Cove Island course could be discontinued

By Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki

July 8, 2014 at 7:09 pm Lake Huron

This may be the last year for the longer, Cove Island course.

To race the Cove Island course – or not – is a question skippers can ask these days, now that there are no limits on which class a boat can sail in the 2014 Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race.

But, the fate of the Cove Island course could be in jeopardy. A decision will be made, probably in the fall, as to whether the Cove Island course will continue after this year, said 2014 Race Chairman Art LeVasseur.

This year there are 13 classes sailing the 235-mile shore course, compared to four classes sailing the 298-mile Cove Island course. There are fewer classes on both courses, thanks to an increase in the number of boats per class to heat up the competition.

The actual number of boats registered for the cruising classes is about the same as last year, LeVasseur said. But the number of boats heading up the Michigan coast is far greater than the number going across Lake Huron to the mouth of Georgian Bay before swinging west to Mackinac Island.

Mike Medwid of West Bloomfield moved his Dehler 44 Not So EZ Money from the Cove Island course to the shore course this year, even though he’s never done the shore course before.

“My crew looked at the lineup and saw that a lot of the boats we normally race against, they were doing the shore course,” Medwid said. Maintaining their usual competition was important. “It’s not important to me which course.”

The courses were originally planned with the Cove Island course being longer and more challenging for the faster boats. At one time, if a boat’s handicap rating was 75 or lower, it was required to sail the Cove Island course.

Race managers realized that some boats were being altered to raise their rating, and qualify them for the shore course. For example, the propeller may be changed to a slower, fixed propeller, LeVasseur said.

“We realized that these guys gamed the system better than we could fill the loopholes,” LeVasseur said. “Trying to police that is problematic.”

Consequently today’s cruising classes are unlimited.

But there is an unintended side effect of the shakey fate of the Cove Island course.

This year, some boats switched back to the Cove Island course, for fear they may never get a chance to race that course again.