race was organized on the fly last week. The “port-to-port” boats departed the area- next up the buoy racers. As the RC began to set up for the regatta, the pin boat abruptly turtled, throwing the driver and assorted equipment (read: radios, GPS, cell phone, etc.) in to the lake. Both the boat and driver were promptly rescued, the race was abandoned and all proceeded back to Monroe Harbor.

Within minutes the phone rang on the RC boat. Bob Smith Chairman of Chicago YC’s Mackinac Race committee was on the line asking what happened, is everyone OK, what can I do? He immediately placed calls to Lloyd Karzen who supervises the Chicago YC race committee boats, Alan Nordine (Chicago YC Race committee Chair) and Glen Gustafson, the Chicago YC Vice Commodore and they all agreed…have the Columbia Race Committee come to Belmont Harbor and take whatever they need. Everything was in place by the time the RC returned to the Columbia dock and JT hustled up to Belmont for the reinforcements, returning to Columbia with the fully equipped "Latham." Except for the resignation of the pin boat driver, Sunday was a great day of racing.

On these pages anarchists continually question if civility and the “Corinthian Spirit” have fallen by the wayside. There are over 1000 members of two clubs in Chicago who have shared a rivalry for more than 120 years who will tell you that if this fits the elusive definition of “Corinthian Spirit,” it is here and it lives.

Thank you Chicago Yacht Club.

06/06/06