Chicago Mackinac 2012 - Steady stream of finishers

by Race to Mackinac on 24 Jul 2012 104th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac.

It’s been a steady stream of skippers and crew passing through the race committee tent this morning to sign paperwork and greet their fellow big boat sailors.

So far, The Turbos, Section 1, 2, Farr 40s, J111s and Multihulls have all crossed the line, and a look back to the Mackinac Bridge shows a steady stream of colorful kites bearing down toward the finish line between the Round Island Lighthouse and the race committee headquarters on Mackinac Island, Mich.

In its 'Mac' debut, Peter Thornton's Il Mostro takes home the Royono Trophy for line honors as the first-to-finish boat in the racing division in the 2012 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot. At 1:08 a.m. CDT, the Volvo 70 finished the race in 35:38:19. Windquest, the DeVos’s Z Max 86, finished approximately one hour later.

Lindsey Duda, skipper of the Santa Cruz 52 Sin Duda, crossed the finish line at approximately 4:15 a.m. CDT Monday morning. 'Overall, a great race. I think the most challenging part was working our way through the Manitous’ and just trying to stay in the pressure,' said Duda. 'It was like playing a massive game of chess.'
According to Mike Mayer, a partner in the J-111 Kashmir, the 10-boat one design fleet battled all the way up the lake. 'What a fun race,' said Mayer. 'We had multiple lead changes throughout. Going through the Manitous we had eight boats within a mile of each other. What great racing.'

The Mac impressed the Annapolis sailors Kevin McNeil and John Lecourt. McNeil brought his Farr 40 Nightshift to the Great Lakes this summer in preparation for the Farr 40 Worlds in September. 'What a spectacular backdrop,' MacNeil said, referring to the northern Michigan shoreline. 'Between the Manitous and Sleeping Bear dunes, it was an amazing site. Of course, it helped we had our own private wind vein as we passed by.'

Race to Mackinac website