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Yachtapalooza Sets Sail This Weekend, Aiming To Get South Siders Excited About Boating

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EAST SIDE — A day-long open house for local boaters of all experience levels this weekend in East Side aims to be an accessible, fun draw for newbies to the nautical world, organizers said.

Yachtapalooza takes place 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Crowley’s Yacht Yard , 3434 E. 95th St.

The free, indoor event celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. It features free seminars and demonstrations, a pig roast, live music, a flea market Friday and Saturday and a three-day sale on nautical items from Boater’s Closet Friday-Sunday.

Organizers hope to draw 1,000 current and future mariners out to this year’s event, said Nick Fugate, sales manager at Crowley’s Yacht Yard.

Yachtapalooza will also include a boat showcase by Nautical Donations , Crowley’s charitable arm, featuring several rehabbed, budget-friendly boats for sale.

Proceeds from the boat sales will support nonprofits like the Chicago Maritime Society and the Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Foundation, Fugate said.

The Chicago Boat Show dropped its sailing portion in recent years and is planning a move to the suburbs next year , so this weekend “is probably the closest thing to a sailboat show that we’ve got in Chicago,” said Charles Szymanski, a Yachtapalooza organizer and president of the nonprofit Rainbow Races .

With a few dozen vendors and free seminars on topics like marine pumps and toilets, splicing line and rope, and applying epoxy and varnish, Yachtapalooza offers “anything you would need” to maintain a boat, Fugate said.

The seminars give attendees “the chance to use the products, put their hands on them and feel them, and learn a little more than watching a powerpoint on a screen,” he said.

The event is “the perfect opportunity for anyone looking to get into sailing, [with] questions about sailing or [wanting] to check out a sailboat for the first time,” Szymanski said.

Rainbow Races is one of Yachtapalooza’s featured vendors, and its members will host one of the day’s seminars. The group aims to erase barriers marginalized groups may face in getting into sailing, Szymanski said.

It’s the only U.S. Sailing-sanctioned, LGBTQ+ sailing school in the country, and the only LGBTQ+ sailing organization in the Midwest, he said.

Rainbow Races’ first day of sailing school begins May 18. The group is offering a $50 early-bird discount on sailing classes through the end of April with the discount code “hydra50.” To register, click here .

The sailing world struggles with homophobia, misogyny, elitism and other forms of discrimination prevalent in other sports, Szymanski said. Rainbow Races creates a safe community around the sport which tries to counter those problems, he said.

Despite its issues, due to the collaborative nature of sailing, it’s also “probably the most friendly sports arena I’ve experienced,” Szymanski said.

“Sailing is a true team sport,” he said. “You have to trust your crewmates with your life, and you also have to support each other.

“Sailors are aware if we don’t evolve, we die … If the wind changes, you have to change with it.”

Chicago’s sailing community is robust, particularly with groups like the Park District, local yacht clubs and Rainbow Races encouraging new people to explore the sport, Fugate said.

But with a massive lake as Chicago’s backyard and “a very strong maritime history” in the city, the community could definitely stand to grow, Szymanski said.

Yachtapalooza is a free “casual meeting of the minds” that can help spread the joy of sailing and boating and change a misperception that the community is only for the ultra-rich, Szymanski said.

Million-dollar yachts “are great to look at and to dream about, but when you get down to it, Chicago is a blue-collar city,” Szymanski said. “A lot of the folks trying to buy boats are probably younger and more [budget-conscious]. It makes this a really unique opportunity to bring people in, in a very casual, unencumbered way.”

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Maxwell Evans

Twitter @afrodip More by Maxwell Evans

• March 20, 2024
• Inland and Coastal , News

Chicago Propeller Club is back in action again

Chicago Propeller Club president-elect Chris Carr: “Chicago has an awesome maritime heritage with many businesses based here and we need to promote that better.”

Vowing to ramp up awareness of Chicago’s “underestimated” maritime status, the Chicago Propeller Club is rechartering this month after a 15 year hiatus. The club staged its first sold-out event of 2024 at the city’s University Club with club leaders emphasizing Chicago’s maritime pedigree as the principle interior trade route to the Great Lakes, Atlantic, Mississippi River, and Gulf of Mexico.

The Chicago Propeller Club was first established in 1933 and is a chapter of the International Propeller Club of the United States. It aims to encourage more networking within the diverse Chicago and Great Lakes maritime community of inland marine, deep ocean and leisure marine sectors.

Club president-elect Chris Carr, managing partner of the SBSB Eastham law firm, said Chicago needed to raise its profile nationally and internationally as a natural destination for maritime companies. He pointed out the city is already home to many of the biggest shipping lines in the world including CMA and MSC as well as a massive intermodal transport industry.

“Chicago has an awesome maritime heritage with many businesses based here and we need to promote that better,” he said. “The Propeller Club can play a big role in this by bringing the Great Lakes and Mid West maritime community together from manufacturers to shipping lines and barge operators to professional services and Government. We’re already seeing business being done and more than 200 people have attended our three events since November.”

More than 70 guests gathered at the University Club’s Gallery Room for the initial 2024 event, including representatives of Spliethoff, BP Shipping, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation , American Equity Underwriters, QSL stevedores, Gallagher Insurance, Travelers and Tunley Environmental.

Speakers at the event included Ryan McCoy from Ports of Indiana, Jeff Zuercher from the U.S .Army Corps of Engineers and Grant Crowley, owner of Crowley Yacht Yard, speaking on behalf of seafarer charity Stella Maris.

Carr told the audience that the club has now opened a bank account and members can sign up for $150 via the club website .

“By the interest received over our three events, we are extremely confident that we can have an initial membership roll of close to 100 and we have already collected a number of sponsors enabling us to host four very high-quality events in 2024,” he said.

BOARD MEMBERS ELECT NAMED

A board of volunteer officials has been established. Its members include Erik Varela executive director of Illinois International Port District, Ian Hirt of Benchmark Marine and the Ports of Indiana, Ben Pinnington managing partner of Polaris Media and Tara Pappalardo of RLI Marine.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

Club vice president elect Ben Pinnington said the club is aiming to add value to members staging receptions on May 22,, Maritime Day and August 7 at the American Great Lakes Ports Association conference. He also pointed to events being staged by the International Propeller Club including its Salute to Congress in June and the Annual Convention in October.

The event was sponsored by Armada Risk Partners 5R Enterprises, Polaris Media America LLC, SBSB Eastham and Sonihull Ultrasonic Antifouling.

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Local News | Is Wilmette Harbor wait list the best plan?

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Access to the Wilmette Harbor has been a constant theme in the two-year debate over which organization is best qualified to manage it.

Depending on who’s talking, the Wilmette Harbor Association, which has managed the harbor for 75 years, is either David or Goliath — a humble organization doing its best to manage high demand for a relatively small harbor, or a private club for wealthy yacht owners with a notorious wait list.

That piece of the debate figures to linger on well after the resolution of the harbor issue, which could come Thursday when the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board of Commissioners again considers the Wilmette Harbor Association’s lease bid. The decision on a lease has been tabled at the past two meetings.

“I think it’s very important for everyone to get a fair shake,” said Sabine Herber, executive director of the Wilmette Harbor Association.

Herber’s father was on the wait list for 23 years. She was in charge of the harbor eight of those years.

“I’m a total girl scout when it comes to the list,” she said.

It’s the most equitable system, Herber said. Even if you don’t have a boat, you can walk in the door and put your name on the wait list, she said. It cost $25 a year to be on the list. And depending on the kind of boat, your wait may be one year or 18.

Currently, there are about 165 people on the wait list, Herber said.

“Demand will always outstrip supply when you grant perpetual licenses,” said Fritz Duda, a director of Wilmette Harbor Management, one of two groups to outbid the Wilmette Harbor Association.

It’s unclear whether Wilmette Harbor Management still has a dog in the hunt. At the last MWRD commissioners meeting, MWRD Executive Director David St. Pierre said Wilmette Harbor Management and the other high bidder, CentrePointe Yacht Services were deemed “financially non-responsive” and that the determination would not change with deferrals.

But Duda and his colleagues still contend that the harbor needs to be expanded for greater public use — and they’re not alone.

In contrast to the current wait list model, under Wilmette Harbor Management’s plan, the 300 or slip holders at the harbor would have to join a public online bidding process for slips.

There would be some “premium” 10-year slips available for additional cost, as well as 5-year and annual slips, Duda said. Without a long-term capital plan, it’s not yet possible to know how many slips of each type would be allocated, he said. The harbor would also have boat clubs to open more access, he said.

The lottery system would create a “built-in friction,” Duda said, that would allow for more turnover and more revenue for needed repairs. It would all be done transparently, posted online for anyone to see.

The Wilmette Harbor Association’s wait list is not posted online. Herber said the list has applicants’ personal information that shouldn’t be made public.

As for Harbor Management’s lottery system, Herber maintained it would favor the wealthy and leave many boat owners high and dry.

The Wilmette Harbor is small, she said, and the recommended course for new boaters is to start small. The size of boat for the wait list is capped at 22 feet, she said, but after permit holders are in the harbor for three years, they can put their names on the change of mooring list for larger slips.

There are currently 106 people on the change of mooring list, Herber said.

Fleets of “one design” racing sailboats are the easiest way in, Herber said. Because the fleets are the same design, and act the same way in water, they can be tied to mooring cans out in the harbor.

So, many boat owners start small, with one of the one-design racing sailboats, she said, and then work their way up to a larger boat slip. Boaters can also partner up on mooring slips, giving them more access for less cost, Herber said.

That’s what Marshall Moretta did. After moving to Wilmette in the 1970s, Moretta put his name on the wait list. In the meantime, he partnered with another boater who had a slip in a racing fleet at the harbor. In total, he spent about 10 years on the waiting list and another 10 years on the change of mooring list. But he was sailing the entire time. And now he has a 28-foot sailboat in the harbor.

“I can only speak from experience,” Moretta said. “But it’s very easy if you’re willing to access through smaller boats and, in particular, racing fleets.”

Of course, that’s not for everyone. Howard Gopman, also of Wilmette, is a fisherman and has no interest in sailing. Gopman said he looked into getting a slip at the harbor for his 18-foot fishing boat years ago, but said he was turned off by what he felt was the exclusive nature of the association.

Gopman, an attorney, is also a member of the Arlington Anglers Fishing Club. He recently wrote a letter with 46 signatures from other fishermen in the club to the MWRD Board of Commissioners, urging them to consider the Wilmette Harbor Management plan instead.

Gopman concluded his letter: “To do otherwise is to perpetuate the stain of privilege. This is not the eighteenth century.”

John Kennedy has sailed out of the harbor for about 30 years and has never been on the waiting list. He races a 27-foot Soling, one of the fleet boats with only a year or two wait list. There was no wait at all when he applied for a slip three decades ago.

“It’s important not to look at this as a homogenous thing where every slip is the same,” said Kennedy, who also serves on the board of director for the Sheridan Shore Yacht Club, which is a separate entity also housed at the harbor.

Kennedy takes issue with the perception that the harbor is run as an exclusive club. Supported by the Wilmette Harbor Association’s operation, the yacht club’s sailing school brought in over 400 kids last summer. There are many different ways to access the harbor, he said, but a limited number of boat slips.

“As much as it would be wonderful to open the harbor up to everyone, there’s only so many seats at Wrigley Field,” Kennedy said.

A boat ramp could help address the question of access.

That’s another piece of the Wilmette Harbor Management plan : work with neighboring land owners, such as the Wilmette Park District and the Baha’i Temple to open up more access, including a launch.

The Wilmette Harbor Association can launch non-member boats with a crane, Herber said, but there are no plans for a boat ramp at the harbor because of space limitations .

“I’m not adverse to the idea,” Herber said, “but I don’t see where it would fit.”

Robert Josellis has some ideas. He’s a Wilmette boater, too, though it’s looking like he may not be able to launch this year. He never got on the waiting list at the harbor and has never felt inclined to do so. He has a 24-foot power boat that he typically takes out with his teenage children almost every day in the summer, out on the lake where there are minimal distractions.

“It’s just tremendous with the kids,” Josellis said. “They’re not on the cellphone. They’re swimming. And we’re talking.”

Usually, they launch from Lloyd Beach in Winnetka, but that ramp likely will be closed this summer due to low water levels.

“It seems strange there’s no place to put in in Wilmette,” Josellis said.

He doesn’t have strong opinions about who manages the harbor. But he hopes they’ll make an effort to work with the park district. He envisions a boat launch somewhere where the park district’s dog beach bumps up against MWRD property.

In the meantime, options are limited. A trip to the Lake Forest boat launch would mean an hour of driving, from house to launch, and more than a $1,000 more in non-resident launch fees, Josellis said. For now, he waits.

“There’s really nowhere to go,” he said.

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Twitter: @NorthShoreTrib

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