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Mackinac Bound—Sailing News from the U.S. and Beyond

The GL70 Details, sails into the sunset. CYC Race to Mackinac 2010  Event Media

For the past two weeks, American distance-racing fans have had an amazing opportunity to watch two classic races unfold, the Transatlantic Race and the Transpacific Yacht Race. Midwestern sailors, however, have had to keep their hands in their foulies, knowing that their time to shine was coming soon. Thankfully, that day has arrived, as the fifty-boat cruising division of the 103rd Race to Mackinaw begins their 333-mile push to the fabled island today; the 301 participating raceboats start the same course tomorrow. As with all distance races, weather and wind are the key actors. 'I think that the start on Saturday will begin in a light southeast lake breeze initially,' said meteorologist Chris Bedford earlier this week, 'and that the lake breeze will probably shut down for a short period, but I don't think it will be all that long before we start to get into a gradient south to south-south west wind that will build across the entire Lake by early Sunday morning.' As of this morning's skipper meeting, however, the forecast has slowed, indicating that the high-pressure ridge to the east will take longer to move through than anticipated, thus potentially stalling the predicted southerly flow. As is often the case with fickle-wind distance races, Bedford admits that this race could likely prove to be another case of the rich getting richer, e.g., the faster boats tapping into the fresher breezes sooner. Be sure to check out more pre-race media, in this issue.

Sail-World will be on hand during the Race to Mackinaw, producing up-to-the-minute race reports, interviews, and other engaging media. Please be sure to check the site regularly for updates, and stay tuned to the newsletter for more, as it becomes known.

Meanwhile, in Volvo Ocean Race circles, Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ has wrapped up the testing phase on their new Volvo Open 70, Camper, which is now being prepared to be shipped to Europe for the start of the next VOR, which kicks off this October. 'Our testing phase in New Zealand is complete we have sailed 8,000 nautical miles since April,' said skipper Chris Nicholson. 'We've sailed from the tropics to the edge of the Southern Ocean, so it's been a great opportunity for us to really push Camper in a wide-range of true race conditions. With our time in New Zealand now drawing to a close, we have new goals now for Europe leading up to the starting line.'

IMG 5688 - 2011-07-13 at 11-03-50 - Emirates Team NZ - SL33 - 13 July, 2011  Richard Gladwell

Also from ETNZ, be sure to check out news of their new partnership with Dell computers, as well as their latest toy, the Morelli and Melvin-designed SL-33 catamarans, which will serve as test beds for the team's bigger AC72.

Also inside you'll find updates from both the Transpac and the Transatlantic races. On the east side, the last boats have been dealing with a significant ridge of persnickety high-pressure, while on the left side things are getting decidedly spicy as boats continue to approach Hawaii and cross the finishing line.


May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor

Transpac 2011 – Different boats, different bets Kimball Livingston, Looking around the fleet of the 46th Transpacific Yacht Race, Los Angeles to Honolulu, we see that James McDowell's Grand Illusion has extended its very-real corrected-time lead.... [more] Share this story

Chicago-Mackinac - One Design Racing Grows for 2011 Greg Nicoll, The registration for the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot, has shown a tremendous growth in registrations for one design class racing. The Beneteau 36.7 reached class status (current minimum of eight boats) in 2003 with six boats and now has 18 entrants for this year's race.... [more] Share this story

Race to Mackinac - Cheap Thrills with T10's – a Great Lakes tradition Race to Mackinac - event media, The 103rd Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot, is one of the oldest and most prestigious freshwater sailing races in the world. This year 361 boats will be racing across 20 sections, each section will provide a race within the race. One of the hardest fought, amongst the one design fleets of Tartan T10 and younger LS10s - boats that just seem to say Great Lakes.... [more] Share this story

Chicago Yacht Club's 103rd Race to Mackinac - Weather focus Race to Mackinac - event media, The Chicago Yacht Club's 103rd Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot, is just a few days away. This morning Chicago Mackinac Race Weather forecaster Chris Bedford was very upbeat about the weather ahead.... [more] Share this story

US Windsurfing National Championships 2011 day 3 update from USA 4 Steve Bodner, US Windsurfing National Championships 2011 day three update from Windsurfing Champion Steve Bodner: Day three saw the Brazilians dominate both the formula and slalom courses in classic San Francisco Bay conditions. Three formula races were run in 18-24k followed by three rounds if slalom in 20-25k. Paulo Des Reis collected another string of bullets and he's on par to sail a perfect regatta.... [more] Share this story

Transpac 2011 - Meet me at the Molokai Channel Kimball Livingston, Transpac 2011. In this corner, approaching from the south, Magnitude 80. And in this corner, approaching from the north, Bella Mente. They shook hands back on the mainland, and they came out fighting on July 8. Now it's decision time. There's plenty of breeze, and both Bella Mente and Magnitude 80 are making speeds in the teens.... [more] Share this story

Canadian Mystery Ship at the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac Greg Nicoll, Steve Jay and Clark Carruthers (19-year Chicago Mac veteran) docked their 1971 C&C 35 Mark 1, Mystery at the Chicago Yacht Club this morning after traveling 535 miles and 97 hours from the Sarnia Yacht Club. Steve and Clark were previous winners of their section in the 100th anniversary. More recently, they have flagged in four of the past six Chicago Mackinac races. Why this race? The Chicago Mac... [more] Share this story

America's Cup: Artemis Racing launch their AC45 yacht in Valencia Vsail.info, Thursday wasn't the first day the AC45 yacht of the 34th America's Cup Challenger of Record was sailing here in Valencia but it was the first time the Swedish team opened its base and allowed media and guests to watch the entire procedure of the wing being mounted on the catamaran as well as the actual launch on the water.... [more] Share this story

More images from Zadar: Fifth day of racing in ISAF Youth Worlds ISAF, More images from Zadar, Croatia from the fifth day of the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships... [more] Share this story

U.S. Junior Women's Doublehanded Championship 2011 Jake Fish, The U.S. Junior Women's Doublehanded Championship 2011 has resulted in Sarah Williams and crew Ali Blumenthal taking and maintaining a commanding lead. They won four of the first seven races of the championship to take an eight point lead going into today's final two races.... [more] Share this story

Greg Freeman Welcomes Sail-World to the 2011 Chicago Mac Elizabeth Kerr, Sail-World, Chair, Greg Freeman welcomes Rob Kothe, Sail-World to the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac - presented by Veuve Clicquot. This is the first time Sail-World has attended the Chicago Mac and is proud to be manning the official media centre here. In addition to up-to-the-minute reports on pre-race & post-race activities, Sail-World will be engaging with skippers while battling for position.... [more] Share this story

Young crew taking on the Lake Ontario 300 Challenge for the 2nd year Brian Townsend, Paradox, a 37' sailboat from Olcott Yacht Club in New York is once again entering this year's race to compete as the youngest crew in the race. The 4-man crew on board Paradox are all graduates from Canisius high school in Williamsville NY and range in age from 18 to 19 years. Skipper Peter Roehmholdt is currently sailing on the Notre Dame University Sailing Team... [more] Share this story

Yellowbrick provides Lake Ontario 300 Challenge tracking solution Nick Farrell, Yellowbrick are pleased to be providing tracking for this year's Lake Ontario 300 Challenge – our team is onsite in Toronto now, making the final preparations for the race. Three Hundred Nautical Miles, non-stop from one end of Lake Ontario to the other and returning back to the start.... [more] Share this story

ISAF Youth Worlds 2011 set for a final day fight ISAF, ISAF Youth Worlds 2011 in Zadar, Croatia have resulted in Laser Radial sailors Maxime Mazard (FRA) and Giovanni Coccoluto (ITA) going into the final day of racing with just one point separating them. The Frenchman, who has led for the majority of the week, finished 25th and seventh today and has seen his five point overnight lead reduced to a single point.... [more] Share this story

Transatlantic Race 2011 readies for battle royale Barby MacGowan, Transatlantic Race 2011 readies for a dramatic ending as Class40s Concise 2 and Dragon approach the finish line. Concise 2, skippered by Ned Collier-Wakefield (Oxford, U.K.), is just a few miles ahead of Dragon, skippered by Mike Hennessy (Mystic, Conn.), and after 16 days of racing the outcome of this duel is too close to call, even with just 100 miles to the finish line.... [more] Share this story

Rolex Fastnet Race 2011 - One month to go KPMS, Rolex Fastnet Race 2011 - The waiting is nearly over: the 44th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race, one of the great ocean challenges, is exactly a month away. With a staggering 350 entrants at the ready, 1979's record-breaking tally of 303 participating yachts will almost certainly be surpassed. The sheer size of the fleet is impressive. Its quality and diversity quite breathtaking.... [more] Share this story

US Windsurfing National Championships 2011 day 2 update from USA 4 Steve Bodner, US Windsurfing Nationals 2011 day two update from Steve Bodner: Day two saw two more rounds of formula course racing in the early afternoon and three rounds of slalom finishing at 6:30 pm in the South Basin off the Berkeley Pier. Racers were greeted to a lighter than normal fogged in Bay Wednesday morning. PRO Darren Rogers made the call formula course racing at 1:30.... [more] Share this story

Animated Knots by Grog - Part 2 Jeraldine Kennedy, The website and now iPhone app that leads the way is Animated Knots by Grog. You can click through to those animated knots on our website, as well finding links to the iPhone apps. Here is part two of our interview with Grog himself.... [more] Share this story

Volvo Ocean Race: Camper completes testing and heads for Europe Sail-World, Boat testing for the Volvo 70, Camper, sailed by Emirates Team New Zealand, has ended. After sailing 8,000 nautical miles in the last three months, Camper has been lifted out of the water and is being decommissioned before shipping to Europe later this month.... [more] Share this story

Brazilians dominate US Windsurfing National Championships day 1 David Wells, The 2011 Doubletree by Hilton at Berkeley Marina US Windsurfing National Championships kicked off in high style. As the sequence wound down to the start of race one it was pretty obvious that everyone was thinking 'Port-o-Rico' with the entire fleet starting on starboard tack.... [more] Share this story

50th Cal 20 Class Championship at Alamitos Bay YC Rich Roberts, The Cal 20 Class Championship 2011 is set to take place from the 12th August to the 14th August in Long Beach at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club. There will be a three-race qualifying series on Friday, Aug. 12, followed by two days of competition with seven races over Saturday and Sunday. A Junior Championship, possibly featuring a third generation of Cal 20 sailors, is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20... [more] Share this story

'The Fabulous 40s', 15 years of the Farr 40 Class launched Jill Campbell, Aptly titled 'The Fabulous 40s' and produced with the support of long-time Farr 40 Class sponsor Rolex, the book tells the story of what is one of the most successful contemporary one-design racing yachts worldwide. The 240-page hardcover coffee table book focuses on the annual Rolex World Championship regattas held across the globe.... [more] Share this story

Offshore Racing Congress expands sailor services Offshore Racing Congress, The Offshore Racing Congress has announced that it will be expanding sailor services to include the nearly 50,000 certificates in the database which go back to the early 90's. 'This does not cover all the certificates issued over this time frame, as there are some gaps for various reasons,' says ORC Programmer Panayotis Papapostolou.... [more] Share this story

All-star line-up to open America's Cup World Series in Cascais Sail-World, Some of the best sailing teams in the world are coming to Cascais, Portugal in August for the opening event of the America's Cup World Series. The America's Cup World Series – Cascais will feature 10 boats, sailed by nine teams, representing eight countries.... [more] Share this story

Dell to add computer power to Emirates Team New Zealand Warren Douglas, Dell has joined the Emirates Team New Zealand challenge for the 34th America's Cup, adding significantly to the design team's computer fire power. Dell will supply the team with IT system design, hardware, system software and implementation. The technology will help the design team's programme for the AC72 catamarans that will race in San Francisco is 2013.... [more] Share this story

America's Cup: Video of Emirates Team NZ sailing the SL33 Sail-World, First video of Emirates Team NZ sailing the SL33 catamaran, which the team are using as a surrogate boat for the AC72. The SL33 is the largest size catamaran that can be used without breaking the Surrogate Rule, which is part of the Protocol for the 34th America's Cup, and is designed to prevent more well funded teams running extensive two-boat testing programs.... [more] Share this story

America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ signs with Dell and launches new boat Richard Gladwell, Emirates Team New Zealand have announced a partnership with US based multinational, technology company Dell computers. The team will be looking to make up one of the 'holes' in its 2007 America's Cup campaign – which was in the area of applied technology, which by the estimate of CEO, Grant Dalton, cost the team about 10 seconds a leg in that event.... [more] Share this story

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