Mackinac race finishing much faster than expected

By Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki

July 14, 2014 at 9:40 am Mackinac Island

There has been a steady supply of boats finishing the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race all morning.

What was supposed to b a very slow Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race turned into one of the faster races in recent years.

First to the island was Windquest, the Max Z86 owned by Dick and Doug DeVos of Macatawa, MI, finishing at 5:26 pm Sunday. After that boats began trickling in. Around 4 am the cannon at the finish lines began going off regularly.

Winds throughout out the Straits of Mackinac were all over the place, as low as six knots and as high as 24. That’s a lot different from the weather predictions that expected a pretty steady five to 10 knots of wind in the Straits and helped to blow the boats in much faster than expected.

There were few “holes” with no wind but the few were deadly. Boats tended to sail into the hole and bunch up, which could completely change the class leaders.

“After beating in 16 to 24 knots out of the west, we have passed the Ducks and have become becalmed on the Michigan shoreline,” reported Dan Gidcumb aboard Rum Kist, a Beneteau 10R owned by Harry Bloom of Bloomfield Hills. “Wind filled in from the south we’re in a big pack by Rogers City and we all just took off.”

The harbor is filling up and the island is filled with sunburned sailors trading war stories from the race.

The TransPac 54 Natalie J owned by Philip O’Niel of Bloomfield Hills placed first in PHRF A, the big boat class. The SC 70 Evolution owned by partners Kohler and Reichelsdorfer fro Sheboygan, WI was second and Windquest corrected to third place in the class.

For complete results, go to http://www.bycmack.com/main_results.cfm.