J/Teams Dominate Bayview Mackinac Race

(Port Huron, MI)- The Bayview Mackinac Race, hosted by Bayview YC, had a strong field of 239 boats that sailed in Doublehanded, PHRF and ORR handicap divisions.  The fleet was split between the two courses on offer to the sailors, with a small fleet of boats sailing the longer "Cove Island course" (which takes teams up onto the Canadian side of Lake Huron up north near a buoy to the entrance of the North Channel in Ontario, then head nearly due WNW to Mackinac Island for the finish) and the balance of boats sailed the so-called "Shore Course" (a direct shot, mostly up the eastern Michigan shoreline directly to Mackinac).  The popularity of the Shore Course has risen dramatically in recent years at it's primarily a reaching course, so teams get to Mackinac Island faster and happier (for the most part!).  The Cove Island course takes teams due north and often when turning left to head for the island, it turns into a fairly rough beat to windward (not good for Mom and the kids).

This year's race was a relatively fast one with teams starting in good breeze on Saturday and many finishing late Sunday and early Monday morning.   Sneaking in was the J/111 KASHMIR sailed by Tom Roop, taking 7th overall.  J/120s as a whole did well in this race, taking seven of the top 17 places overall.  Add in the top J/111's and results show J/Teams took nine of the top 20 places (not bad, to have nearly 50% of the top 20!).

In the Doublehanded Division on the Shore Course, the J/29 PATRIOT skippered by Lyndon Lattie took first overall followed by the J/111 NO SURPRISE sailed by Dave Irish in third place.  A fantastic performance for both boats.

The Cove Island course PHRF C class saw the two J/111s simply dominate their competitors.  Leading the fleet home was past Chicago-Mac winner KASHMIR sailed by Tom Roop, winning by over 22 minutes corrected.  Second home was Tim Clayson's UNPLUGGED, 41 minutes clear of the boat that took third!  Sailing photo credits- Martin @ ELEMENTS   For more Bayview Mackinac Island sailing information

Bayview Mackinac Preview

(Port Huron, MI)- This coming weekend, the Bayview to Mackinac Island Race starts Saturday July 20th.  This year's event has 239 entries participating across the spectrum of double-handed and fully crewed divisions in PHRF or ORR handicap racing.

The race organizers offer the sailors two options for courses: the longer Cove Island course takes teams up onto the Canadian side of Lake Huron up north near a buoy to the entrance of the North Channel in Ontario, then head nearly due WNW to Mackinac Island for the finish.  The other course is a direct shot, mostly up the eastern Michigan shoreline right to Mackinac, generally a reaching course.

Sailing in the Cove Island course in Division I is a highly competitive fleet, including a raft of past J/120 overall champions. Dueling with this gang will be two J/111s, including the Brummel/ Henderson/ Mayer trio on KASHMIR and Tim Clayson's UNPLUGGED, and the J/124 STILL MESSIN' sailed by Adam Messelman.  For more Bayview Mackinac Island sailing information

J/Navy Sail Mac Race

(Chicago, IL)- "The Mac", as it's affectionately known, kicks off Saturday, July 13, 2013 with 3,000 sailors competing in this world-class sporting event. Although the Mac remains primarily an amateur event, the race has a proven track record of attracting some of the finest sailing talent in the sport. Sailors from 15 different U.S. states as well as Ontario, Switzerland, and as far off as Hong Kong, are preparing for the race of a lifetime – the 289nm Chicago to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot.

Gathering along Chicago's waterfront are some of the world's better sailors and certainly a remarkably strong contingent of J sailors from across the lakes.  Three J/One-Design classes are represented- J/105s, J/109s and J/111s. Plus, there are J/Teams spread throughout the Double-handed and handicap classes, many who've proven time and again they're not only champions in their own classes and divisions, but quite a few who've won the Mackinac Island races overall!

Starting with the one-design classes, it will be interesting to see if the J/111 class can repeat their outstanding performance in the 2012 Mac Race, where most of the class swept the top spots overall. There are eleven J/111s including all the top contenders from last year.  Amongst the top teams from Chicago, you have several winners of recent regattas, including Paul Stahlberg's MENTAL, IMPULSE (Dr George Miz, Peter Dreher, Mark Hatfield), KASHMIR (the Mayer, Henderson, Brummel team-- the 2012 class and overall winner), Tom McIntosh's MISTY, Tom Edman/ Steve Dabrowski's NIGHTHAWK, Len Siegal's LUCKY DUBIE, Bill Smith's WOOTON and Rick Witzel's ROWDY.  From Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the team of HOBGOBLIN led by Rick Hobbs. From Michigan is 2011 double Mac Race winner NO SURPRISE sailed by Great Lakes racing legend Dave Irish. Finally, Henry Brauer's FLEETWING, recent winner at New York YC's Annual Regatta in the J/111 class will be participating as "virgin" Mac racers!

For you armchair sailors, the Chicago YC has again contracted with one of the world's leading offshore sailboat tracking companies- Yellowbrick Tracking.  You can find that on the Chicago-Mac website.  For more Chicago Mackinac Race sailing information