What is the Volvo Ocean Race?

As a new member of the sailing community, I am constantly amazed by the number of international races. When Sail-World first started carrying articles on the Volvo Ocean Race, I figured it was yet another small regatta. After a month+ of articles and coverage of the race, I have realized that I was very wrong.

So what is the Volvo Ocean Race? Held approximately every 3 years, it is a round-the-world sailing adventure following the trade routes of square-rigged 19th century commercial vessels. Scoring is based on each participating vessel's individual scores from port-to-port, just like it was advantageous to be the fastest commercial vessel. In recent competitions the race committee has added in sprint races at each stopping port.

Over the approximately 9 months of racing, the 6 competing vessels will travel over 39,000 nm and sail in some of the most dangerous waters on our planet. Conditions will range from 23 degrees to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The Southern Ocean can have 100 foot waves and 60 knot winds.

Each vessel is crewed by an 11-person team. The competition has become so competitive that each team strives to be as light as possible, eating freeze dried food during the competition and bringing only 1 change of clothes. This is a far cry from the first few races when cooks were brought along for the race and crews bunked in cabins.

Learn more about this incredible race on the Volvo Ocean Race website.

Still looking for the perfect gift for the adventurer in your life? Buy them a Chicago Sailing gift certificate!

Charts from Google Earth!

Sail-World has featured many great articles in the last few weeks. We're following the action in Perth and cheering on the American Olympic team candidates.

Recently we came across some great practical advice that we wanted to make sure everyone saw.

First, check out this great article on using Google Earth to create accurate charts for cruising. So simple, so easy, and such a valuable tool for any cruising sailor.

Our second pick is an extensive guide for bare boat cruising. There will be valuable information and reminders in this great read, even if this is your fifth year of bare boat chartering.

Finally, ten tips on managing your mainsail while short-handed. This is a great read for anyone sailing with inexperienced crew members. First and last on the list are reminders to reef early! We couldn't agree more!

Happy reading everyone and happy Monday!

Last Blast Regatta

Chicago Sailing would like to give a special thanks to everyone who participated in this year's Last Blast Regatta. It was a great sail and a lot of fun!

For anyone who was unable to attend, go take a look at some awesome shots taken during the race. Photos are posted on Chicago Sailing's Facebook.

We hope to see everyone at next year's Last Blast Regatta!

2011 Photo Contest

Votes are in and the winner of our 2011 Photo Contest has been selected.

Congratulations to Janet Gunn!

Thanks again to everyone who submitted photos and contributed their votes.

To all of our Sailors, come join us Sunday the 16th for a Club Sail. It is very possible that this could be our last Club Sail of the season, so you do not want to miss it! Meet us at B dock Sunday morning from 8:30am-11am.

Awesome Weather!

The warm weather has not left us yet! Chicago is experiencing an unusual weather pattern. Recently temperatures have been well above average. Typical October weather ranges in the mid 60 degrees, but this year Chicago temperatures are reaching nearly 80 degrees!

With this warm weather still here, keep in mind we do have available boats to rent. On October 15th, our larger auxiliary vessels will be departing Belmont Harbor for winter storage. However, we will still have J/22's and J/24's available to rent through the remainder of October.

Speaking of unusual weather, this winters weather predictions have been released. Meteorologists are calling for a cold winter with snowfalls well above average. The snowfall in Chicago is forecasting for 52", similar to last years winter patterns. Chicago is expected to go through the worst of this years stormy winter.

Prepare for a cold and snowy winter! Stay warm!!

Photo Contest 2011

Photo by last year's winner Roger Huang

It’s not too late, keep the photos coming! The Chicago Sailing annual photo contest is still taking place.

Have you captured any fabulous shots out on the water this season? Send us your best shots and enter to win a free rental. We’ll post our favorites for all to vote on.

Submit your photos by email to contactus@chicagosailing.com

Appropriate Foul Weather Gear

Chicago Sailing would like to give you tips on appropriate weather gear for the recent shift in weather patterns. The current September weather has developed below-normal temperatures that are much cooler than expected. Considering the temperatures are beginning to drop we want to make sure everyone keeps warm for the rest of our sailing season.

Keep covered! As many know, it can get much colder out on Lake Michigan and because of this we recommend to wear layers, layers, and more layers! It is much more effective to wear layers of clothing rather than one heavy item of clothing. This will prepare you for any sudden changes in the weather.

One of the most important things to keep warm are your hands! Between pulling the lines and rigging the boat, your hands do a great amount of work while sailing. Sailing gloves are the best way to keep your hands warm and comfortable.

Stay dry! The recent high winds can create larger waves in Lake Michigan. To avoid getting your clothing wet and becoming cold, we recommend wearing a waterproof jacket. Wearing a waterproof jacket as your outer layer will keep you dry and warm for the entire sail.

Let’s all keep warm and dry while making the end of this sailing season a great time!

A word about Reservations for services at Chicago Sailing

Over the years, Chicago Sailing has found that its customers are well served when we deliver on our promises. This includes providing seaworthy equipment and professional staffing, all at the agreed time. Our objective is for you to come back regularly because you had such a great time with us.

As with airlines and hotels, Chicago Sailing has limited capacity and, in our case limited seasonal capacity. Every hour of every day is unique and requires careful scheduling of services. Unlike hotels and airlines however, we do not overbook in anticipation of no-shows. We also do not rely upon waiting lists or foot traffic to fill unexpected vacancies. Each boat or class slot that goes suddenly idle represents a lost sailing opportunity for another sailor and irreplaceable revenue for Chicago Sailing.

In order to accommodate all our customers fairly and keep our prices low, we must rely upon each other’s commitment to reservations. To that end, please understand that every reservation you make with Chicago Sailing is a guaranteed reservation.

• Chicago Sailing guarantees that, when you make a reservation with us, we will confirm all details of your unique reservation and our cancellation and rescheduling agreements. Equally important to you is the assurance that we will have removed that particular vessel or service from availability to other customers. Your reservation will be waiting for you.

• In return, you are guaranteeing that you will honor your reservation and abide by our cancellation/rescheduling policies, including payment for untimely changes.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Photo Contest!

Have you capture any fabulous shots out on the water this season? Send us your best shots and enter to win a free rental. We’ll post our favorites for all to vote on.

Submit your photos by email to contactus@chicagosailing.com

Here is the photo taken by last years winner Roger Huang

Chicago's Air & Water Show 2011

August 19^th began one of our busiest weekends at Chicago Sailing. It was a perfect weekend to experience the 53^rd annual Air and Water Show while sailing along the lake.

The show took place along the shore of Lake Michigan from Fullerton Avenue to Oak Street Beach. I must say that the view from the water is spectacular and essentially the best way to watch this show.

Flying above our sails were civilian planes and military aircraft. You can’t miss the U.S Air Force Thunderbirds as they pass by producing loud blasts. The Air and Water Show does an excellent job in representing the U.S. Military.

The show was a great success and drew in millions of people. Crowds were tremendous on both the shore and the lake.

This is an amazing show you do not want to miss, so be sure to come experience it with us next year at Chicago Sailing!

Making Connections

One of the best things, or at least we think it is, about sailing is the social nature of the sport. When you are out sailing, be it racing or cruising, you are sure to swap stories!

Our instructors get to spend the most time getting to know you, I'm sure you've found them to be a very social bunch. The office staff is also prone to story telling. Especially when it's you telling us about your latest sailing adventure (it's hard to get out of the office sometimes, so we live vicariously through you).

This season, we've had many new friends to add to the Chicago Sailing storytelling group.



Peter, Jessica, and Dennis recently joined our family - taking the ultimate sailing adventure on our Cruising class. They return to Belmont Harbor today and we are eager to hear all about their trip and what they learned along the way!



Andre has been delighting our Monday staff all summer with his sailing tales. He works for Cirque du Soleil and has toured all over the world. Many of his stories revolve around sailing, food, and drinking... They are definitely up our alley! For the last three days Andre has been sailing with our Dock Staff Supervisor, Jayme in the Rhodes 19 Nationals.

Whatever your story, please share it with us! We look forward to seeing you soon.

Regatta Team Building Sail

Today we had four of our J22’s racing in a team building regatta sail. The teams sailed through four races, the last one bringing them back to the dock. They sailed two WL 2’s and one WL 4. The race was about 200 yards. There were a few things noticed during the first round that the teams had a chance to improve on during their last few rounds. We noticed that one team went around too far making it a difficult turn. Also, some teams had difficulty keeping a straight path when sailing. It helps to have control of the tiller for a straight path. It ended up to be a great race as all teams did well as a team!

Kacey's experience working at Chicago Sailing

Kacey is on the far right, our new marketing intern.

Working at Chicago Sailing has been a perfect addition to my summer. I have been working with the dock staff for a few months now, and I only have positive things to say. All staff members are extremely friendly and I always have a great time working with them. Each day at work I love to see all of the boats heading out for an afternoon sail. I enjoy helping friendly customers in and out of the harbor. It’s great to hear their feedback when coming in from a nice sail. This summer I have been working hard with the staff to make sure all boats are exceptionally clean in order to assure that our customers are satisfied with their sails. As part of the staff team, the tasks we take on are extremely helpful in creating excellent customer service at Chicago Sailing. I am grateful to be a part of the team here at Chicago Sailing!

Parking in Belmont Harbor

This past Memorial Day, we finally got busy in Belmont Harbor. So busy, we didn't have a chance to take many pictures!


Look at that empty dock! From 11 am until the end of the day, we saw this for both our big boats and the J/22's. Boats came in and went right back out with another crew aboard. It was such a treat for the staff to see smiling faces again enjoying the warm weather in Chicago.


Plan ahead for your summer sailing. We had a lot of disappointed people who called on Memorial Day and found out that our boats weren't available when they were available.



Do you remember all the changes to parking in Belmont Harbor that happened last year? They continue to change this year. The fee for parking in the harbor area is now $11/day. One of the biggest changes is the time it takes to go through the parking gates. Some of our customers waited in line for an hour or more to get into the harbor parking on Memorial Day. Allow plenty of time for traveling to our harbor! Or, if you can, bike in. You'll appreciate the extra exercise and it will make for a hassle free sailing experience from start to finish!

End of May already!

Despite the rainy weather, we've had a busy couple of weeks.

Our first proposal charter was cut a little short due to area thunderstorms. It was still a successful trip, with a smiling engaged couple returning to our dock.



We've experienced some weather extremes. One weekend our instructors dressed like this to go out:



The following weekend was sunny and warm, with a busy dock along with the weather:



Then finally, we had this week's northern winds:



Yikes!

We're hoping this rough start to the 2011 season will be made up to us with some beautiful fall sailing weather. In the meantime, we are gearing up for a busy summer season.

Join us this weekend in Waukegan to check out our new facility and meet our Director of Operations, Waukegan Jim Sauser. He'll be at our new slips on C Dock in the North Harbor from 11 am - 2 pm introducing people to Chicago Sailing.

Or, join us for some sailing in Chicago this weekend. We're serving a special Memorial Day brunch on Monday morning!

Those scary weather predictions...

The sailing season in Chicago, thus far, has been a tad bit wet to say the least. We're ready for some summer weather. Or even just some appropriate for late-May weather!

In the meantime though, we're going to dissect the upcoming weather predictions for Chicago. Check out the current 5-day forecast on Weather.com.



Yeah, not looking so great. And those thunderstorm symbols are rather off-putting. But wait a minute, look at that chance of rain percentage at the bottom of each day! Despite a symbol for Thunderstorms, the actual chance of rain is 30% for Sunday.

The Chicago Sailing staff pays close attention to multiple normal weather reporting websites and we also check out wind forecasting websites. Check out Windfinder.com's forecast for Sunday...



Not looking so bad after all! If the rain holds off (which at 70% odds, is a pretty good bet), we'll have 15 - 25 knot winds out of the south-west. Perfect sailing conditions!

So, read a little more into the weather predictions. At first glance it might look like there are some awful sailing conditions ahead, when in fact the reported prediction is just the worst-case scenario.

When you're short-handed...

Even the boss has to lend a hand!

The forestay on our J/24 broke and it seems like these things always seem to occur at the wrong moment. Jayme and Todd, our crack fleet management team, both had pre-scheduled duties away from the dock. So Alan lent a hand and took care of it.

Of course they chose just when it got cloudy to head up the mast, they must have known I was going to snap a picture of the work!



Some of you may have seen Chicago Sailing featured with Living Social on Tuesday. We sold 1,000 certificates for our Introduction to Sailing class. That translates to 250 boats full of landlubbers that we're going to convert into sailors! We are spreading out all of these classes so that we maintain plenty of availability for our regular rentals and charters.

NEWS

The newspapers beat us to the news this morning. As reported by Dan Moran of the Lake County News-Sun, Chicago Sailing will have a satellite operation in Waukegan Harbor this season. Read the full article.

We plan to be operational by May 15th in Waukegan Harbor. Our offerings will include many of our most popular courses, including Basic Sailing 101 and Advanced Sailing 161. In addition, we will offer Club Sailing on Tuesday evenings, rentals, and captained charters. Jim Sauser, who has previously instructed with Columbia Yacht Club in Chicago and the Lake Forest Recreation Department, will be managing our programming and facility in Waukegan.

If you have any questions regarding the offerings for Chicago Sailing in Waukegan Harbor, just call the Chicago Sailing office at 773.871.SAIL.

For our Belmont Harbor sailors, don't forget to take advantage of our early season sailing specials. The weather is looking much improved for enjoying your sailing experience this weekend. Through May 16, all annual check-out fees are waived and you get a third hour free when you rent for two hours!

How about a little food with your sailing? We'll have lunch on the dock all weekend. Saturday will feature our new grill in action, with Magda serving as your chef. Rebecca will be on dock Sunday serving up chili with all the fixings (we know that's a weird combination with Easter, but go with it). And in regards to Easter, we will be open at the normal time on Sunday morning with Club Sailing from 8:30 - 11:30 am.

Opening Weekend 2011

It certainly wasn't warm and harbor conditions are quite interesting, but Chicago Sailing did indeed open over last weekend. Saturday's lake conditions included heavy waves, rain, and gusty winds - necessitating a postponement of our festivities until the next day.

Sunday brought heavy western winds, but otherwise fine sailing conditions. Those who planned ahead and brought many warm layers enjoyed themselves significantly more. Tom and Todd are modeling the layers necessary for staying warm on the dock.



Right around 11 am, our houseboat headquarters returned to B Dock. We were happy to have it back in its spot on the dock. The return also kicked off an afternoon of grilling and learning more about some of our customers.



The weather prediction for this week continues our trend of unseasonably cool temperatures. If you're thinking about doing some sailing this week, give us a call to make sure boats are going out.

Operations have been slightly disrupted by the construction in the harbor. Despite the houseboat being on dock, we are currently maintaining our office at 2712 N Campbell due to a lack of power! Hopefully we will have power by the end of this week and will be able to move the office to its proper location in the houseboat.



If you have any questions, just give us a call at 773.871.SAIL. We look forward to seeing everyone and enjoying a long 2011 sailing season.

Moving Back to B Dock

Things are getting busy at Chicago Sailing. We're hoping the weather improves for opening weekend, 43 and rain requires a lot of serious equipment on Lake Michigan.

Today's sunny weather was beneficial for our crew hard at work getting the boats ready. Check out what they've been up to.

How did you choose a sailing school?

One of the projects we're currently working on is updating our website. We're adding a page that gives tips on choosing a sailing school.

Which brings us to our question... How did you choose a sailing school? What factors did you look at and which were most important to you?

52 days to go!

Dreaming of the Sailing Season

On this frigid day, I've been dreaming of a return to sailing.

Starting up the motor at the dock and feeling the boat jump forward against the dock lines...

Standing at the tiller as we head down the channel with a hand on the boom, scouting ahead and eager for the open water of the Lake...

The rush of raising first the main and then, later, the jib...

Feeling the wind catch the sails as we leave the confines of the harbor and the boat tip in response...

Finally, the calm of killing the motor and working with the wind to sail where ever the boat and I decide to go...

Sun making me squint and wind pushing hair in my face, the gurgle of the water at the back of the boat. We... Just... Can't... Wait.

I've got 3 more months to hang onto this memory, until we can get back out there.

Sometimes things just get in the way.

This past Saturday, online registration for our lessons was supposed to launch. Some people may have noticed over the weekend that we hadn't updated our website. We are sorry for the delay. In short, we've had to change our provider.

The company we had been using to provide a secure internet registration process changed their fee structure right after the New Year. We discovered last week that our costs for using the system had been increased by 600%.

At Chicago Sailing, we strive to keep our administrative costs as low as possible allowing us to focus on delivering the best sailing experience for all of our sailors. So, we're making a switch!

After a slight delay, registration will be available for all of our lessons. We anticipate being fully functional before the end of this week.

In the meantime, we would love your feedback on our Frequent Sailors Program. Please take this survey and tell us what you think!

Frequent Sailor Program

Help us design our Frequent Sailor Program!

In the off season, we adjust our existing offerings and come up with new ways to serve our customers. We'd like to offer those who sail with us frequently an opportunity to save money over the course of the season.

But, what would you truly be interested in?

Please take our survey and tell us!