Beginning at 1150 central on Saturday July 24th Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to Mackinac will be sailed for the 98th time.

The Start: The race starts 1.5 miles off the shoreline of Chicago. The course heads generally north and east past Little and Big Sable points on the Michigan shore and then through the Manitou passage. Boats go through the Greys Reef passage and then under the Mackinac Bridge to the finish line.

The Finish: After sailing 300+ miles, the boats cross the finish line. One end is the Round Island light, the other is on Mackinac Island proper.

How Long: Sailboats being wind powered are fully dependant on the weather and the wind and seas it produces. The newer, faster boats are now capable of covering the course well under 48 hours. A catamaran has finished in 19 hours, a mono hull has sailed it in just under 24 hours, which means a Sunday afternoon finish.

For more mortal boats anything under 48 hours, or a Monday afternoon finish is a fast passage. This means you plan to spend Saturday and Sunday night on the water expecting to finish during the day on Monday. If light winds prevail you may get a 3rd chance at night sailing. Awards are presented Tuesday afternoon so this tells you expectations are you’ll arrive Tuesday mid day at the latest.

The fleet has 24 hours to finish the race after the first boat crosses the finish line.

The winners of those awards are determined by handicap systems. This assures that boats of all sizes and types can be winners.

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