This race is different from Chicago’s in having two course options: the 290-mile Cove Island course that has the boats ORC rated above 0.9900 TCC racing from the south end of Lake Huron to a mark in the northeast corner of the Canadian coast of the lake, before turning due west to finish at Mackinac Island. The shore course hugs the eastern coast of Michigan (shaped like your left hand) crossing bays and headlands towards the same finish. This race course is 204nm and is for boats ORC rated slower than 0.9900 TCC, which tend to be racers under 35ft and cruiser/racers up to 40ft. The course is shorter, but summer evening thunderstorms can still make for a challenging trip. While not a record, this year’s turnout is impressive: 173 entries applied, with 69 monohulls and nine multihulls accepted to race the Cove Island course and 95 monohulls the shore course. Among those that will be interesting to watch: Bill McKinley’s Ker 46 Denali has a mast repaired from the failure that beset them soon after last year’s start of the Transpac. With the right conditions and despite having a similar rating, this fast design can be ahead boat for boat of the ULDB Sleds who are still going strong as a group on the lakes – four Sleds are entered in the BYC race. Phil O’Neil with son-in-law and Moth champ Bora Gulari onboard is also sporting a new mast on his TP52 Natalie J, and will be one to watch among the so-called GL 52 group of older TPs and Pac 52s who race not only offshore in the Mac races but also have their own inshore circuit of buoy races.
The BYC race will also be the debut for a brand new design built in carbon at Davie Norris in New Zealand. Bob Christoph has had a series of boats named Loki, the last being a J/121 modified with a tall rig and more powerful sailplan which he campaigned in the Great Lakes. This is in addition to a similarly turbo-charged J/105 he keeps locally at his base in beautiful Charlevoix, Michigan where he races weekday evenings in the PHRF fleet. But the desire to go bigger and faster motivated him to contact Shaun Carkeek for a new custom design that while built in carbon is not a flat-out racer and can be sailable offshore without it being an athletic event. At only 6.6 tons, this latest Loki is a Carkeek 46-footer that will be fast and turning heads first in the BYC race, then in Chicago before heading further afield.
A week later the Chicago Mac race has a single longer course that starts just off Navy Pier at the city centre and traverses the entire length of Lake Michigan, then has a short leg east to the same finish at Mackinac island. There are three possible course models for scoring… a mostly upwind, a mostly downwind and an all-purpose course model which race managers from Chicago YC announce the evening before the start based on their read of the weather forecast. In theory, at least, this makes the ratings fairer among the wide variety of boat types…
This 289nm course often features any and all conditions, from flat calm to gale force blasts in summer storms and squalls. A lot of the US version offshore safety rules have evolved from accu- mulated experience in this race, where the managers try to maintain a strict adherence to rules on training and equipment. If your team has done well, expect a visit from the serious-looking inspectors. This year’s race has drawn an impressive 248 entries split into several divisions and classes. Think about the size of this race in human terms: more than 1,500 sailors on the course for two to four days and nights enjoying offshore sailing and bonding with team mates, family and friends. Not bad.
One additional interesting feature of both races compared to what’s more typical elsewhere: the high proportion of old boats entered year after year. These are not classics, but old fibreglass production boats that have been in families for two or even three generations. We who live on the coasts are often puzzled by this – how is it that these boats survive season after season of use? The answer is simple: freshwater and short seasons. No salt means no corrosion to metallic parts, and plentiful boatyard facil- ities mean that nearly everyone decommissions after only four or five months of use. It’s common to get the rig pulled and stored indoors every year, and even the boats are often wheeled into large sheds to spend the snowy cold winters in warm, dry comfort. Power or sail, you want a boat that’s over a decade old and in great condition? Source it from the Lakes, it could be great value. Dobbs Davis
SEAHORSE 31
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