Around The World Of Sailing

Water Level Update

Below you'll find water level info that pertains to Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Reference Point- Measurements in Inches

Difference from Chart Datum +14
Difference from last month +1
Difference from last year +13
Difference from long term average for July -9
Difference from Record High -40
Difference from Record Low +23
Forecast for 30 August 2004 +0

Click for information on other lakes.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Commodore's Cup. Portugal Match Cup

News Coutts has plans. Meanwhile at Alinghi

Great Lakes LTYC regatta. Beachcombing ban. Ferry trip lengthended

Percy & Mitchell Update

Skandia Set Sail athletes, Iain Percy and Steve Mitchell, are back in the UK for a well-earned rest before the final lead-up to the Olympic Games in Athens in August.

"We spent three weeks in Athens, one week longer than planned. This enabled us to practice in a range of different wind conditions and has proved to be a good investment of our time. Before we left, we managed to take the day off from sailing to get the boat ready, so that when we get back in a few days it will be ready to go.” (Steve)

“We will be coming back to Athens via Cyprus where will be staying in a BOA (British Olympic Association) holding house so we get to meet the other British Olympic athletes. We’re very much looking forward to this - I think being with all the other sports men and women will really bring home that the Olympics are upon us.” (Iain)

"I've just had a couple of days in Bath visiting the English Institute of Sport which is based here. A couple of guys who work out the team in Athens have been here helping me out: Marcus Church, the strength and conditioning coach and Chris Price, the physio who both work under the guidance of Dr Pete Cunningham, head of the British Sailing Team Sport Science. We’ve just had a big session in the gym with Pete, and now the last thing to do before we leave is to check in with our sponsor, Skandia. We wouldn’t be where we are now without their help and support.” (Iain)

"It's been nice to be back at home for a week but to be honest we feel ready for our event in the Star and want to get on with it. I think right now we are as ready as we'll ever be." (Steve)

Skandia 6th in Leg 1 of Figaro

IN BRIEF:

*SAM SCORES HER BEST RESULT SO FAR IN FIGARO CIRCUIT AS FLEET ARRIVES IN PORTSMOUTH, UK FOR FIRST TIME

*ONLY 8 MINUTES SEPARATING TOP 10 BOATS - the four leg race is based on cumulative time, making this leg less decisive than it might have been

*FAST TURNAROUND, MAXIMUM RECUPERATION REQUIRED, NEXT BIG 463 MILE LEG STARTS TOMORROW AT 1030HRS BST

IN DETAIL:

At 20:15:56 (BST) yesterday evening Skandia, the turquoise boat of Sam Davies crossed the finish line of the first leg of the Solitaire Figaro. Davies finished just 3 minutes 14 seconds behind the winner of this first leg, Yann Elies. The 156 mile leg from Caen to Portsmouth took Davies a total of 32 hours, 46 minutes and 46 seconds.

Sam's ranking of 6th in the fleet of 52 is a personal best for Sam in her Solitaire Figaro career to date (previously her best result was 7th in the 4th leg of last year’s event)

Davies arrived into Portsmouth's Gunwharf Quays wearing her distinguishing smile.

THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF THE LEG:
"The first night was the most difficult. I was tired and the wind was changing all the time, I had to work hard to maintain my position in the fleet. I was close behind Jeremy Beyou so my focus and attention was set on getting past him. But it was worth the effort - at one stage I closed my eyes to try and get some rest and when I looked up again Jeremy was right at my bow, I never let him pull away from me again."

Beyou, finished the leg in 3rd position, just minutes in front of Sam.

TO ARRIVE IN PORTSMOUTH:
"Sure, I am happy to arrive back at home! Very, very happy! I’m not sure if there was any home advantage for me in the final miles, I have, in fact, only passed here twice before, the last time was for the Round Britain record on the maxicat so that time I definitely wasn’t thinking about solo light wind strategy. I guess the best advantage was that some of my friends came out on the water to greet me, that was great."

THE BEST MOMENT:
"This morning, when I made a good tactical decision and progressed into the leader pack. That, and then managing to stay with them until the finish line!"

OVERALL REVIEW OF THE FIRST LEG:
"I am mentally pretty tired but the light winds mean I am physically in good shape. We never had more than 11 knots of wind throughout the leg. I have been working on the boat throughout so I have slept a minimal amount and have eaten almost nothing. I did keep drinking though, water, coke, yoghurt drinks – there was a lot of talk on the radio between the skippers about guys getting sore heads from the dehydration but, I think I had enough
fluids, I physically feel fine."

"I am really pleased with my position, I would love to head out and celebrate but this is just the first of a four stage event so, as soon as the boat is safe I am heading to get some sleep and then work on the weather and strategy for Friday start of leg two."

Sam was in 19th position on rounding the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse and gradually edged her way up the fleet reaching 5th position at the Owers buoy mark, 19 miles from the finish.

HOW IT FEELS TO BE BACK ON THE SOLENT AND DOES IT HELP KNOWING THESE WATERS?
"Great, I have not seen England for a long time, but it is strange because I do not normally sail near these coasts. The last time was when we made a Round Britain and Ireland attempt on a fast catamaran and tactics like these do not really matter. A lot of tactical decisions are dependent on meteorological situations, but I do hope it is a little bit of an advantage! I am feeling very good, happy with my boat Skandia, my plan is not to make too many mistakes, its nice because I made a good shift this morning, it is nice because I am back up with the leaders"

A race that is fought for on a one design boat means that the first over the line wins, Sam’s tactics are clear:
"I do not want to take any risks, just get a good result, not a first yet, that will be next year, and if I am in first place when the finish comes I will take it!"

It has been a short but tough leg for the skippers competing in the 35th edition of La Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro race. At the mercy of light and changeable winds, currents and tides, the skippers have had to fight nail and tooth throughout the 156-mile course.

After a 30-minute delay to the start on Tuesday, due to the light winds in the Bay of Caen, the skippers all set off on the first leg to Portsmouth under 4 knots of breeze.

LEG 1 POSITIONS
1 ELIES Yann Groupe Generali Assurances 21:13:32
2 KOCH Antoine Nobody +1'00''
3 BEYOU Jérémie Delta Dore +1'10''
4 PETIT Benoit Défi Santé Voile +1'54''
5 CHABAGNY ThierryLe Caennais B'M +2'18''
6 DAVIES Samantha Skandia +3'14''
7 LE CLEAC'H ArmelFoncia - TBS +3'26''
8 TABARLY Erwan Thalès +4'03''
9 NELIAS Jean-Luc Chauss-Europ +7'17''
10 ATTANASIO RomainPort Trebeurden 8'48''

The Figaro fleet is now at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. The second leg of the race, 463 milles from Portsmouth à Saint-Gilles Croix de Vie, starts tomorrow (Friday 30th July) at 1030BST with boats leaving Gunwharf between 0830-0900hrs BST.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Coutts still winning after axing

TP 52 Trader is afloat

News California rescue. Match race rankings

Trader's Bow

Great Lakes Medivac. Hook Race photos. Dreyer adds running to swimming

Catamaran returning from the Mac race anchored off the resident beach cats in Muskegon

Syrena is 1st to Finish in Slow HOOK Race

Sixty-eight racing boats left Racine on Saturday morning expecting a quick sail up the lake under bright skies and moderate winds. It wasn’t to be. By the time the last finish reports were handed in at Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club on Monday night at 10pm, most racers had averaged 50 hours on the water, much of it in frustratingly light air. Forty-one boats completed the race within the time limit. Taking line honors and the Overall HOOK trophy was Syrena, a B-32 owned by Nicholas & Angela Hayes of the Milwaukee Yacht Club, racing in Division 1. Her elapsed time on the course was 42 hours and twenty-nine minutes.

This was the 21st running of the annual race up the lake, through Death's Door and down the bay to finish at the west entrance to the Sturgeon Bay canal. Sponsored by Racine Yacht Club, it is open to all boats capable of offshore passage and is scored under PHRF. It is traditionally run the same weekend as the Chicago Mac race as an alternative way to get north for the post-race cruising season. Complete results can be found at the web site www.racineyachtclub.org.

Link Sailing News

Racing Portugal Match Race

News Coutts story

Great Lakes Mac concludes. Winner List

Orange II to New York

The Orange II maxi-catamaran, skippered by Bruno Peyron, has left her Atlantic base in Lorient (Le Défi technical base) today at 15:45 and is heading for New York, her sights set on the North Atlantic record (crewed).
Orange II should be in New York around August 8, and immediately switch on the stand-by mode in order to seize the best weather window possible.

After having been owned by Jet Services V catamaran for 10 years, the absolute record is today held by Steve Fossett (USA) with only 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 6 seconds. This benchmark time was established aboard the PlayStation maxi-catamaran at a dazzling 25.78 knots of average speed!

Bruno Peyron, prior to his departure: "we will try and leave with the boat as light as possible, but should be at least 11 on board. We'll set our objectives progressively, the first one possibly being the 24-hour record - and maybe we'll try and approach the 700-mile barrier...

As far as the Atlantic record itself is concerned, we know that the current performance is outstanding, and we'll have the obligation to leave New York at the end of August, in order to pursue our program of records in the Mediterranean in early September.

The chance of finding a weather window in such a short period of time remains quite reduced, and we know this period is not the best one could dream of for this record. Our goal is nevertheless to sail the boat as much as we can, in order to keep working on her optimisation for our next Jules Verne attempt next winter. And if we have a chance to add one more record to Orange's list of achievements, we won't miss it. We dearly wish to come home to Marseilles with a substantial result, of any nature?.

Updated Racing Rules

US SAILING announced today that the production of The Racing Rules of Sailing 2005-2008 Including US SAILING Prescriptions is on schedule and will be available before the end of the year. The Racing Rules are effective on January 1, 2005. Members of US SAILING will receive a free copy of the new rules before the end of the year and additional copies will be available for purchase through US SAILING?s online store. Dave Perry's Understanding the Racing Rules Through 2008, a companion to The Racing Rules of Sailing, is currently being produced and will also be available by the end of the year.

The Racing Rules of Sailing are revised and published every four years by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and the U.S. rulebook includes rules adopted by US SAILING for events held in the U.S.

An electrion version of the 2005-2008 rules is available.

2004 Mac Concludes

The 2004 Chicago Mac race will take it's place on the short list of slowest Mac's ever. First to finish Genuine Risk sailed the course in 32 + hours, 7 hours slower than the record they hoped to break. Despite the light conditions the new 90 footer averaged 10.11 knots!

On handicap Genuine Risk was edged by the recently launched Esmeralda which scored another win for the Farr design team. Windquest, formerly known as Zephurus V, completed a top 3 overall in the Mackinac Cup division. These three boats showcased the latest in sailing technology.

For the great portion of the rest of the fleet, 10 knots was something not seen in boat speed, and rarely in wind speed. Our pre race weather outlook said: A high pressure of 1028 MB will appear over the lake on Saturday and then "stall". Stall was a fully descriptive word. The high stalled and much of the fleet along with it.

90 was a number seen again as in 90 boats Did Not Finish the race. While boats have gotten faster, people's patience has shortened accordingly.

It's interesting that both Mac races were considered slow this year. The Port Huron race had 4 DNF's on the longer Southampton course and 12 on the Shore Course, 16 total.

For whatever reason the Chicago fleet was much more prone to not finishing. I'm sure Lake Huron sailors will trumpet these numbers.

They'll have more happy news in that 5 of the 7 boats that won flags in both races were from Lake Huron.

After days of light air sailing, and nights with even less wind, the 2004 Mac eventually came to an end. While boats still competed the traditional awards ceremony went on as scheduled and some sailors to their chagrin missed the free rum party.

Boats continued finishing with regularity into Wednesday morning. The final boat to cross the line was Misty at 0306 Wednesday. Misty is a classic Concordia Yawl. These were built between 1938 and 1966, with 103 the number produced. Misty's slow trip did not go unrewarded, she was 6th in section and 38th out of 101 overall. With the bleeding edge Genuine Risk 1st over the line, Misty served as a classy wooden book end to the race.

The trying conditions called for Perseverance (winner in the J120 class), maybe some good Karma (1st in the Beneteau 36.7's). The Top Dog prevailed-at least in the Tartan 10's- although Rover was on his heels, again in the Tartan 10's. Providence (1st section) may seem to have favored some, although there were no Twister's (winner section 1) sighted.

Chicago Mac Winner List

Overall winners of the 2004 Chicago Mac are as follows:

Bozo's Circus, owned by Bruce Metcalf of the Chicago Yacht Club, won the Chicago-Mackinac Trophy Division in a corrected time of 43 hours, 59 minutes, 38 seconds.

Esmeralda, owned by Makoto Uematsu of Seabornia Yacht Club in Japan, won the Mackinac Cup division in 37:05:17.

Earth Voyager, owned by Ryan and Todd Howe of Genesee Yacht Club, won the Multihull Division in 53:15:10.

The Top 3 in each section are listed below

How'd The Favorites Do II

Due to the slowness of the race we have another day to consider and analyze as the boats continue make way to the Island. Last week we named 10 favorites, boats that based on past races, that might finish well.

Six of these 10 boats have finishes and it looks like a jinx/hex maybe in the making. Denali and Windancer VI named as favorites were last in the Turbo and GL 70 classes. Rosebud was 5th in the Turbo class.

Three on the list Saturn, Holua and Eagle have placed 3rd in class, section's 1, GL 70 and Section 3 respectively.

Bantu ended a long race on Tuesday with a 2nd in Section 8.

Bacchant finished 15th in Section 3. It appears as though the light conditions caught up with the old gal.

Mischief a T10 was 16th in her one design while Gamera ended up 7th in multi hulls.

These boats were selected based on past finishes in the top 3. In 2004 they produced an average finish of 7.3 with 4 boats placing in the top 3 in their section. Being expected to win isn't easy. Since some new boats were in the top 3 this list will look different in 2005.

Double Flag Winners

Here are the boats that took home brag flags for both Mac Races

Earth Voyager- 2nd Open Port Huron, 1st Multi Hulls Chicago
Holua- 3rd GL 70's both races
Saturn 1st in Section Port Huron, 3rd Chicago
Natalie J 2nd in Section both races
Power Tripp- Section Winner Port Huron, 3rd Chicago
XS 3rd Section F Port Huron, 3rd Section 7 Chicago
Batu 1st in Section Port Huron, 2nd in Section 8 Chicago

Another lull -

Tuesday, July 27, 1800 Michigan Time.

The rush of finishers has tapered off - with very few arrivals in the last hour.
XS, a Beneteau 38, has just called in from the bridge.

Dock count shows 33 racers at the Arnolds Dock and approximately 100 boats docked in the Municipal Marina. The rotation continues with many racers leaving to get a good slip at Harbor Springs or maybe to head home.

There is still a constant breeze from the west, northwest. Hopefully it is bringing yet more racers to the island.

MidAfternoon Finishes

A large portion of the Chicago-Mackinac Cup fleet is arriving.

Most are finishes - a few are drop outs arriving for the party:
A partial list of current boats:
Retriever, New World, Gonzo, Challenge, Mystery, Bantu, CC Rider, Assassin, Soap Opera, Michela, On Edge, Measure for Measure, Jahazi, Split Decision, Renegade, Top Dog, Intangible, Chaika, Retriever, R New Gal, Mahdi, Jack-A-Roe, White Spray, Tiger Lily, Serenity, Retriever, Twisted

Quicksilver, Providence & Etage have finished with no engine and had to be towed to dockage.

Tuesday Afternoon Update

With nearly half of the fleet accounted for - the racers who have arrived at Mackinac are preparing for the Awards Ceremony at 3:15 at the Island House.

How they handle some many incomplete divisions will be learned shortly!!

These are the remaining boats in the Mackinac Cup division.
Panache
Outlaw
Jahazi
C C Rider
Troubadour
St. Francis
Liberte'
Blu Interlude
Mahdi 2
Obsession
Fandango
Spirit of Artemis
Geronimo
Scheherezade
Relentless
Lucky Dubie 2
Soap Opera
Folie A Deux
Twisted
Spanker

Coutts Gets Cayard-ed

It's official Russel Coutts has been terminated by Alinghi. Maybe not with extreme prejudice but with some malice in the form of a rule change on the way out the door.

Reason's given for Coutts dismissal include: "Repeated violations of his duties resulted in Coutts's dismissal. & undisclosed involvement in the planning and development of a new race series." This 2nd supposedly with Paul Cayard.

The rule change says that any sailor "contracted, engaged, paid or otherwise engaged" by a team for 180 days since the last cup." can't change teams. It is thought that this is in effect the Coutts clause, to prevent Coutts from joining another team.

Coutts issues his own statement. Coutts stated, "I found the
role he increasingly insisted I occupy in the syndicate was at considerable
variance with the one we had discussed." Further he says that the event he and Cayard have discussed are "exaggerated."

Coutts now joins Cayard as having been taken off an American Campaign by a billionaire. Cayard during the last cycle by Larry Ellison, Coutts by Ernesto Bertarelli.

Eventually Cayard's side lining led to his current Star Olympic campaign. In a recent report from Athen's where he's training for the August Olympic regatta Cayard wrote, "We are back at the ranch, the BBQ is going strong with Burgers and Yardbird...We have the Stones playing on my sons I Pod speakers system. It doesn't get much better than this and we get to get up tomorrow and do it all over again."

Coutts already has an Olympic gold, but maybe he'll follow Cayard and head for the BBQ/Olympic circuit.

PS Both Cayard and Coutts are + 40. Mick Jagger of the above referenced Stones turned 61 on Monday. Still moves around OK for an older guy, eh?

Rating Rules Seminar

Note: This report on a recent meeting is a fine capper for our look at rating rules.

Representatives of One Design classes, PHRF, IMS, Americap, Box Rules, ORCA, Caribbean Sailing Association (CSA) Rule and the International Rule Club (IRC) joined with members of US Sailing and area yacht clubs last week to discuss the status of existing handicap racing rules and the future of these rules as related to big boat racing in North America.

The all-day Handicap Racing Seminar sponsored by the Storm Trysail Club
was held at the Larchmont Yacht Club, Wednesday, July 21.

"IRC, with nearly 6,000 certificates issued to boats in 31 Countries,
seems to be the handicap rating rule for the future of the majority of
the world's big boat sailing regattas," said Storm Trysail Club
Commodore Dick Neville, summing up the day's deliberations.

Neville welcomed attendees to the seminar before STC Vice Commodore Rich
du Moulin worked through a matrix of all the existing rules, outlining
the following features for each rule or handicap system: Goal, Theory,
Process, Cost, Demographics, Strengths, Weaknesses and Current Events.

"This was a very enlightening summary and STC will be publishing this
matrix report," Neville said.

Jim Teeters and John Winder presented an explanation of ORCA's goals,
while Mike Urwin, Technical Director of the RORC Rating Office and Peter
Wykeham-Martin, General manage of the RORC, made a detailed presentation
of IRC and fielded questions from a very interested audience.

After some healthy discussions over lunch, a Panel group of Mike Urwin,
Jeffrey Chen (Chief Measurer for the CSA Rule), Dan Nowlan (Offshore
Director at US Sailing), Olin Stephens, Bill Tripp (yacht designers) and
Bob Monro (PHRF of LIS) was moderated by STC Past Commodore Charles
"Butch" Ulmer.

"After much debate, the consensus of attendees seemed to indicate that
PHRF is a very good system for entry level racing and top level racing
is accommodated by box rules for the moment," Neville said.

"There is a great need for a simple and efficient "mid-level" rule to
accommodate the majority of handicap racing sailors," Neville said. "The
two rules that seem to work best are Americap and IRC.

"As a growing international rule with seven years of success and a
positive, easy-to-follow marketing package, IRC seems favored to fill
this role of a mid-level rule. We're looking forward to a healthy dialog
as sailors come to grips with this issue."

Making The Coverage Better

The Chicago Mac is one of the high points of the all too brief Great Lakes sailing season. Knowing this, we've provided online coverage of the Chicago Mac for going on 10 years. We have tried all sorts of things - from reporters sailing in the race to web cams that provide 24 hour viewing at the island. Still, we haven't done as well as we like - nor have we satisfied all the folks who visit our website.

A sampling of some visitor comments "Poor coverage during the race....A race as historical and prestigious as the Mac certainly deserves better than the third grade result this site delivers....After 24 hours, your only update is that the race has started!"

OK, these folks have had their say. When you work on a project like this things like these hit home.

We know that early in the race our coverage is not satisfactory.
We know we want to improve our overall coverage.

So, now that folks have vented, I'd like to make all visitors an offer....help us help you by providing better coverage.

There is not an official call in until the fleet reaches the Manitous. Until then it's hard to report on the specifics of the race. We understand the frustration but if there isn't information out available, then it's hard for us to report. Put another way nothing plus nothing is still nothing.

It would be nice if race organizers would have a Saturday night call in. This would give us all information earlier. It would be nice, but I don't think it is going to happen.

Another suggestion is aerial coverage. This might also be a good addition, however, it is not cheap and it's not easy. To account for individual boats and their position while flying isn't a common skill. Also, flight time would be a rather large budget item.

Maybe sailors could arrange their own call in? Again, not likely, early in the race the boats tend to be farthest offshore with the poorest cell phone coverage.

The race organizer does outfit certain boats with tracking devices. There's two problems with this. One 50 boats out of 300 doesn't tell the whole story. Two, it seems as though boats that are often in the lead of the fleet, or various sections choose not to be tracked. Maybe they don't want to have their position given away. Reporting based on a small sample of boats, and knowing that these boats are probably not going to be leaders, simply leads to inaccurate and infrequent reports.

Now is the point where you the sailor, spectator, &/or website visitor come in. We know coverage in the first 24 hours can be better. We know people want better coverage.

We've helped folks with our Mac coverage for 9 years....please help us make our coverage in 2005-the 10th anniversary-better. Use the comments section below to give us your suggestions on how we can provide better coverage.

Tuesday Morning Update

As of 9:00 am Michigan Time 83 boats had finished -
The breeze in the straits is still calm to variable. But enough breeze has come in that the water is no longer glassy still.

How are the finishers split up?
Mackinac Cup - 81 finished - 10 dropped out.
Chicago Mackinac Trophy - 2 finished - 37 dropped out.
Multi-hulls - 8 finished - 6 dropped out

Keeping track of arrivals - The Turbo, GL70, Section 1, Farr 395 & Multihull 1 fleets are all complete. Section 2 currently has only 3 boats left unaccounted for.
There is one Corsair 31 remaining of the course.

The two Chicago Mackinac Trophy finishers at this time are Bozo's Circus, a J35 and Wooton 2, a Sabre 40.

Aussie Record

Subject to WSSR Ratification, there is a new outright Sydney to Lord Howe
Island record.

Sydney /Lord Howe Island
408 nm
Martyn Riley and a crew of 6.
"Raw Nerve"
56 ft Crowther design catamaran
1d 3h 45m 46s
14.69 kts

The record was previously held by Ian Treleaven's monohull, Merit, a Volvo
Ocean 60, with a time of: 1day 9hrs, 34mins, 21secs. Merit will continue to
hold the race record and 'Monohull vessel, any number of crew' category
record for the course.

Chi-Mac 2004 - How Slow is It?

Time - 0930 Michigan Time - Tuesday July 27, 2004.

Boats continue to finish. More J/120's and Farr 395's are rolling in.

The comments are made all over the island about how slow this year is - but how does it relate to the slowest recorded race?

The slowest "First Boat to Finish" record holder is Pied Piper with an elapsed time of 62 hrs & 29 seconds. This equals 2 days & 14 hrs. The closest finisher this year to that time was Criterion, a Soverel 50 in Section 2, with an overall elapsed time of 2 days, 14 hours and 5 minutes.

2004 is a slow Mac - but well ahead of record levels. And this is a good thing!!

What is different on the island with a slow race? The hotels have rooms reserved for crews that aren't here yet. The wives, girlfriends, van drivers, delivery crews etc etc that are waiting for the "ship to come in" deal with the delay in many ways. Some view it as an opportunity to relax and enjoy this beautiful island. Others behave as if it was the greatest inconvenience EVER. Many these folks should have a little chat with the wind gods.

Another change that occurs with the delay is the great mass of boats that typically builds for a day of partying is greatly diminished. The first to finish boats - Genuine Risk & Windquest both departed on Monday. A couple GL70's and a Transpac 52 also unloaded and left. People have plans that a slower race interferes with. Many of the boats that have dropped out state business commitments as their primary reason for quitting. If you have to be back in the office early Wednesday, you need to make sure you will be there.

Right now there are 22 racers at the coal dock and approximately 75 vessel at the marina. The marina number is currently staying rather consistant, for each new comer it seems another boat heads out to it's next destination.

Division Review

Quite often guests staying at the Chippewa hotel will wake in the morning to look out over the sea of boats that had arrived in the wee hours of the morning. Milling about, following instructions for dockage, it often appears that they all came in together. Oh - that is often Monday morning. We have reached Tuesday and the influx is still slow.

All of the vessels in Section One have finished. Their placings are basically the order of arrival - with the exception of Main Street and Twister - they arrived 1-2 and Twister corrected to first. It took ten hours from the time Main Street finished until the last section on competitor crossed the line.

Section 2 has 27 entries - as of 6:45 Michigan time 17 have finished and 2 have dropped out. Two of our featured boats - Natalie J & Program, finished on Monday. Salsa has just arrived at the island.

Section 3 was about 50% finished as of this writing, with additional entries still trickling in. Two racers have dropped in this class. Serenissima appears to have taken approximately 1 1/2 hours to cover the distance from their call in 1/2 mile east of the bridge until they crossed the finish line. Not quite a parking lot, but very slow.

Section 4 has entries completing the course as I type. Realt Na Mara, just crossed and is heading into dock. Section 4 also has two recorded drops at this point.

The Corsair 31 fleet is mostly accounted for. Zingara is the winner. Three Corsiars have finished, three have dropped out and two a reported to be on course.

Other notable finishes - the first Beneteau 40.7 arrived at 4:17 Michigan time with two drop outs and no other finishers at this time.

The Farr 395 class is also "mostly" at the island.

The J120 Perserverance has just finished.

Check our web cams to watch the docks fill.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Commodore's Cup No go Training for Gold

News Coutts dismissed by Alinghi

Great Lakes Slow nite Nite on the Island

Late night update

As of 11:30 pm Michigan Time, the boats keep trickling in & dropping out.

It appears that Section 1 is nearing completion with a call in from Kokomo 1/2 mile past the bridge.

Wind conditions are light & variable.

The Farr 40's have been finishing - including Program. Pendragon & Heartbreaker. Call in's from the bridge include Farr 395's and Sydney 38's.

The list of drop outs is now up to 33 vessels.

Included are a few of chicagomackinac.com's featured boats.
Que Loco - Catalina 43, Cold Watch C&C 33 & Nice Pair Crowther 38 catamaran.

The reasons for drop outs are extensive. From as mundane as "there is no wind" to a collision on course.

Finishing & Manitou Updates

The Turbo and GL70 fleets are complete.

In Section 1 Main Street, Saturn & Twister have all finished.

Section 2 - Natalie J followed by Goblin. Right now corrected times have them finishing in the opposite order. Also in Section 2 - Windrush.

From the Manitous - 5:25 pm
They are still rounding Sleeping Bear Point! Still on spinnakers. A light wind from the northwest prevails. Don't ever recall this many boats coming through this late into the race. Maybe a record slow year? Betcha those sailors are bordering on boredom.

It's been interesting to see the freighters and sailboats co-mingle today. And the Coastie went by early afternoon. At least the sun is out!

A 1/2 Mile....

According to Anisley Randall of Bright Star their race vs. Esmeralda came down to 1/2 a mile. Bright Star trailed Esmeralda by just 15 minutes at the Manitous.

Esmeralda went a little farther into the shore. The seperation between boats was around 1/2 mile. Esmeralda got a bit of a N/NW breeze and they were off.

Bright Star still within sight, just a little more in the middle of the Manitou Passage ended up drifting much slower than Esmeralda for approximately 8 hours. By the finish the gap had grown to several hours from the previous few minutes.

That 1/2 mile distance will no doubt be the key measurement in many a....."there we were just a 1/2 mile from X"....of course this measuremant is approximate and may grow with the telling or consmuption of race sponsors products.

Manitou Update

This just in from Jan - my eyes at the Manitou passage.

There are about 30 boats, with spinnakers up, going through the Manitou Passage. It is 4:30pm EDT.

The fleet continues to move.

GL 70's and Turbo Fleets are complete

With the arrival of Windancer VI and Denali the two "biggest boat" divisions are complete.

Judging by call in times, the Section 1 boats should be arriving at any time.

Check our webcam at the Chippewa Hotel to watch the docks fill up as racers continue to arrive!!

Webcam - click here

The party at the Grand!!

One of the events that many racer involved non-racers look forward to is the "Veranda" party at the Grand Hotel.

Known for years as the "Ladie's Party", this event is sponsored by the Chicago Yacht Club and takes place at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island on Sunday evening. On record breaking years the fastest boats have been known to get in just in time to change and scamper to the Grand.

The party has food, beverages and live music. Alot of visiting with friends you may not have seen since last year at this time.

There are also locals who attend the event. I spoke with Sandra Orr, owner of The French Outpost and the Pub Oyster Bar on Main St with her sister Debra. Sandra has enjoyed the annual for many years. "It gives me a nice relaxing break, the calm before the storm" Sandra & Debra plan to open a new Main Street Restaurant for the 2005 season. Best of Luck!!!

Turn Around in the GL 70's

The first three GL 70's have finished. And there has been a remarkable turn around from the 45th parallel at the Manitou Islands to the finish on Mackinac Island.

At the Manitou's Holua led Evolution by 1 H 27 minutes with Pied Piper 40 more minutes behind.

At 1146 Evolution actually finished first, then came Holua and Pied Piper at 1149. A remarkable turn around in the end game of the race.

How Did the TP 52's fare?

4 TransPac 52's are entered in the Chicago Mac. We've follwed the build up and progress of these boats in the lead up to the race.

Esmeralda which dominated an inshroe regatta has shown that was not a fluke being the 1st TP 52 to finish at 0821. They led the 2nd TP 52 Bright Star by 13 minutes at the 45th parallell.

Remarkably Esmeralda took their 13 minute advantage over Bright Star and turned it into 3 H 3 minutes at the finish! Bright Star was just ahead of Rosebud which finished at 11:26:01, and then 22 seconds later came Sjambock. These three TP 52's were 4th through 6th on corrected time.

Update from the Manitous

From our eyes at Sleeping Bear -

Kathleen, it is almost 7:30am EDT, and I've just counted 48 boats between Sleeping Bear Point and the approach to Pyramid Point..............the water is like glass, sadly. But there must a bit of a south/southwest breeze, as the spinnakers are up!

NYYC One Design's

For the 83 boats competing at New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex, today's two races held in strong, 15-17 knot breeze were a welcome finish to three days of competitive racing. Over 500 sailors competed for class championships in eight one-design classes: Farr 395, Farr 40, Swan 45, J/105, J/35, J/120, J/109 and Henderson 30. Masquerade was named "Best Performing One Design Boat," and its owner Tom Coates of San Francisco was awarded a Rolex timepiece.

"For the race committee to honor me and the J/105 this way is really fabulous," said Coates, who with this win was named the J/105 Southern New England champion. He explained that racing in the 28-boat class was some of the most competitive he has ever experienced. "This was a fantastic event" he said. "We did 10 races in three days! We typically do eight in a week, in Key West. I've always wanted to do shorter races. It keeps it exciting all day. By the time you establish your position on the race course, the race is over, and it is time to do it again."

Coates keeps two J/105s, one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast, in his hometown of San Francisco. "We do 12 regattas a season with the same core group of three to six people," he said. The consistency in crew work came in handy in the last race of the day, which Masquerade needed to finish better than fifth. "There were three general recalls, so we had to go through four sequences. It was nerve racking, but by the time we got going, we knew what everyone else was planning." They finished fourth and clinched the series.

Consistency also paid off in the Farr 395 class for Roger Wagner's Endurance, which posted only one fourth among firsts and seconds in the class's "no throwout" series. The boat, named after Shackleton's adventure to the South Pole, won both of its races today in the eight-boat class. "It' s never as easy as it looks," said Wagner of Stamford, Conn. "Over the last couple of days, the crew continued to put in 110 percent. We put in some hard work, and we talked about anything that didn't seem right and the crew never let down." Race Week doubled as the Farr 395 North American championship.

With today's two bullets added to the four earned earlier in the series, Craig Speck's Vim won the nine-boat Swan 45 class. "Today we had to get two good starts," said Speck of Grand Rapids, Mich. "We were in phase with the wind and were able to get into good lanes and control where we wanted to go. I felt I could win, but Doug (Douglass, owner of Goombay Smash, the second-place boat) was always there, so we executed our plan and got some breaks on the shifts."

Speck credits the entire crew with keeping the boat speed steady. "The communication between me and Moose McClintock and Dave Armitrage trimming the sails went really well. They kept feeding information about the shifts and puffs. It really was a whole team approach. Everyone respects each other, and the chemistry is fantastic."

For Rob Campbell of Wilton, Conn., winning the J/120 class was a bonus to the sailing. "Race Week is a good way for me and my friends to get together," said Campbell. "All six of the adults in our crew grew up sailing together, and we also had two of their kids along with us. So, we had two generations of sailors onboard. We sent the kids up to the bow for the hard work and they are terrific." Six boats competed in the J/120 class with Robert Caraballal's Sunday River of New York, N.Y. in second.

With seven firsts and two seconds, Dave Nickerson and Dana Seniff's Split Decision of Noank, Conn. won the J/35 class by 5.25 points over Aunt Jean, co-owned by Jim Sagerholm and Jerry Sagerholm of Annapolis. Six boats competed for the North American championship. "We love sailing in Newport," said Nickerson. "I remember in 2002, when we won our class, it was the first time that we had ever sailed four races in one day. And this year, to have two days of four races was great!"

Another boat that dominated its class was Electra, owned by Craig Crossley of Barrington, R.I. Electra posted a total of 17 points in the newly formed J/109 class, with the closest competitor, Storm owned by Rick Lyall of Stonington, Conn., with 23.75 points overall. "This was hard core racing," said Crossley, whose son Vincent sails with him. "We have never sailed four races in one day.

After the first race on the first day (they finished fourth), we said 'we've got to keep racing and do better.' After that, everything started to click and we kept getting better." Crossley attributed the boat's success to the team's positive atmosphere. He recalled looking around the course and seeing one of sailing's great names, Rod Johnstone, on a boat next to him at the first start. "We knew we had to do well against Rod," said Crossley. "At the end of the last race, we were both crossing the finish line together. We thought they had us, but we wound up winning it by an inch. And we won the series."

Barking Mad returned to the podium as Farr 40 class champion. Owned by Jim Richardson of Boston, Mass./Newport, R.I., Barking Mad won its class at the 2002 NYYC Race Week. Next up for Richardson is preparing for the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds, set for September 8-11 in San Francisco. "That's my goal," he said. "No one has ever won the worlds twice, and we're setting out to be the first to do so." Nine boats competed for the North American championship, including Gem, campaigned by the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Virago, owned by Stuart and MarrGwen Townsend of Chicago, Ill. finished second, with Jeff Siegal's Appreciation in third.

And in the Henderson 30 class, Jeffrey Gale's Beautiful World of Abaco, Fla. won convincingly, turning in seven first-place finishes for a total score of 9.25 points. Michael Carroll's New Wave of Clearwater, Fla. finished second with 17.25 points.

Over 180 boats competed in the fourth running of New York Yacht Club Race Week presented by Rolex. The biennial event hosted 79 entries in the four-day "first half," devoted to IMS, PHRF, Classic Yacht and 12 Meter racing. Splitting the handicap and one-design portions of Race Week was the Distance Race that was sailed on Wednesday and scored separately.

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Great Lakes Genuine Risk 1st to finish. Watch Chicago Mac finishes live

Favorites at the 45th Parallel call In

Five of the boats that we named favorites have called in their 45th parallel time. Faring the best is Holua which crossed the line at 1852 last nite, 1H 27M ahead of the next GL 70.

Rosebud was a few minutes ahead of Holua calling in at 1845. However, they were 4th of the 4 Transpac 52's, 54 minutes behind Esmeralda.

Saturn was the 4th boat in Section 1 to call in and they were 5 minutes behind their sistership Main Street.

Windancer VI was the final GL 70 to call in at 0024. They are pretty well seperated from their class mates with the exception of Mirage just 9 minutes ahead.

Denali also needs to catch up. They were the final boat in the Turbo class to call in @ 0139. This puts them over 4 hours behind the Equation which was the nearest boat from their class.

Earth Voyager Arrives

Earth Voyager arrived at Mackinac Island - finish time: 12:41 AM CT.

They proceded to dock at their customary location behind the Chippewa Hotel. Earth Voyager was the first multi hull to finish with Genuine Risk taking line honors.

Earth Voyager - 2:15 AM Michigan Time.

Genuine Risk Finishes

Genuine Risk turned the corner and sped for home.

Their call in from the bridge predicted an 20 minute journey to the finish line. The gun was fired at approximately 2326 CT.

The 90 footers elapsed time was 1 day 8 hours 56 minutes well outside both the monohull and outrigh records. Windquest finished nearly 3 hours later and was able to beat Genuine Risk on corrected time by nearly an hour.

Reports from the Course

Chicagomackinac.com's effort to recruit "Yacht Watch" team members has been paying off.

The following reports came in this afternoon and evening.

By email:
Hey, guys, I have been following the race from my vantage point on Sleeping Bear Bay in Glen Arbor, south of the Manitou Passage. I saw the first boat sailing between the islands at 3:15pm EDT~~

We also had reports of a large portion of the fleet slowly travelling from Big Point Sable at 3:00 pm. Unfortunately, we also learned that another (maybe some of the same?) large portion of the fleet appeared to be becalmed south of Point Betsie at sunset. Could be a looong night if the wind stays down.

Wind forecast for Mackinac Island on Monday is calm to variable. Weather like that has been known to make the home stretch of the race from the Bridge to the finish the longest part of the race.

Web Cams in Place

In an effort to expand our coverage of Chicago Yacht Club's annual Race to Mackinac, Chicagomackinac.com has installed two web cams overlooking the Straits of Mackinaw this year.

The first camera shows the finish line area from the roof of the Lakeview Hotel. The second cam is mounted atop the home of the Pink Pony - The Chippewa Hotel. The view from the Chippewa currently shows the Arnold's dock and will change to show the city dock at some point Monday.

Be sure to check out the view!!

A Slow Sunday on Mackinac

Several consecutive years of fast Mac's have spoiled many a van driver.
Rather than being unsure of what time the boats may arrive - they have been conditioned to remember that most of the 70's & faster vessels just make last call.

Not so this year. With the fastest yachts on the course being many hours behind the record setting pace of 2003, the story on the island is wait.

Genuine Risk crossed the 45th parallel at 2:21 this afternoon, the winds have been light, but consistant in the straits - but they need to turn the corner first.

Earth Voyager followed within 25 minutes. Then the Max Z86 Windquest and the Transpac 52 group 3 hours later. The first 70, Holua, called in at the 45th at 6:52.

Record Not Likely

Genuine Risk does not look like a record setter. As of 8:00 eastern Sunday morning Genuine Risk has not reached the Manitou Islands. In setting the mono hull record in 2002, Pyewacket reached the Manitou's in just under 10 hours.

As they've not reached the Manitou's, Genuine Risk could be as much as 8 hours off the record pace.

It should be noted that Pyewacket had double digit south winds during her record push while Genuine Risk began the race sailing upwind in winds that are consistently decreasing. Overnight winds were from many directions. However, the velocities were consistently under 10 knots. Not nearly enough wind from a good direction for a record is the main reason for Genuine Risk's trailing position.

Disabled Crew Sails Mac

The sailing vessel Gigi [see boat profile] sails this year's Chicago to Mackinac race with a special distinction. According to today's Chicago Sun Times, four of the boat's six crew are sailors with disabilities.

The boat has been fitted with a wooden grip for better access to the companionway and straps, so sailors can more easily stabilize themselves in bad weather.

The J-105 [see complete list of J-105's in this year's race] will complete on an even field with other boats in its class. Like most of the boats in the Chicago Mackinac, Gigi boast sailors with impressive back grounds and sailing abilities including recent wins in the Chicago NOOD and the Solo Chicago Mac.

You can find more information and the complete story at Chicago Sun Times

Saturday Night

From the afternoon start and into the first night of the race winds have been from the north in the low double digits. This perhaps exceeded some expectations.

However, as night falls, the wind is dropping especially to the north. While the south weather buoy still shows 13.6 knots there is 6.7 knots at Muskegon and only 1.9 knots at the North Weather buoy.

Race organizers have a tracking device on Genuine Risk, the 90 footer expected to be first to finish. With round the world navigator Mark Rudiger on board Genuine Risk sailed north until off Waukegan and then changed course and is headed for the Michigan side of the lake.

Will they close with the Michigan shore expecting better wind? Or will they soon tack and head north without trying the shore? That's the type of things that all crews are noodling on.

Chicago Mackinac.com will offer expanded coverage this year of what should be an interesting race. As soon as the race started in Chicago we headed toward Mackinac Island where we will report on the progress of the race. This year's coverage includes web cameras that will cover the finish line from two angles. You will be able to see the finishes, as they happen from thechicagomackinac.com web site. (Cameras should be in place and operational starting late Sunday afternoon.)

If you would like to provide any information or have any questions, please contact the chicagomackinac.com on-the-scene reporter at info@chicagomackinac.com

The Race Has Started

The annual wait is over ... the annual wait begins.

Each year, Great Lake sailors wait in anticipation for the start of the Chicago Yacht Club's race to Mackinac. That happened earlier today on Lake Michigan, just off of Chicago. Now the next wait begins. We now wait to find out who will finish first and which boats with gain honors in their sections.

Once the boats sail out of sight from Chicago, people will rely on chicagomackinac.com and calls from relatives to find out how things are going.

Some people will try to catch glimpses of the boats from various shoreline locations along Michigan's Lake Michigan shoreline.

Chicago Mackinac will offer expanded coverage this year. Once the race started in Chicago we headed toward Mackinac Island where we will report on the progress of the race. This year's coverage includes web cameras that will cover the finish line from two angles. You will be able to see the finishes, as they happen from the chicagomackinac.com web site. (Cameras should be in place and operational starting late Sunday afternoon.)

Today's start included more than 300 boats in the Race to Mackinac, the world's longest annual freshwater yacht race. Aboard the 300 boats where about 3,000 crew members participating in the 96th running of this important race.

Most boats are expected to finish Monday or Tuesday with some of the fastest boats finishing sometime Sunday evening.

If you would like to provide any information or have any questions, please contact the chicagomackinac.com on-the-scene reporter at info@chicagomackinac.com

WX Update

Boisterous conditions which caused the Lake Express ferry to cancel a trip on Friday are holding on in Chicago. At 1030 Saturday Chicago had 19 knot winds from the ESE. To the north and to the west winds rapidly drop off. On the Wisconsin shore Milwaukee has 9 knots while on the Michigan shore Muskegon has only 4 knots. The southern lake weather buoy located mid lake off Milwaukee shows 11 knots.

Barometric pressures range from 1027 MB at Chicago to 1030 MB at Muskegon and Mackinac Island. The forecasted high has come to Lake Michigan meaning the Chicago breeze is an aberration. This high will control the weather to Monday. Forecasts going forward are still in the 5-10 knot range.

How best to deal with this situation? Sometimes around the edge of the high you can find breeze. Since the high stretches hundreds of miles inland from Lake Michigan you simply can't do this.

When thre is a 10 degree difference between water and air temperature often you can find a sea breeze. The warm air rises above the land allowing the cooler air to blow in from sea. This is not likely in the south half of the lake but will become increasingly possible as the fleet sails north.

Perhaps the best situation for those wishing to play the shore is an onshore breeze developed by the pressure gradient. In the case of this race winds are expected to switch to the SW. This will be an onshore breeze on the Michigan shore. From Sunday on the Michigan shore could be the best place to be with good temperature differentials and an onshore breeze. Essentially the sea breeze and gradient breeze blow the same way, combining and accelerating.

Conversely on the Illinois and Wisconsin shore this will be an offshore breeze. This tends to diminish any sea breeze affect. I can't see the west shore being a windy area.

While the start maybe fast things will get slower and less clear as you sail north. For now it appears to be a race that will be sailed largely in Michigan waters. You need not sail straight to the shore, but from Sunday on the shore maybe your only friend wind-wise.

Commodore's Cup Starts Monday

With the first race scheduled for Monday on the Solent, this year's Rolex Commodores' Cup will be a hotly contested affair between 11 three boat teams. Although the race is for cruiser-racers and a proportion of the crew must be amateur, the boats will feature many top race boat sailors from the countries represented.

"We're delighted by the quality and the strength of the entry and judging by the results of many of the entries from the Mees Pierson IRC Championships and Cork Week it looks like it will be a very closely fought event on the water," said RORC General Manager, Peter Wykeham-Martin.

The GBR line-up includes the seasoned campaigner Bear of Britain, Kit Hobday and Tim Louis' black Farr 52, the leading British big boat in this event two years ago. For this year's Rolex Commodores' Cup she will be steered by Mark Campbell-James and GBR Challenge America's Cup helm Andy Beadsworth. Alongside Bear of Britain in the GBR Red is Jonathan and Lisa Goring's J/109 Jeronimo with sailmaker and former Olympic sailor Kevin Sproul calling tactics and Jerry Otter's Exabyte II with America's Cup sailors Chris Main and Jules Salter on the crew list.

In the GBR Blue team Nick Hartshorn's Ker 11.3 El Gringo, returns to the Rolex Commodores' Cup with leading keelboat sailor Ian Southworth and Hannah Harwood, part of Tracy Edwards' crew on Royal & Sun Alliance during their non-stop round the world record bid. Also in GBR Blue is Andrew Pearce's IMX 40 Magnum II and the Elan 37 Quokka of former RORC Commodore Peter Rutter, with navigator Peter Scholfield on board.

GBR Black has as its big boat the successful IMX45 Exabyte III of Shaun Frohlich. Also in the team are Fair Do's VI, the Ker 32 of John Shepherd and Adam Gosling's latest Yes!, a Beneteau First 44.7 including former Olympic sailors Jeremy Robinson and Hugh Styles on her crew list.

Andrew Ritchie's Corby 41 Minx leads GBR White with Open 60 sailor Alex Thomson leading the crew. Also in this team, are the renamed Beneteau 40.7 Tarka Lee Peck Greenfield skippered by Nick Jones and Jim MacGregor's Elan 37 Civils with Flair.

In an attempt to defend their title, France, the 2002 winners are this time fielding three teams, one more than last time around. The French effort is led once again by the highly effective Gery Trentesaux, with a Grand Soleil 45R Courier d'Ile de France in the France Blue team.

Trentesaux recently showed the form of his latest boat by convincingly winning the RORC's Cowes-Dinard-St Malo race in severe conditions. Racing alongside him is the French Admiral's Cup Sinergia 40 Stephane Neve's Paprec Recyclage and Erwan Dubois' small boat, Guyader L'Esprit de la Mer.

The France Red team sees Jean-Yves Le Goff's return to the Rolex Commodores' Cup, this time in the IMX40 Fastwave III. His team also includes Gonzague Dubois' IMX45 Pretexte and Musix, Philippe Baetz' X362.

The third French team, France White, is led by Jean Claude Nicoleau's Codiam ENSP dh, another IMX45 and also includes Jacques Pelletier's X-43 L'Ange de Milon and Philippe Delaporte's J/109 Pen Azen, the latter with Olympic sailor Christine Briand and veteran skipper Laurent Cordelle on board.

A number of competitors rate the favourites for this year's Rolex Commodores' Cup to be the Irish team. This comprises Chris Brown and Peter Harding's DK46 Fidessa Fastwave, a design by Mark Mills that to date has done well under IRC handicap. Ireland's two other boats are Colm Barrington's new Ker 39 Flying Glove, second in the IRC0 class at Cork Week and Eamon Crosbie's Ker 32 Calyx the Voice and Data People, recent handicap winner of the BMW Round Ireland Race. The bigger Ker has sailmaker Eddie Warden-Owen and 18ft skiff world champion Rob Greenhalgh in her crew while the smaller has maxi-boat navigator Ian Moore.

Another contender will be the Dutch team including the highly successful Peter de Ridder, sailing the BH41 Checkmate III. So far this year de Ridder has won his class at the Key West and SORC regattas and the Mumm 30 Europeans. Also in the Dutch team are the Grand Soleil 44R Holmatro of Hans Horrevoets and Franz van der Heijden's HOD35 Daikin Airco.

The Belgium team sees the return of Francois Goubau's Beneteau First 47.7 Moana, supported by the Bertrand Stuyts' First 40.77 Liesl and the small ILC30 Breeze of Christian Muyls. Of note is that the Belgium boats are entirely crewed by amateur sailors.

The last team to enter the Rolex Commodores' Cup was Team Europe led by the Franco-Russian crew on Serguei Kotsiouba's IMX 45 Follow Me who recently finished sixth at Cork Week, while the small boat in this team, Bernard Moureau's Merlin was fourth in her class at that regatta. The third Team Europe boat is Axel de Cock's IMX 40 Oxygen.

"I'm pretty happy with our team, but the Irish and the French are going to be very tough," said Bear of Britain helm Mark Campbell-James "Then again the British teams should be good as well. It's great the event has a good number of teams,"

Yes! Skipper Adam Gosling concurs: "I think the Irish will be the boys to watch. They have got some top boats. The DK46 sailed well will be a difficult boat to beat and the Kers should be all right. But I think the British have got some reasonable teams too."

Racing commences on Monday 26th July with two inshore races.

Chicago Mac Weather Outlook

Conditions: Moderate high temperatures with low temperatures in the low 50's as you go north. Rain rates no mention in the forecasts.

Big Picture: Simple and unappealing. A high pressure of 1028 MB will appear over the lake on Saturday and then "stall".

Winds: The best forecast winds are NE 10-15, however these are supposed to end by noon Saturday. After that there is a lot of 5-10 knots, and many periods where unspecified light winds are predicted. Direction begins at NE and goes around to SW by Sunday night.

Main Sailing Mode: Once again ready yourself for light air. Lots of food and water for those extra hours on the water.

Option I: It appears that sometime Sunday the breeze may wander from NE to SW. Essentially this means the wind is switching to the prevailing direction. This shift could mean a switch from on the wind to off the wind. Maximizing this shift may mean the race.

Option II: With the expected light air bigger boats both in fleet and within class should be favored. If you are a smaller boat following the big boys will not pay. Start thinking of alternatives now. Maybe this is the year to go outside the Manitous or Beaver Island?

Special Situation: There's is large difference in water temperature as measured by the two weather buoys on the lake. At the south buoy off Milwaukee the water is 67 degrees. At the north buoy on a line with the Manitou Islands the water temperature is 59°. To benefit from breeze near the shore a 10 degree temperature difference is needed between land and water temperature. With the warm water in the south half of the lake there will be no benefit to hugging the shore. From the Manitous on the shore should pay.

Record Chances: Genuine Risk will be after Pyewacket's record set in 2002. 2002 was considered a fast race. The forecast does not promise a fast race in '04. Looks like Pyewacket's record has a chance to stand. Remember from Chicago to the Manitous Pyewacket averaged 20.5 knots! No doubt Genuine Risk can achieve these speeds but not in the winds that are predicted.

Sanderson to Skipper Volvo Boat

Mike Sanderson has joined Team ABN AMRO as their skipper for its 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race campaign. The experienced sailor from Whangarei, New Zealand will be the skipper on the first boat of the ABN AMRO Team.

Sanderson, who has twice sailed in The Whitbread - now the Volvo Ocean Race - is an experienced canting keel sailor. Roy Heiner, also a Whitbread veteran and responsible for technical management of the team, said today: “Mike matches with the team and with our boat. He has vast experience in sailing with a canting keel, a new feature of the specially designed class of the Volvo Open 70 to be used in this upcoming edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. As this device will be applied for the first time for a sailing race over such a long distance, Mike is the natural choice of skipper for us.”

Mike Sanderson said: “I am happy and proud that I have joined the ABN AMRO Team. It is an ambitious and promising campaign, which includes all elements to make the race successful.”

Sanderson, 33, started sailing when he was five. Having won many national titles, he was invited to be the trimmer onboard Grant Dalton’s New Zealand Endeavour, winner of the maxi division of the Whitbread 1993-94. In the 1997-98 Whitbread, Mike was watch captain and sail co-ordinator on Dalton's W60 Merit Cup, which finished second. He is also the current record holder in the Sydney-Hobart Race and has been mainsheet trimmer for two America's Cup campaigns - Tag Heuer in 1995 and Oracle BMW in 2003. This last team was narrowly beaten by the eventual winner, Alinghi.

In October 2003, he was the driving force behind Mari Cha IV's historic transatlantic record, which smashed the previous record by two days. In the Transat 2004 Mike finished third in his first ever-solo race.

One of the world's leading race yacht designers, Argentinian Juan Kouyoumdjian, has designed the boat, which is currently being constructed by Killian Bushe in Lelystad, the Netherlands.

ABN AMRO announced its participation in the Volvo Ocean Race in March this year. The bank considers its entry in this top sporting event an ideal opportunity to further strengthen its international brand awareness. In addition, qualities essential in this race, such as professionalism, flexibility, teamwork and innovation match the bank's corporate culture.

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The Favorites

How are the favorites faring? Click here to find out.

Bantu - Block Island 40 Hailing from the upper pennisula of Michigan, Bantu often collects the top prizes upon finishing at Mackinac Island which is in the UP. Bantu appears on form having won the Queens Cup and her Shore Course class in the Port Huron Mac.

Bacchant a wooden 75 square meter is both beautiful and successful. In 2003 Bacchant was 2nd overall and another such finish would be no surprise.

Rosebud is one of several Transpac 52's in the race. 2003 was her 1st Mac and she was 2nd over the line and 4th overall. Earlier this year she was the top TP 52 in the Bermuda Race.

Saturn is a J145 and won Class A in the Port Huron Mac. In the 2003 Chicago version of the race she was 3rd in Section 1.

Eagle, a Sydney 38 sports an experienced crew led by a father/son duo. Last year they were 1st in section 4 but only by 14 seconds over Serenissima a sistership.

Windancer VI is skippered by John Neadeau. Oh, by the way, this will be John's 57th Mac race. This 68 footer was 3rd in the Great Lakes 70 class in 2003 and 6th in last weeks Port Huron race. It's unlikely they'll encounter conditions John hasn't seen before.

Mischief sails in the large and competitive T-10 fleet. Last year they netted a 3rd.

Gamera won flags in both 2003 Mac races. Last week they were 4th in the Port Huron Mac.

Holua was the most successful of the GL 70's in 2003 with a 1st in the Chicago Mac and a 2nd in the Port Huron. In the Port Huron race this blue hulled 70 was 3rd showing that all is well with this regular flag winner.

Denali has had a fine run of results in the big boat/Tubo classes the past two years. This Detroit based crew has posted a 3rd in the 2003 Port Huron Mac, a 2nd in the 2003 Chicago Mac and an overall win the recent Port Huron Mac. Continuation of this trend will see Denali in the noise in this race.

An Entry From Japan? Not

Race organizers are busily selling the story that there is a boat all the way from Japan in this years Mac race. The story goes something like this, ""Race interest is stronger that we've seen in several previous years, with some 300 entries from around the continental United States and Canada, and one entry, Esmeralda, comes all the way from Japan," Lillie said."

Except that Esmeralda really doesn't come from Japan. In fact this boat was built in Rhode Island, was designed by an American based designer and it's only foreign voyage was to Bermuda.

While the owner Mr. Makoto Uematsu is Japenese the boat hasn't come all the way from Japan for the race.

While it would be a great story if a boat came from Japan for the race it hasn't happended yet.

Keep visiting this website for more unofficial, independent coverage of the 2004 Chicago Mac.

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Great Lakes Shipwreck found. Mac basics. Family of Goats. The Incense wind finder. Genuine Risk arrives in Holland

Port Huron Mackinac Winners

Denali is the overall winner of the 2004 Port Huron Mackinac with a corrected time of 42 H 23. Equation which was in the Turbo class along with Denali and the first to finish Genuine Risk was 2nd. Saturn was 3rd overall and the Class A winner.

Lowest corrected time on the Shore Course was 39 H 17 M recorded by Majic Star an NA 40.

Chicago Mac Basics

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.

Box Rules

Box rules can serve as an alternative to the mix and match approach of handicap racing and the one size fits all method of one design. We've all heard the hoary phrase think outside the box. A box rules gives designers a set of paramaters that they have to stay within. Examples are limits on: length, beam, draft, rig size and displacement. These are some of the limits that the Transpac 52 class contains.

Transpac 52 limits

LOA Maximum 52.00 ft
Beam Maximum 14.50 ft
Beam Minimum 13.00 ft
Displacement Minimum 16,500 lbs
Displacement Maximum 17,000 lbs
**IMS PIPA Minimum 0.0584
Draft Maximum 10.50 ft
Mainsail Area Maximum 985 sq ft
Spinnaker Area Maximum 2665 sq ft

Rosebud designed by Reichel Pugh was launched in May 2002

Trader soon to be launched is a Donovan Design

The above pictures show the evolution of boats designed to the TP 52 rule. When you have narrow limits like 1.5 feet of beam and 500 pounds of displacement boats do have a tendancy to 'type form'. Considering these boats have been consistently fast and successful at the very least they've hit on a good type form.

Another box rule is the Open 60. These are the fast mono hulls that sail races such as the Vendee Globe.

This rule has fewer limits such as length between 50 and 60 feet, a maximum draft of 4.5 meters and a rule that says the boat can't be heeled more than 20 degrees by it's water ballast or canting keel.

Open 60's tend more towards the professional side of racing. This box rule has fewer limitations so items like canting keels, deck spreaders and more have been developed. As time has gone on Open 60's have developed a type form that is beamy, although their are exceptions like Ocean Planet. Again though these boats have been fast and successful so the type forming seems an acceptable trade off.

We'll conclude this series next week with a look at one designs. Once when you thought one designs things like Lasers, Sunfish etc. came to mind. Now the one design concept has grown a keel and the Chicago Mac is filled with one design classes such as J105's, Beneteau 40.7's etc. We'll look at one designs next week.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Match Race Worlds. Laser Euros

News Sail Rocket on the water. Swedish Match Tour Season Six. Coach

Great Lakes How slow was it yet there were winners. Cross lake paddle.

The SailRocket

Go Fast on the Great Lakes

Sail free in the midwest! In the recent Bermuda Race the Max Z 86's were put off to the side in a 'demonstration' division. In next summer's Transpac there will be a rating limit based on the Max Z86 Pyewacket. According to race organizers, "No boat may be configured to rate faster [than Pyewacket], although larger and faster boats such as the new 90-footers emerging on the world scene may power down with smaller sails or other changes to meet the standard."

As a Great Lakes sailor I'm happy to say that neither Bayview nor Chicago Yacht Club have given into the Luddite idea of rating limits, or separate unofficial divisions. Rather they have opened their respective Mac races to all boats no matter how fast. Sort of a run what ya brung idea. No special local rules, or local boat owners to protect. And that's the way it should be. If people are building fast boats when let them race them as designed, sans limitations or made up divisions.

If the mac race organizers adhered to this philosophy then the Great Lakes 70's fine boats yet 20 year old technology would still be getting 1st to finish credits. Or boats would be having to power down so they wouldn't be faster than the GL 70s'. Fortunately this isn't the case.

So, while the Mac races aren't as long as the Transpac or the Bermuda race they do finish on an Island and you needn't alter your boat to compete and that's without doubt a good thing.

There'll be a bit of a showdown navigator wise in the Turbo class. Rosebud will have Adrienne Cahalan onboard. Recently she guided Steve Fossett's Cheyenne around the world in a time of 58 days. On board Bright Star another Transpac 52 will be Larry Rosenfeld served as co-navigator on Team Adventure during The Race.

It'll be interesting to see how these experienced 'magellans' deal with Lake Michigan.

Trader Arrives in Michigan

Trader has arrived at Torresen Marine. She's inside with many 'Trader-ites' and Torresen Marine service personnel at work. The mission is clear-make the start of the Mac on Saturday or bust.

Work party on Trader

Bow shot, shows hull form

Boat Smart: Make the Call Count

Make the call count and wear a life jacket

By Senior Chief Tom Rau, Coast Guard Group Grand Haven, Michigan

It’s not uncommon for people to call the Coast Guard or 911 regarding the whereabouts of a loved one on the water. I urge those who make overdue reports to authorities to make the call count. Information they provide could save a loved one’s life, especially if the loved one is wearing a life jacket. Read on.

On August 25, 2003, the Coast Guard received a telephone call from Tricia Young that her husband and a friend, Vern Uricek, had departed early that morning for Rockport, Michigan, to go salmon fishing. According to a message Vern Uricek left on his answering machine, he would be returning home to Gaylord, Michigan, that same day around noon. At 4 p.m., Tricia Young called the Coast Guard after the fishermen had failed to arrive home. Local authorities checked the public boat ramp where the fisherman had launched a18-foot Sea Ray boat. They located the fisherman’s vehicle and boat trailer, but no boat. While local officials checked marinas, Coast Guard surface and air units commenced searching the waters off Rockport, Michigan, located 75 miles southeast of the Mackinac Straits.

At 2:21 p.m. of the 27th a Coast Guard aircrew spotted a debris field at 44-58.798W, 83-03.619W, revealing a life vest, seat cushions and two homemade buoys. The Coast Guard pilot reported: WIND SPEED: 25 KNOTS, WIND DIRECTION: 350T, AIR TEMP: 64 F, WATER TEMP: 64 F, WAVE HEIGHT: 8 FEET; SKY CONDITON: CLEAR.

The Coast Guard HH-65, Dolphin helicopter crew began a search of the immediate area. At 4:03 p.m., the aircrew spotted a man in the water. Lieutenant Commander Day, Assistant Operations boss at Coast Guard Traverse air, later told me a swim noodle that the victim was clinging to drew the airmen’s attention. They hoisted him aboard with the aid of a rescue swimmer, nearly 31 hours after the boat sank.

His fishing mate faired far better: he made it to Middle Island after spending 20 hours in the water. At approximately 4 a.m. of the 26th, he crawled up onto the beach and broke into a keeper’s lodge used to host island visitors. “My heart was fluttering. I fell onto a cot and dozed in and out of sleep,” said Mr. Uricek.

After dawn broke, he set out searching for a link with the outside world. There was no one on the island and he couldn’t find a telephone or radio to call for help. “I placed a large stop sign on the beach, spray painted an S.O.S. on a carpet and laid it out, and then wandered across the island holding an American flag over my head hoping it would attract the Coast Guard aircrew.

It did.

“When the helicopter landed, I asked the air crewman, how was John, expecting the worst. When the crewman told me he was alive and on board, it floored me. I thought I was a goner after spending twenty hours in the lake. That John spent eleven more hours in the water speaks volumes for his will to survive,” said Mr. Uricek, who attributes their survival to a fierce determination to live, and to- LIFE JACKETS.

Post Search and Rescue Brief

So how did the fisherman end up in the water? Mr. Uricek told me around 9 a.m. they were trolling around seven miles northeast of the Middle Island, into 1-2-foot seas. A wave broke over the open bow dumping several gallons of water into the boat. A second wave followed and within seconds the boat filled with water. “There was nothing we could do, the bilge pump couldn’t keep up with the flooding and when John raised the engine, the boat rolled and we ended up fighting our way through downriggers and fishing lines to escape,” said Mr. Uricek. “I passed a swimming noodle that had floated free to John and being a capable swimmer I set out for Middle Island for help.” Yes, he was wearing a life jacket.

Mr. Uricek told me that during the night a Coast Guard helicopter passed overhead flooding him in its night sun but fluttered away. “Apparently they failed to spot me in the white wind-streaked seas. Since, I have purchased a strobe light for my life jacket, and will never go out again on a boat without wearing it and a life jacket,” said Mr. Uricek.

In all, the Coast Guard deployed one Falcon Jet, a C-130 (a four engine search and rescue fixed wind aircraft), two HH-65 helicopters and one 47-foot Motor Life Boat, totaling 32.9 resources hours. In addition, local rescue agencies provided resources. Cost: Thousands of dollars. A life saved: Priceless.

How to make your call count

The Coast Guard’s and other rescue agencies’ ability to process a successful rescue regarding overdue cases depends a great deal on the initial information provided them by concerned parties. Most overdue reports stem from poor communications. A boater fails to inform loved ones of changed plans, such as unexpected stay over, unforeseen mechanical problems, prolonged fishing plans, and so on. Boaters should always inform family or friends of their boating plans (‘float plan”). This does not mean a casual “we’re going boating” notice, but the why, where, and when the boating will take place, and the boat’s description and name. If plans change, always update your contact so that if an emergency develops searchers will have an idea as to your whereabouts.

In the above case, Mr. Uricek left a message on his answering machine that he would be home around noon. When he failed to show up by 4 p.m., family members sounded the alarm. In addition, his fishing mate, John Young, told his father that they would be fishing in the waters off Middle Island.

Understand the Great Lakes offer a vast and complex marine environment with a myriad of bays, outlets, connecting lakes and river channels that hold hundreds of marinas and boat launches. It’s enough to find Sherlock Homes scratching his head. It’s your call- make it count.

Linky Sailing News

Racing A tight Transat is won

News Edwards $ troubles. South African match racers

Great Lakes Port Huron mac continues Trader arrives in Michigan. Tall Ship plans

Port Huron Mac- Tuesday Morning

As of 0730 Tuesday morning just about half (77/157) of the boats sailing the Southampton course have finished. With the exception of PHRF A Monday saw few boats finish once the GL 70 and Turbo classes had arrived.

For some classes such as PHRF D & E the majority of the boats are still on the course. PHRF had yet to have its 1st finisher.

The light winds have created the proverbial big boat race corrected time wise. Denali the corrected time winner of the Turbo class (42 H 23M) currently has a corrected time lead of 2 H 21 minutes over Saturn the Class A winner.

Genuine Risk's elapsed time of 30.5 hours means that many other boats and crews will have spend twice the time on the largely placid waters of Lake Huron.

However that extra time has defiantly seen racing continue. For instance Flyer in PHRF Class E which trailed competitor Jubilee by 13 minutes on corrected time at the Southampton Buoy made up that deficit by the finish. After Flyer's 0735 finish they were 2:45 ahead of Jubilee on corrected time. In the 67 hours since the Southampton rounding Flyer has gained approximately 20 seconds per hour. So, while we all sat ashore others worked many watches to gain the needed seconds.

For those boats planning to sail the Chicago Mac shore time on Mackinac Island will be limited as they have a 48 hour delivery to Chicago.

The early weather outlook shows 70 degree temperatures and moderate easterly winds for the Chicago Mac start.

Genuine Risk is 1st to Finish in Port Huron Mac

Bayview Yacht Club officials have finished 11 boats as of 0645 Monday morning. 1st across the line was the 90 foot mono hull Genuine Risk at 2139 Sunday. Earth Voyager was the first multi hull across the line at 2145. Colt 45 was the 1st Great Lakes 70 to finish at 0407.

Genuine Risk's elapsed time of 30h 34m was 3 hours 6 minutes slow than the 2003 first to finish mono hull Alchemy. On correct time Genuine Risk fell to 4th of 4 in the Turbo class with Denali correcting 1st. For the boats already finished it was an almost 100% upwind race with minimal time under spinnaker.

Earth Voyager was 7 hours behind her outright record time of 2003.

The forecast for Lake Huron calls for variable winds of less than 10 knots with W/SW winds 5-15 later in the day. Overnite there have been calm winds at Mackainac Island. Looks like the race will continue to stay behind last years pace.

A Close Transat

The Quebec to St. Malo crewed transat for Open 60 trimarans has seen the 1st boats cross the line. Sergio Tacchini was winner with a winning time of 7D 21H averaging 15.36 knots over the 2950 mile course.

Just 2 minutes later came Groupama finishing with an average of 15.286 knots.

3rd place Geant was just 1 hour back of the winner their average was 15.283 knots.

4th was Sobedo which achieved an average of 15.27 knots.

These spider like boats are spectacular and when average speeds must be measured in thousandths of a knot their more competitive than others boats too.

Classics at NYYC Race Week

Two classes of classic yachts celebrated the end of their New York Yacht Club Race Week experience in Newport today, even though the Rolex-sponsored event is a nine-day competition. The first weekend served as the second of three events in the NYYC Invitational Racing Series for Vintage and Classic Yachts, open to boats built before 1958. (The NYYC,s recent 150th Annual Regatta served as the first and the Museum of Yachting,s Classic Yacht Regatta in September serves as the third.) With fog and light winds delaying racing in the morning, the weather did not cooperate as beautifully as it did during yesterday,s opening races. The spectacular visual of the classics under sail, however, was preserved when race officials managed to get off two races after moving the fleet from "outside" on Rhode Island Sound to "up Narragansett Bay" to find wind.

"We loved the experience," said Don Glassie (Newport), owner and skipper of Fortune, which won Class 2. "It was the first time the classics have sailed in Race Week and I think it was a good idea to include them."

Fortune is a 54-foot antique staysail schooner built in 1926 and designed by B.B. Crowninshield. Glassie,s "remarkable" all-Rhode Island crew has sailed together for almost eight years and one crewmember~John Taft of Newport~has sailed the boat for 30 years with his skipper friend.

"We do more sail changes than the rest of the fleet combined," said Taft, explaining that on the yacht,s two masts there are at least four sails flying at any given time. "It was a workout for us when we did the four races yesterday."

Glassie added that the racing was "tight and close" despite each classic yacht,s different length and handicap by the NYYC cruising rule. "It was not like any one was way out of the box."

Finishing in second was the classic beauty Bolero, a 73, yawl owned by Ed Kane (Concord, Mass.) and designed in 1949 by Olin Stephens as "the largest modern ocean racer of its time." A highlight of the awards ceremony was when Olin Stephens himself, now in his 90s, awarded Bolero with a special trophy for being the top boat designed by Sparkman & Stephens. The prestigious design firm coordinated an elaborate 75th Anniversary Celebration with Race Week, and the legendary S&S designed 12 Meters Columbia, Courageous, Intrepid and Freedom are sailing in the event,s first half and used this weekend as their 12-Meter Annual Regatta.

The biennial New York Yacht Club Race Week presented by Rolex is in its fourth running and has over 180 entrants competing in two segments of racing: one for handicap boats on the front end and another for one-design boats on the back end. A distance rac