(Chicago, St Joe, Michigan City)- The last offshore race of the Lake
Michigan sailing season has traditionally been fraught with a wide
variety of weather, often too much of a good thing, like wind, sun or
waves. Roll on top of that serious entertainment at every venue the
boats race to, specifically St Joe's, Michigan and Michigan City,
Indiana, and you can understand why so many souther Lake Michigan
sailors look forward to this end of the year bash. The host clubs
literally go overboard to entertain the sailors, headlining top rock
& roll acts from the region, like Libido Funk Circus-- wildly
popular with the locals as well as the sailors.
The
racing itself can be very challenging, despite the fact that each leg
is literally a straight shot from port-to-port. The first leg from
Chicago to St Joseph, MI had very light shifty winds, followed by a
great day at the pool and the beach! The next day of racing, everything
changed. A powerful northerly breeze 25+ knots always makes getting
into the dredged entrance channels with long breakwaters a dangerous
proposition for many. In fact, Jackson Park YC said they couldn't
guarantee boats could get out of Michigan City on Monday. As a result,
many boats elected to not sail the Tri-State, but sail the Bi-State and
sailed back to Chicago. The consequences were an abbreviated race for
many. The J/105s all sailed the Bi-State race. First was SEALARK with a 2-1 to win with 3 pts. Second was Tom Petkus' VYTIS with a 1-5 for 6 pts. And, third was HERE's JOHNNY with a 4-4 for 8 pts.
The J/109s also sailed the Bi-State version with MOMENTUS winning with a 1-3 for 4 pts. Second was NORTHSTAR with 5-1 for 6 pts and third was FULL TILT with an 8-8 for 16 pts.
The J/111s sailed 2/3 of the Tri-State. Breaking the streak of KASHMIR was NIGHTHAWK sailing to a 3-4 for 7 pts. KASHMIR sailed to a 7-1 for 8 pts and IMPULSE rounded out the top three getting a 6-10 for 16 pts.
In the PHRF 1 Division, which sailed the Bi-State version, the J/133 RENEGADE got second overall with a 5-1 for 6 pts against of slew of the big boat programs in Chicago. For more St Joe sailing results For more Michigan City sailing results
