Terry Kohler's Evolution won the 2011 Great Lakes 70 Season Championship.  Lance Smotherman's Details came in second and John Nedeau's Windancer was third. 

The season championship was hotly contested all season long.  The Chicago Yacht Club Verve Cup was the last regatta of the season for the GL70s and thngs were very tight at the top of the season championship standings with Details leading Evolution by a slim 5 point margin.  Evolution needed to sail very well in the regatta to overtake Details and came out smoking to overtake Details.  On the last race of the last day, Details beat Evolution to tie up the standings.  Evolution won the season championship on a tie breaker!

Congratulations to all GL70 owners and crews on a great season!!!

 Terry Kohler's Evolution put together an impressive string of races to win the GL70 class in the Chicago Yacht Club's Verve Cup.  Lance Smotherman's Details and John Nedeau's Windancer were tied after two days of racing with Details claiming 2nd place and Windancer 3rd on the final day of racing.  Thirsty Tiger took 4th and Pororocca 5th to round out the results.  The racing was very tight all weekend with many lead changes in each race.  Here is a link to the Chicago Yacht Club Verve Cup web site for more information: CYC Verve Cup

Bill Martin and his team aboard the GL 70 Stripes won First to Finish, First in Class and First Overall in the 2011 Trans Superior.  When Stripes finished the nearest competitor was more than 60 miles out.  The GL 70s continue to dominate.

The next TransSuperior starts August 3rd, 2013 for more information go to www.transuperior.com.

John Nedeau and his crew aboard the GL 70 Windancer set a record in the 25^th running of the Clipper Cup.  Windancer sailed the course from Muskegon, MI to Port Washington, WI in just over 7 hours and 1 minute.  She broke the record previously held by the super-cat Nice Pair. Windancer did so with a family and friends crew aboard, including six children ranging in age from 7 yrs to 11 yrs old. …

After 2 months of hard racing, the GL70 Season Championship standings are very tight at the top.  Lance Smotherman's Details leads the class closely followed by Bill Martin's Stripes and Terry Kohler's Evolultion.  John Nedeau's Windancer is within striking distance.  The season champion will be decided at the Chicago Yacht Club's Verve Cup August 19th through 21st.  Check back here for more updates!

Lance Smotherman's Details won the GL70s class in the 2011 Bells Beer Bayview Mackinac.  Details was followed by Terry Kohler's Evolution in 2nd and Bill Martin's Stripes in 3rd.    Thirsty Tiger, Windancer and Pororoca rounded out the GL70 class finish order.  For more race information and race tracking click here for the Bells Bayview Mackinac Web Site.

John Nedeau's Windancer, Lance Smotherman's Details and Bill Martin's Stripes took the top three spots in the Turbo class of  the 103rd running of the Chicago Yacht Club's Race to Mackinac.  In addition, Windancer  and the other GL70s took first, second and third place honors in the Chicago-Mackinac Trophy division.  For more information, see the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac web site.

Seven Great Lakes 70s will be competing in the Chicago Yacht Club's 103rd Race to Mackinac.  The 70s will be in the Turbo class and will be starting at 2:20 PM CDT.  Here are some links to key websites for more race information.

Race to Mackinac Web Site

Race Entry List

On Friday night, July 1^st four Great Lakes 70s will race across Lake Michigan from Milwaukee, WI to Muskegon in the Queen’s Cup. The GL 70s are expected to be among the first finishers, finishing sometime in the middle of the night to early morning hours. What separates these boats and crews from the remainder of the Queen’s Cup fleet is that while the other crews celebrate their races, are fast asleep recovering from their crossing, or are possibly still trying to finish, at Noon on Saturday each of the GL 70s will line up and square off in two inshore races on Muskegon Lake.

It is not every day that one gets to see four seventy foot racing boats crossing tacks and rounding buoys in the confines of an inland lake. In fact, it has yet to be done. The boats competing will be Evolution, from Sheboygan Wisconsin, Details from Detroit, Pororoca from Chicago and Muskegon’s own Windancer.

Muskegon Yacht Club will host the race and aboard each GL 70 will be a junior sailor from the Muskegon Junior Sailing Program. “It’s a great way to get the younger sailors exposed to big boat sailing as well as raise some funds for their program.” said Sam Nedeau, executive director of the Great Lakes 70 Association.

If the wind cooperates the boats plan to run the length of Muskegon Lake for each of the races which should provide for great viewing both from on the water and ashore.

A little more sun, but still brisk temperatures and winds greeted the GL70 class on Day 3 of the Chicago NOOD regatta.  Terry Kohler's Evolution defended their first place position, but the racing remained close with a very tight 3 boat race for 2nd and 3rd.  In the end, Bill Martin's Stripes took second on a tie-breaker over Lance Smotherman's Details in 3rd, with John Nedeau's Windancer 4th.  Here are the standings for the 3rd day and the cumulative scoring.

Race 6

Race 7

Cumulative Scoring

Day 2 of the Chicago NOOD Regatta brought more wind and more fog than expected.  The GL70  class had 3 races and the results tightened up the standings for the weekend considerably.  The following are the results for the racing today:

Race 3

Race 4

Race 5

Cumulative Standings

It was a foggy day with variable winds at the Chicago NOODs today.  The GL70 class completed 2 races on their circle with Terry Kohler's Evolution collecting 2 bullets.  As usual, the racing was close and it is sure to be competitive for the rest of the weekend.

Race 1 Results:

Race 2 Results: