The Road to Mackinac

[Sanduskysailor]

New thread about preparations for our first Bayview Mackinac race. We are registering my boat for the July 17th race next week. Hopefully the sailnet community will follow along and offer constructive advice as we put the boat together. Most likely there will be real time boat tracking again this year and so that you can watch our progress during the race.

Preliminary information- Boat name is Hey Jude. 1985 C&C 29-II. The experienced 5 man crew, all boat owners- Bill skipper/owner 11 BYC Macks, 6 Chicago Macks, Rory(Paceship 26)- 1 BYC Mack, Cliff(J-29)- 3 BYC Macks, Carl(Tartan 30C)- 3 BYC Macks, Dave(Tartan37)-2 BYC Macks.

Race information and the equipment requirements can be found at Bayview Yacht Club - Bayview Port Huron to Mackinac Race . We will be competing in the Shore Course PHRF division.

A little bit about the boat. 1985 C&C 29-II. Rob Ball design. Actually onlyu 28.5' in length. Masthead rig, baby stay. Fin keel drawing 5'3" with high aspect rudder. Boat has full cruising interior. Vivid Red Awlgrip painted hull. Boat was purchased in September of 2009 and has been in the shop this winter professionally fixing issues found in survey including a new cockpit sole and a soft spot on the bottom.

The sail inventory is pretty complete. Main is a 2+2 batten high modulus Dacron from Haarstick with 2 reefs. Less than 2 seasons of use. The #1 AP is 155% Dimension Flex Aramid- new this spring. The superlight #1 is a tissue paper thin mylar from North for use in less than 10 knots apparent. The #2 is a 138% Dimension Flex Aramid about 3 years old. The #3 is a 105% Kevlar Tape Drive with Kevlar scrim. A heavy sail with little wear and absolutely bullet proof. The dacron storm jib meets the size requirements and has never been used. Spinnaker #1 is a 3/4oz nylon form North with light use. Spinnaker #2 is 3/4oz AP/runner from UK.

Next installment- meeting the equipment requirements.

[JohnRPollard]

Sanduskey,

Man, you must be psyched! I'm pumped just reading about it. That sounds like an awesome race right up Lake Huron.

So, what decides between the "Cove Island Course" and the "Shore Course" you'll be taking?

Either way, at 200+ n.m., it looks like a 1.5-3 day race or so?

Neat. Keep us posted.

[Faster]

Sounds like you're off to an adventure.. the only comment I have at this point is hopefully you won't have 'too many skippers' on board... Sometimes having the entire crew accustomed to calling the shots can lead to some frictional debate on tactics...

It's a race with a storied history.. enjoy!

[Sanduskysailor]

The Shore Course is 200nm and is the original course for the race. The Cove Island course is 256nm and goes around the Cove Island Buoy in the middle of the lake.

I've done the Cove Island Course and the old Southampton course on bigger boats in the past. The Cove Island Course requires an endorsed IRC certificate which for me would cost about $700 to get. Also, we would be by far the smallest and slowest boat on that course.

The Shore Course is a bit less challenging and requires only a PHRF certificate. $700 vs $30. Not much of a decision there. So far, my expected class includes 3 overall winners, a Tartan 34C, a Hinckley Pilot 35, and a Bristol 27. Others will be signing up but for now it looks like a Catalina 30 is the only other boat in the rating band. The Tartan 34 has a great rating, crew, and equipment. I'm praying for a bit of light to medium upwind work as these guys will waterline us to death on a reach. My secret weapon in the prayer department is the ordained Methodist minister who is one of our crew.

[smackdaddy]

SANDY! BABY! THE MAC!!!!!!

Very cool dude. I will definitely be following this. Keep us posted and get some pics up when you can!

[sailingdog]

Good luck Sandusky... keep us posted...

[padean]

The "short" course can seem long enough. We usually do that course every year, but the Cove Island course adds a longer home leg which is often a windward leg. Unfortunately, the shoreline course is more often than not a reach, which does not favor the boats with a shorter waterline.

Never the less, it is almost always a fun race, and with an experienced crew you will certainly give the rest of the class some competition. I do the Mac race on an S2 10.3, but not sure if we are in your class, with a PRHF usually in the 110's. In the past an IRC rating was required for this course, but using the PRHF rating this year may hopefully get a few more of the areas recreational racers to join.

Have fun, and good luck.

[Sanduskysailor]

Padean- which 10.3? Limerick or Medicine Man? It seems that both were in our class years ago when I raced on Hurricane.

[paulk]

I hate IRC because it dilutes the competition by siphoning off boats that want to play in a different sandbox from the rest of us. This enables them to compete against perhaps a dozen other boats in the IRC fleet, instead of a hundred or more in the PHRF fleet, so they have a better chance of winning a prize. At $700 for a certificate, that's an expensive pickle dish.

[CliffRuckstuhl]

Just listen to everything that Cliff guy says and you'll be sure to have a great finish.