Mack race competition heats up

By Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki

July 7, 2014 at 4:03 pm Lake Huron

Contender, with the white spinnaker, races against Underdog in a C&C 35 dual.

The big boats and the one-design fleets are among the most competitive in the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, in terms of how competitive the crews are and that in any given race, there are several boats in each of those classes that can win.

This year all classes will be more competitive, however, because the divisions have intentionally been made larger.

“In recent years, we were trying to approach it differently, and we allowed a lot of smaller one-design classes,” said Art LeVasseur, 2014 race chairman. “But I felt it diminished the prestige of winning a flag, if you’re in a five or six boat class versus a 15-boat class.”

“And also I think bigger classes are more fun for sailors,” LeVasseur said. “It’s a bigger challenge and you’re out there for the challenge.”

But there are some classes that stand out, in terms of competitiveness. PHRF A, the class of big boats including the 70-footers, is always going to be extremely competitive given the owners of those boats are so competitive.

Bigger classes are more fun for sailors. It’s a bigger challenge and you’re out there for the challenge.

“And just because the boats are so well-sailed,” said Al Declercq, owner of Doyle Sails in Harrison Township and a regular crew member in PHRF A.

This year Declercq will race in a one-design fleet, aboard the C&C 35 Walloon. The one-designs are also divisions to watch, especially the C&C 35, Beneteau 36.7, Level 35 and J-120 classes.

On a race as long as Mackinac, it’s difficult to know how far ahead (or behind) you are in a handicapped division. That 12-second advantage can become tricky to calculate over a couple of hundred miles. In a one-design fleet, with no handicapping, you always know exactly where you stand.

Plus one-design owners tend to understand there’s a mutual benefit in keeping their classes competitive.

“Some boats have been owned by the same owners for years,” said Gary Graham of Grosse Pointe Park, who owns the C&C 35 Contender. “It’s a pretty tight knit group. When new boat owners come into the class, the old-time boat owners help them out.”

The technology surrounding the Mackinac fleet makes it fun for even beginning sailing enthusiasts to track these competitive divisions and see who’s got the best tactics, by watching how far the leaders can stretch or lose their leads.

Yellowbrick boat tracking will be online for the Mackinac race and Ashore Detroit will have it up on our homepage each day.