Hot, gusty winds led to challenging conditions and some tight competition as the Verve Cup Inshore Regatta wrapped up over the August 24-25 weekend at Chicago Yacht Club’s Belmont Station. “We had wind eight to 12 knots, typical Chicago southwester. This was the first offshore breeze we’ve had this summer on a race day, which was shocking, and the competition was good,” said Race Officer Janet Baxter. After a solid day of racing on Saturday, Sunday’s variable winds made things interesting for both race committee and the competitors. “We’d have 15 knots followed by seven knots, so it was a little bit challenging to figure out where the racers wanted to be sent – they were all kind of tired from yesterday,” said Race Officer Lynn Lynch. “I would’ve liked some more consistent breezes today, because not all of the runs were as square as they could have been. Yesterday was really, really solid racing – today we had a little bit more breeze, so that was more fun that way. I thought the competition was very tight in some of the fleets.” Race organizers said the annual regatta features two days of the best one-design sailing in the Midwest, with identical classes competing to determine which boat has the best skipper and crew. In the five-boat J/24 fleet, Mark Soya on 2XS claimed victory with just 8 points in the six races, followed by Richard Graef on Don’t Panic in second and Daniel Walsh on Goldrush in third. For complete results, click here.