Reports from the water of decent winds, strengthen the possibility of some Sunday evening finishers in the 101st Race to Mackinac.

Greg Freeman, crew on Salsa called in to report about 3:45 EDT and said they were moving along at 7.8 knots and were just at Big Point Sable. Freeman said the winds were blowing 6-8 knots from the northwest and it is a bright sunny day, albeit a bitty chilly. ‘It’s better than expected, and different than expected,’ skipper Pete Stott relayed in the background. ‘After the 5-6 hour mark, we were all wondering if we should extend our reservations until Wednesday,’ Freeman joked when asked about the light winds at the start. Now having raced about 25 hours at this point, Freeman added ‘we’d love to go faster, but at least were at the half-way point and its been a fun day.’ The winds for Salsa started north, northwest, shifted northeast and now are back to northwest, changing Salsa’s strategy to sail west of the rhumb line. At the time of this report, Salsa had crossed over to the east and is in sight of about 15 other boats. ‘A fair number of boats near us were heading east along with us as the breeze filled in, although the fleet is still fairly spread out at this point.’

Salsa, a Sydney 41 in Section 2, is one of the faster boats in the fleet, although all eyes on are on the Cruising Division, who have taken advantage of the better conditions with and a 21 hour head start. Between the tracking, which shows Intangible (Hinsdale, Ill.), Tomorrow’s Sunshine(Bradenton, Fla.) and Dogdayz (New Baltimore, Mich.) within 46 nautical miles of the finish, and the Race Committee spotting the tips of a few masts in the distance under the Bridge, we may see some finishers this evening. However, as Mac veterans know anything can change and it could still be many hours before the anxious spectators get a glimpse of the first boat to the Island. In the meantime, the line is forming outside the Grand Hotel veranda for the annual Cocktail Party, the traditional gathering of the wives who are waiting for their sailors to arrive.

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