By Jon Malavolti
C & G Sports Writer

Bruce Burton wasn’t excited about finishing in 27th place (out of 83) in the June 23-28 Etchells World Championship sailing event, which was hosted by the Chicago Yacht Club’s Belmont Harbor Station.

But the skipper, a 52-year-old Grosse Pointe Farms resident, wasn’t devastated either.
“One of the things when you get older, it’s more about, ‘do you have the complete regatta experience,’ rather than just your finish position,” Burton said.

Entering the race — which is actually a series of six races on Lake Michigan — Burton, who won the event in 1986 and 1987, didn’t have high expectations. Yet after finishing tied for fourth in a preliminary regatta with teammates Glenn Burton and Jon Easley, he thought a top-10 finish was possible.

But things didn’t go their way, even though on the fourth day of competition they finished in an event-best eighth place.

“We just didn’t get it together at all during the regatta,” Burton said. “We had a lot of things go wrong out on the race course for us; we just weren’t in sync. I have to say, we’re pretty disappointed in our end result, but we had a great time.”

“It’s a good way to spend a week or two vacationing.”

Burton said there’s an advantage for many of the younger sailors who consistently finish at the top of prestigious events, as they are not far removed from collegiate and possibly Olympic experience.

Burton, a former member of the U.S. Sailing Team, is hardly a full-time sailor now, dedicating most of his time to his family and three manufacturing businesses.

“It’s hard to really stay at the level,” he said. “But that’s part of the thrill of it for me, to go out there and sail against the best guys.

“One of the main reasons I do it is I find that I’m much more revitalized. When I go to a regatta and come back, I just have such a more positive attitude about everything I’m doing. It just gives you a great rush, and it really breaks up the work year.”

Re-energized and ready to go, Burton’s next focus is on evaluating what went wrong on the 30-foot racing yacht at the World Championship and getting it fixed so they have a better showing at the upcoming Canadian National and Great Lakes sailing championships.

The team is the defending champion in both events.

The Canadian National Championship is Aug. 7-10 in Kingston, Ontario, while the Great Lakes event has yet to be finalized.

“Our goal is to try and defend our titles,” Burton said.

You can reach Sports Writer Jon Malavolti at jmalavolti@candgnews.com or at (586)
498-1040.