Il Mostro Breaks Own Record at BYC Mackinac Race

Mackinac Island, MI (July 23, 2017) – Peter Thornton’s Volvo 70 Il Mostro broke its own race course record today in the 93rd Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race. The newly established elapsed time record for the 254-nautical mile Cove Island Course is 21:45:12. Il Mostro’s previous record, set in 2015, was 23:39:54. Il Mostro missed breaking the course’s multihull record (held by Rick Warner’s Arete) by a mere 15 seconds.

Il Mostro was the first to finish of 205 boats in the race that started yesterday from Port Huron; 123 of the boats (including 7 multihulls) are sailing the Cove Island Course and 82 of those sailing the shorter 204 nm Shore Course. The team crossed the finish line at 11:25:12 this morning.

Thornton described how at one point in the race, about 20 miles from Cove Island, his team was clipping along, approximately 30 miles in front of all other teams. “Then we sailed into a hole for two hours and Wizard was the only one who stayed with us; the rest of the fleet saw us stalled and went to the Michigan shore.” After Il Mostro got going again, a storm harboring gusts of “mostly 25 knots, up to 30” carried the boat at an average of 21 knots up the straights to Mackinac Island.

Wizard, David and Peter Askew’s Reichel/Pugh 74, crossed the finish line at 12:19:13. In the standings, they correct out ahead of Il Mostro.

Most of the fleet is yet to finish.

“It was fun, a great race,” said Thornton. “We’re just happy to be out there doing this.”

Race details – Results – Facebook

In 2017, the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race has 211 teams for the event’s 93rd edition starting July 22. There are 128 entrants for the 259 nautical-mile Cove Island course, while 83 teams are signed up for the shorter 204 nm Shore course. Both courses finish at Mackinac Island.

Overview and close-up of the Cove Island and Shore Course for the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race.

Source: Event Media