Drag racing to Mackinac Island

The 2025 Bayview Mackinac Race got underway for the 101st edition on July 12 with 191 entrants on either the Cove Island Course (259 nm) or Shore Course (204 nm).

The brisk southwest winds at the start on Lake Huron helped nearly the entire fleet – ranging from 27 to 68 feet in length – complete the course in 45 hour or less, which was a day faster than the slowest entries in the 2024 race.

“This was the fastest start to the race I remember in 10 to 15 years,” said Race Chairman Tim Prophit, skipper of his perennial class winner, the North American 40 Fast Tango. “For us headed to Cove Island it was a drag race up the lake, also for those sailing on the Shore course.”

However, amid the ideal conditions was a squall that came through the course a few hours into the race and resulted in rig, gear, and sail damage plus two crew-overboard incidents with successful recoveries. In all, eight boats retired from the race with no significant injuries reported in any incident.

“We are grateful to the US Coast Guard and those competitors who participated in the successful search and rescue of the sailors who were in the water,” said Paul Falcone, Commodore of Bayview Yacht Club. “It’s a testament to their skill, preparedness, and the shared commitment to safety that all sailors share any time they are on the water. Well done.”

The remainder of the first half of the race for both fleets remained fast until the wind speed dropped and shifted towards the west on the second night.

“There was a transition zone when the wind shifted, and then things got interesting,” said Wally Cross, tactician on Tim LaRiviere’s Italia 14.98 Eagle One racing in Class B on the Cove Island course. “Not everybody does well when there are zones like this, but these are where the race can be won or lost.”

Eagle One favored the north side of the rhumb line initially, trying to stay ahead of our pack, but Cross noticed a lot of wind shear and adverse current in this area. They then broke free of the pack to head to the Michigan shore where the new shift was expected, caught this shift, and vaulted to a more comfortable lead to win in Class B.

Seven hours ahead of them, the group of three front runners in this race – the TP 52s Heartbreaker skippered by Bob Hughes, Mockingbird skippered by Chris Duhon, and Natalie J skippered by Phil O’Niel – finished their 28-hour boat-for-boat battle only minutes apart, with Heartbreaker emerging victorious in both Class A and overall Division I results. Mockingbird placed second overall, and Natalie J third among 95 teams who finished the race on this course.

On the shorter Shore course, the wind angles resulted in even more of a drag race, with lead changes coming from speed more than tactics, until the transition in breeze produced a few light air speed bumps in the course along the northern Michigan shoreline.

Emerging victorious in Division II overall was Cameron Paine’s C&C 35 Mk I Underdog, who is also the top-finishing Canadian entry in the race, followed by Rob Bunn’s Morgan 42 Wind Toy in second, and Everett and Cameron Benedict’s Santana 35 Shape in third among the 33 finishers racing on this course.

Winner of the Division III Cruising classes was John Seago’s Oceanis 400 Seagoiing II, winner of the Doublehanded entries on the Shore course was John and Johnny Walton on their Express 27 Riptide, and the winner of the Multihulls in Division IV was Matt Scharl’s Gougeon 35 trimaran Adagio.

“This race was truly unique,” said Cross, who said this was his 54th race to Mackinac. “We had great wind, enough transitions to make for interesting tactics, and a really diverse range of boat types in our class to race against. It’s not like a really long race where you can settle into a watch system, you have to be awake and on your game the entire time to win. I love it!”

Details: https://bycmack.com/

A group of eleven of the Cove Island fleet finishers did not turn right and head ashore at Mackinac Island but instead kept sailing west under the Mackinac Bridge to then head south racing towards Chicago to finish the 548-mile Ultra Mac race.

First to finish was Trey Sheehan’s TP 52 Hooligan, followed by Mike Evans on his Pogo 50 Pommes Frites, and then Doug Evans on his J/122 Elbow Room.

Source: BYC