90th Mackinac Getting Ready to Sail

By Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki

May 13, 2014 at 11:11 am

The 2014 Bells Beer Bayview Mackinac Race is the 90th consecutive sailing of the Great Lakes classic.

It even sailed during Word War II, thanks to a letter from President Franklin Roosevelt, said race chairman Art LaVasseur. The president wanted the race to continue to train sailors for the war effort.

This year’s race is on track to include more boats than last year, with 194 boats already signed up, compared to 154 at the same time last year, when a total of 225 boats were registered for the race.

“I’m cautiously optimistic we’ll have more this year,” LaVasseur said.

Included in the race is a boat crewed by a cub scout troop aboard a Great Lakes Yacht Club boat. The boys are each sailing with their fathers, in what is likely to be the adventure of their childhood.

“I’ve reviewed the qualifications of the rest of the crew so I’m confident they can do it,” LaVasseur said.

The two coursed, the Acura Shore Course and the Quantum Sails Cove Island Course, are repeating again this year.

As it has in previous years, the shore course continues to attract more boats than the longer, Cove Island course, which has about 50 of the boats registered so far.

“I think it’s probably because of time constraints and family commitments,” LaVasseur said of the continuing growth of the Shore Course. “They get up there and there’s more family activities.”