More Air & Water Show Photos

Early morning shots before the madness begins

The majority of our fleet ready for action on the water.


Even with such a busy weekend its wonderful to get down to the harbor bright and early and enjoy the sunrise and new day.

The light is always wonderful this time of the morning and we could not resist a few early morning shots.

2nd Day of Air & Water Show

Here we have a selection of shots from today, above you can see the aerial acrobatics.



Above you can see our dock nearly empty earlier today due to so many people availing of the great weather and wonderful sights out there.

Below we have Chris who was helping out Ronan on another Bumblebee charter also earlier today. He actually may even look like he knows what he is doing.

All hands on deck for cleaning today

We are not sure was it because the weather was so nice and someone wanted to work on their tan this morning or if it really was that we needed to pull together to get all boats spanking clean again before they go out later today... either way our Office Manager - Stephanie was on hand to help out... and pose for a few shots at the same time.

Friday of Air & Water Show

Bumblebee had a charter today with 30 passengers onboard, plenty of cocktails, food and refreshments.

This company sails every year as a reward to its employees for a great job done. Needless to say a great time was had by all and they will be returning again next year.







As it was the first day of the 50th Annual Air & Water Show they were treated to a visual feast of aerial acrobatics. Here you see some of the stunt planes just starting out on their routine.

This shot was taken from about 2.5 miles out on the lake from aboard Bumblebee.

More acrobatics.

While we were out there we sailed passed a few other Chicago Sailing boats and managed to get a couple of good shots. Although we do not know who was sailing so we cannot pass on the photos. Hopefully they will see them here.

August 8th Nice sailing shots... and a wedding onboard!

This is a shot of one of our Hunter 326's on a sunset cruise towards the city. Its a lovely evening for a sail. If you look closely you can see advertising on the sails.

For the past two years we have been adding some advertising opportunities to our fleet which we push as 'Billboards on the water'. This form of advertising offers a unique advertising medium at a very reasonable cost. So much so that it is proving very, very popular.

This year alone Redeye Newspaper have doubled their advertising and now we have two Redeye Hunters that can be seen out on the water nearly every day. For more information on this unique form of advertising click here.





This next shot is of our lone J30 ' Traveler' as she sails outside of Diversey Harbor this evening. It was 'a calm and relaxing sail, with a most wonderful view of the city skyline and sunset' according to those onboard. Looks like they were having fun.... exactly what we like to see here at Chicago Sailing.










This evening Bumblebee was proud to be able to host a wonderful occasion for all involved. We were proud to be part of Mr. Stephen Neuberger and Mary Waldons wedding which was on the lake aboard Bumblebee.


The smiles on the happy couple truly are priceless and we were honored to be able to host such a memorable occasion.



It was a most romantic and intimate ceremony and we are glad to report that the blushing couple and respective families had a most wonderful ceremony and sail.




A lovely cruise made all the better by the wonderful catering that they had aboard Bumblebee along with the great job that Stephen and family did with preparing Bumblebee for the sail.










Here is a shot of the pre- dinner set up down below on Bumblebee.



Dinner cruise anyone??

Aug 7th Regatta - McKinsey & Watson Wyatt Worldwide group

Today we hosted the 'McKinsey & Watson Wyatt Worldwide' group for a team building experience. As with most of our regattas everyone had a blast and lived to sail another day.

Here you see the result of unclear communication between captain and crew. If you look closely you will see that the J22 has fouled against the race mark and as a result is dragging it in the water. This has pretty much finished their chances of winning the race and has introduced a whole new level of challenges. They now have to figure out how to untangle the buoy from the keel.... this typically involves one lucky soul getting into the water.



In this second shot you can see our race committee boat has arrived to offer assistance. They had an extra willing body to brave the 70 degree water to untangle the buoy from the keel. Seems there was no shortage of offers to get into the water... at 70 degrees its perfect for swimming.



Bumblebee was also out today for a small group sail. If you look closely at the shot you will see that she is sailing under the jib alone.

As a racing thoroughbred it doesn't take much wind to get her gliding through the water making for a fun and relaxing sail.

August 6th activities

This afternoon Bumblebee was out for a beautiful evening sunset sail. We had a group of about 20 individuals from some of the major advertising agencies in Chicagoland. One of their common clients took them all out for a sail and party.

They were fortunate enough to get a really nice evening for a sail and also to be witness to a lovely sunset from the vantage point of the lake.

Here is Captain Matt who was onboard with Ronan and sailing Bumblebee. Matt joined Chicago Sailing this year and has been having a great time working as one of our charter captains.









Tonight and every Wednesday evening the 'Beer Can' races take place outside the harbor. There are two sets of races the Belmont Harbor Beer Cans and also the Montrose Beers cans. Here is a shot taken from Bumblebee as we sailed past the Montrose group. If you are interested in Wednesday night racing we often send out our J30 'Traveler' to compete in these races. They are a fun filled laid back introduction into the joys of racing. If you would like to learn more about Wednesday night racing please click here. No prior racing experience is required.

Family Fun

Here we have a shot of Chicago Sailing's President and company owner - Alan Veenstra. Alan and his family were out for a pleasure sail on Bumblebee.

Here Alan and his son Jack have just returned to the dock and are getting Bumblebee secured to the dock.

Jack like his Dad loves to sail and has been on the water long before he even knew that he was. He is continuing a long Veenstra tradition and is sure to be a great sailor.

Choppy and fun sailing for everyone

Here you see a shot of one of our J22's' as she departs the harbor entrance this morning. As the wind was out of the east there was a nice little chop so it is important to have full power through the correctly hoisted mainsail and also the engine so as to enable the boat to easily get through the chop and out to the lake.

Notice the small boat to port of our J22. This boat is part of the Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing program. This is a 2.4 meter boat that is used for more racing sailors and are used in world disabled championships, such as the Paralympics. Today there was a regatta for Adaptive sailors and you can see this little boat making her way out to the racecourse. It is part of the annual national disabled double and single-handed sailing championship, the Independence Cup that was taking place this weekend.

The Judd Goldman is a wonderful program that helps the physically disabled get out on the water. For more information on this great program click here.

Getting away from it all

People often ask us why we love sailing so much and what is it that attracts us to it??

Its often difficult to explain but what the majority of sailors in Chicago say is how easy it is to get away from the city and the city pace of life.

Jump on a boat and get out to the lake and this is what you will see, you get away from everything and find that place of calm and complete contentment. So while this shot may not show much of anything it is also telling a story..... imagine yourself out on the water, the wind across your deck and the water lapping against your hull..... yup! That's what attracts us to sailing.

New Website online today

Today we have launched our updated website. While it is nearly finished we are still tweaking it a little and have to add some additional features and functionality. We plan on having a crew meeting section where you can post your information enabling you to meet crew or to find a spot on a boat.
We will also be adding a photo gallery where you can upload your own photos and see our archive of shots. And updating 'Our Team' with all relevant information and photos.

If you have any suggestions or comments we would love to hear from you. Please email Ronan@chicagosailing.

Thank you.

Would you like to post to our Blog??

We are always looking to hear of your experiences at Chicago Sailing. Maybe you have some good photos or videos from your time on the water or an experience that you would like to share with everyone.
Please feel free to drop a line to Ronan@chicgosailing.com and we would be happy to post on your behalf.

Thank you.

Busy, busy Sunday

Even though the sun was not splitting the docks today we had all of our boats out on the water.

It seems that sailors are just happy to be out on the weather no matter what.

Here is a shot from the water of our docks just after 2pm. You can see our dockstaff working to get the remaining boats off the dock.

Busy Day at Chicago Sailing

Today we were busy with two events taking place. We had a teambuilding regatta in the morning with Deloitte US. This event was great fun with all participants having a blast and really enjoying being out of the office and on the water. Above you can see our pre- regatta training briefing. Here we are informing the group of whats going to be happening on the water. As the sun was so hot we elected to do this under the tent.

Here you can see the teams starting to rig the jib and prepare to sail.

Our second event today was a Bumblebee sail. Bumblebee (pictured below) is our flagship vessel and can carry groups of up to 40. She is proving very popular this season and is on the water as much as she is docked. Today the company OMD chartered her for an afternoon cruise.

Bumblebee has room on deck for 40 + people while she is also wonderfully appointed down below. You can see from these shots taken below prior to the sail that the group sure was going to eat and drink well.


If you would like more information on our Group events please call Stephanie now at 773 871 7245 and she will be delighted to answer any questions that you may have.

'Parvenu' returns to Belmont

Alan Veenstra, Chicago Sailing owner and president sailed his own personal boat 'Parvenu' down from Racine Wisconsin late last night. Alan has sailed countless miles on this beautiful vessel. We are of the opinion that she is one of the most beautiful boats in the harbor and were delighted to see her back at her mooring.

Alan tells us that he plans on doing some 'housekeeping' on her over the next few days. We look forward to seeing her sailing sometime soon.

A calm, quiet morning

Fridays are one of our busiest days for the dock staff at Chicago Sailing. Today is very calm and not too humid, perfect for getting some work done.
Order of business today for all can be seen below:
1. Do a motor check on all engines. Thats 24 engines and 6 spares!!
2. Clean any boats that need it.
3. Check rigging and sails on all boats.
4. Do fuel check confirming that we have plenty for the next 5 days, if not we will go to pick up clean gas.
5. Pump out all larger boats, check all fluid levels onboard, pump out waste tanks and completely clean and sanitize the 'Heads'.
6. Clean the Houseboat/ office inside and out.
7. Grab a much needed beer in anticipation of the busy weekend.

We do love our jobs and are very grateful to be able to work outside... hopefully everyone appreciates the distances we go to enabling us to keep delivering high standards of service !

Verisign at Chicago Sailing

Today we co- hosted a Teambuilding Regatta with one of our sailing partners 'Gel'. Gel and Chicago Sailing work together to bring rewarding teambuilding experiences to companies in the Chicago area. Gel operates nationwide.
Verisign was the company today and we are happy to report that much was learned and gained form their time on the water.

Here you can see the teams preparing to depart the dock and some already departing.