Rain doesn’t dampen post-Mack party

By Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki

July 15, 2014 at 3:27 pm Mackinac Island

The dress code was definitely foul weather gear and umbrellas for the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race awards party.

Ned Bunn of Clayton, NC has done 49 Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Races and he’s never gone to an awards party in the rain.

Until this year.

It rained for the awards party. It poured down rain. The venue was beautiful, an open lawn area overlooking the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac.

But it was raining so hard it was even difficult to find friends. Normally folks wear their matching crew shirts to this party. Looking for the crew of the X-402 Brandilee, owned by Steve Nadeau of Grosse Pointe Woods? They wear green shirts, look for a group wearing green.

That didn’t work this year. Those shirts were hidden under foul weather gear or jackets, making it difficult to recognize anyone.

But these sailors had already spent much of the race sailing in the rain. A little rain on party day wasn’t going to stop them from having fun. Drinks were poured. Flags were awarded for first, second and third place. Friends were eventually found.

And another Mackinac went into the record books.

This was pretty much a rhumb line race.

PHRF A was one by Phil O’Niel of Bloomfield Hills in this TransPac 54 Natalie J. He stayed pretty close to the rhumb line. The same was true over on the Acura Shore course.

‘I sailed rhumb the whole way,” said Richard Sinowiec of Grosse Ile, owner of the J-33 Shenanigan. He took third place i PHRF E. “We’d go a mile on either side until the wind shifted.”

The winner of the Pickle Boat flag for the last boat to arrive at the island was Home Brewed, a Catalina 30 owned by Ronald and Robert Henderson of Chesterfield Township. They crossed the finish line at 10:31 pm Monday.

Home Brewed did better than four other boats in their class, however, that didn’t even finish the race.

Boats are leaving the harbor now. Some are heading west to next weekend’s Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. Others are either heading back home or taking a cruising vacation.

Ashore Detroit congratulates organizer Bayview Yacht Club and the 2014 Race Chairman Art LeVasseur on another great race.

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