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This year the Port Huron to Mackinac race
slots in as the 2nd of the 'Mac' Races with the
Chicago Yacht Club's Race to
Mackinac completed last weekend. The Port Huron race is sponsored by Bayview
Yacht Club of Detroit. 2001 will be the 77th sailing of this race.
This year's race is expected to include 281 entries.
This will be the 2nd year that the fleet
sails to a buoy off Southampton rather than the Cove Island course. As
always, the option of sailing a shorter course up the Michigan Shore of Lake
Huron will be presented.
With the Southampton course still new in
sailors minds standard tactics are still being developed. Last year the
fleet beat to the Southampton mark making for interesting choices as to whether
to hug the shore or not.
Unlike last year the entire fleet will stop
at Mackinac Island. Last year the some of the fleet continued on to
Chicago in the Millennium 600.
Among those expected to compete for line
honors are the Great Lakes 70's class, Decision an Andrews 70 rating -111 PHRF
and Everest Horizontal an Open 50 raring -38. In the recent Queens Cup
across Lake Michigan the Crowther 38 catamaran Nice Pair beat out the GL 70's
and Everest Horizontal. An even faster multi hull is Earth Voyager at -186
on the PHRF scale.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the
two Mackinac races is their starting points. While the Chicago fleet is
big news, it is typically big news only to sailors. Chicago has too much occurring
to really pause the city for a fleet of 300 sailboats.
Port Huron, Michigan, a more moderate sized city is
different. The city is paused for the fleet of boats. Thursday and
Friday nights to see huge crowds lining the Black River. Bridges are held open
so residents can cruise the river and check out the fleet. TV stations
provide live reports from boat night and local newspaper publishes a
special edition dedicated to the race. As you motor to the race course the
banks are lined with cheering spectators.
For sailors whose sport often seems to exist
in an attention vacuum the Port Huron communities enthusiasm is special.
If you are at all interested in sailing, the pre race activities in Port Huron
are worth a trip.
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