(Chicago, St Joe, Michigan City)- The last offshore race of the Lake Michigan sailing season has traditionally been fraught with a wide variety of weather, often too much of a good thing, like wind, sun or waves. Roll on top of that serious entertainment at every venue the boats race to, specifically St Joe's, Michigan and Michigan City, Indiana, and you can understand why so many souther Lake Michigan sailors look forward to this end of the year bash. The host clubs literally go overboard to entertain the sailors, headlining top rock & roll acts from the region, like Libido Funk Circus-- wildly popular with the locals as well as the sailors.
The racing itself can be very challenging, despite the fact that each leg is literally a straight shot from port-to-port. The first leg from Chicago to St Joseph, MI had very light shifty winds, followed by a great day at the pool and the beach! The next day of racing, everything changed. A powerful northerly breeze 25+ knots always makes getting into the dredged entrance channels with long breakwaters a dangerous proposition for many. In fact, Jackson Park YC said they couldn't guarantee boats could get out of Michigan City on Monday. As a result, many boats elected to not sail the Tri-State, but sail the Bi-State and sailed back to Chicago. The consequences were an abbreviated race for many. The J/111s sailed 2/3 of the Tri-State. Breaking the streak of KASHMIR was NIGHTHAWK sailing to a 3-4 for 7 pts. KASHMIR sailed to a 7-1 for 8 pts and IMPULSE rounded out the top three getting a 6-10 for 16 pts. For more St Joe sailing results For more Michigan City sailing results
