Brisk & cold 20-25 knot conditions at Chicago's Navy Pier allow completion of 10
flights in Round Robin

Chicago, IL - After 10 flights completed in a day that started in cold rain and
ended in warm sunshine, US Virgin Islander Taylor Canfield and his team took the
early lead at the Chicago Match Race Center's June Grade 2 Invitational presented
by Eurex. This is first event of the 2012 CMRC season being held at Chicago's Navy
Pier, and is a qualifier for July's Chicago Match Cup, the only US stop on the Alpari
World Match Racing Tour.

Blustery conditions kept mainsails reefed for most of the day, with the action kept
close by teams who had superior boathandling skills. This rewarded the well-honed
teams like Canfield's, who are in their 4th season racing at CMRC on the TOM 28's
used in this event; current runner-up Jordan Reece, who has been extremely active
in Down Under events; CMRC founder Don Wilson, who won the Grade 2 here two weeks
ago; and US Women's Match Race Champion Sally Barkow, who has been racing and training
hard for the past 3 years on the Olympic trail.

One skipper who did well today relative to his ranking is Laser sailor Brad Funk,
who on four wins did not break into the top tier for today, but still managed to
defeat some higher-ranked teams.

"I brought with me a couple of my dinghy-sailing friends from Florida," said Funk.
"and so it took a while to work out our mechanics at the beginning of the day. But
we got better, and had some good matches."

One was in Flight 2 where Funk trailed Mike Quaglio, who led the match but had a
penalty earned in the pre-start. On a breezy first downwind leg, Funk tried hard
to chase down Quaglio, got caught in a puff, then did a spectacular broach that
entertained a small but dedicated spectator crowd who braved the elements to watch
from at the end of Navy Pier. Quaglio then extended far enough on the second beat
to do his penalty turn, but Funk sailed upwind well enough to close the gap rapidly
to be within striking distance on the final run to the finish.

On this run, with pressure being brought from behind by Funk, Quaglio's team botched
their gybe, wrapping their spinnaker around the headstay, allowing Funk to pass
and take the match.

As the wind abated and skies cleared, the day ended with the running of the Eurex
Pro-Am Cup, with guests from Eurex joining members of the match race teams to do
three fleet races sailed in front of Navy Pier.

Round robin racing continues tomorrow at 9 AM with two flights remaining. The next
stage will be a Repechage round, where the eight lowest finishers among the field
of ten will sail another complete Round Robin, while the top two advance to the
Quarter-Finals. Expert commentary from match race veterans Scott Dickson, Andy Green
and Dobbs Davis will entertain spectators, who will have full view of all the action
from bleacher seating set up for the public the end of the Pier.

Daily highlight videos, photos and results are available on the CMRC website at
www.chicagomatchrace.com