Tartan Ten Ratty

Montrose Harbor

Chicago, Illinois

Ratty is berthed in Montrose Harbor, Chicago, Illinois. Our first year we planned to race in Wednesday club night races, Jib and Main. After the crew was used to the boat, we raced club races in the Tartan 10 class. Having won some races, we are looking forward to a more advanced Tartan 10 racing program. We sail out of CCYC's Montrose Harbor (4400 North).

Racing at Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club (CCYC)

Sailboat racing tradition has Yacht Clubs both having their own racing programs and sponsoring races for boats from all over. Chicago has an active city-wide racing schedule. We have a lot to fit in to only half of the year.

Club Races

Inter-Club, City-wide, Area III, National Races

Of course racing is all about competition. More boats are more competition.

RATTY is a Tartan 10. Basically, the Tartan 10 was the first big "one design" boat, ignoring rating rules for handicapping different boats -- intended to compete with similar boats. While there are other boats meeting this description, the Tartan 10 today remains an economical and easy to handle boat.

In Chicago there is a large one design fleet, so the possibility for very competitive racing exists.

If you are interested in finding out more about the boat, the National Class Association has information, and there is an article about the boat, in the sailing hall of fame. The Chicago class has a web page.

In her first race, RATTY took a first place. In the second season we collected a trophy for club racing.

We started out not approaching racing at a super intense level, although we like to try to win. But the Tartan 10 class tends to bring out the competitor in everyone. With adequate crew and preparation we look forward to racing in the very competitive one design races.

In 2010 we raced our first Mackinac race and were happy with our placement -- better than most of our rivals, ahead of some very fast boats -- but the T-10 class front runners are quite good. Consistent crew work, three pretty good helms, and good judgment about conditions and trends were advantageous, and we see room for improvement.

In 2012 we set a goal to place well in the Chicago Tartan 10 fleet's Port to Port standings. With several good races, including seventh place out of 25 T-10s in the Mac, we were third in the Boat of the Year, Port to Port results.

The following year, Dave and Dan placed second in the double handed There and Back race.

2015 brought the Leukemia Cup as a personal goal and we finished first n the T-10 section.

What's it like to crew on Ratty? You have the ability. We've raced with everyone from experienced sailors, who race their own boats, to one person who had never been on a boat before. Some great things about sailboat racing in a competitive fleet are:

See also Sailing Magazine Article

dbrezina@ladas.net

Updated 9-2-2015

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Contents Copr 2005-2010 David C Brezina