Wednesday Night Beer Can Racing

Burnham Park Yacht Club will again sponsor our Wednesday Night Beer Can Regatta.

Columbia Yacht Club sponsors a Wednesday night racing series from mid-May through September for all Chicago area racers called the Chicago Beer Can Series. Boats from all clubs are scored together, by section, with an awards banquet at the end of the season. 

As part of the above, BPYC sponsors an intra-club competition scoring our boats against each other.  Weekly prizes are awarded at the club immediately following racing with end of year awards presented at our own awards ceremony. 

Please note that you must sign-up for both programs to compete in our series.

Race Format

In addition to three spinnaker sections, there is a Beneteau 36.7 one-design section and sections geared for those new to racing or choosing to race with only a jib & main.

Starts are designed to be as easy as possible. Radio check-in will not be required and is discouraged. The committee boat will make periodic courtesy radio announcements, including course, start times and any course changes.

The races start between 6:40pm and 7:10pm (depending on your section) and most are over by 9:00pm. Most skippers and crew come to the Club after the race for special pricing on drinks and a simplified menu meal. Credit cards are accepted. We announce the night’s results and present the awards as soon as possible after the race. The food, drinks, awards and enthusiastic sailors result in lots of great conversation and fun. 

Interested in racing? Whether you have your own sailboat and you’d like to get comfortable racing, you’re new to sailing all together, or are a power boater interested in what sailboat racing is all about, we can help arrange for you to go out on other racers’ boats! Just sign up on our Crew Pool page and we’ll find you a place on a BPYC boat. 

Please contact us is you have any questions about participating in BPYC’s Wednesday Night Beer Can Racing. We look forward to seeing you at the starting line!

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM, OR TO JOIN BPYC Beercan, PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW.

Best regards,
Mark and Dianne Bouckaert, BPYC Beer Can Directors 
[email protected]

ChicagoBeerCan.org

BPYC Beercan Application

CASRA (Chicago Area Sail Racing Association). CASRA is an organization comprised of five Chicago-area yacht clubs – Burnham Park Yacht Club, Chicago Yacht Club, Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club, Columbia Yacht Club, and Jackson Park Yacht Club. CASRA coordinates sail racing activities of its member clubs, and promotes growth of sailboat racing in the Chicagoland area. More details can be found at http://chicagosailracing.org/.

BPYC sponsors 4 annual CASRA races: 2 nearshore distance races, 1 offshore distance race and 1 port to port race. We are required to provide a Committee Boat for these races.  We will give you instructions, and you provide your boat and a few crew.  Let us know if you are able to volunteer for this duty.  You will be compensated              

CHICAGO TO MICHIGAN CITY TO CHICAGO – FRIDAY, JUNE30

In cooperation with Columbia Yacht Club, we sponsor a long-distance offshore race that starts in the evening in Chicago, sails to a point off Michigan City and then back to Chicago. It is a great opportunity to give your crew some night sailing in preparation for the MAC and other races involving night sailing.              

THIRD COAST CUP – SAT-SUN, AUGUST 19-20

In conjunction with Chicago Corinthians Yacht Club, we sponsor two, one-day nearshore distance races. This is a great option to the traditional round the buoys race with a more relaxed racing format. It’s a great opportunity to bring along new crew or just take it down a notch.              

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS – SUN, AUGUST 26

Save the date and organize your crew. The name says it all! A fun race we run with our neighbors to the South, Jackson Park Yacht Club.It is a one day near-shore race starting and finishing near 31st Street Harbor. This is a Pursuit Race, so your start time is dependent upon your rating. A JAM section will be included to encourage everyone to participate. It should be an exciting finish, with all boats arriving at the same time!  Racers will know exactly where they stand by simply looking at the boat ahead and behind them.In addition to normal prizes, we will have awards for women helmspersons in each section.  The Katherine A. Zukasky Trophy will be awarded to the Woman Skipper selected by the race committee based on overall performance for the race.  The perpetual trophy will be engraved accordingly and displayed at BPYC.           

ST JOE TO MICHIGAN CITY – SUN, SEPTEMBER 3

We sponsor the second leg of the infamous Tri-State Race held every year over the Labor Day weekend. It comes after a layover day in St Joe following the first leg of the race.  It is normally a light air slog down the coast which is usually a good thing for those who enjoyed the layover a bit too much.

MORF is a voluntary organization of individuals interested in sailboat racing. MORF is an “on-the-water” organization; we have no club house or shore-side presence. Our focus is entirely on organizing and running races for small and medium sized racer/cruiser type sail boats.

During the Chicago racing season from May through September MORF offers a full schedule of short-course and long-distance races conducted under the PHRF handicapping system.

Learn More at MORFRacing.org