(Milwaukee, WI)- The Midwest is as hot as ever both in temperature and
in racing action, with last week’s Queens Cup from Milwaukee to South
Haven, MI giving a nice little warm-up to the huge Mackinac fleets. For
most it was an easy ride on the 75.8nm course across the southern end
of Lake Michigan with close-reaching angles in 8-14 kts of breeze, with
wind direction fluctuating across the lake from 175 to 250 degrees.
There were nearly 200 boats sailing, the biggest fleet in years led by
Ken Read's first Volvo 70 Il Mostro. The race is often a quick preview
and practice for the hundreds of boats racing in the two Mackinac Races-
Bayview Mackinac Race and the upcoming Chicago Mackinac.
The
highlight of this year's race was to see the two J/30s sailing in the
PHRF Double-handed Division take the top two spots on the podium. Both
Milwaukee boats, Ton Hainrich's HULLABALOO finished first, doing the
race in 12 hrs 48 min- a near 6 kt average! Just behind them and
keeping the pressure on all the way across the lake were those
tough-as-nails girls on RAFIKI led by Whitney Kent, finishing just 4 min
back in just 12 hrs 52 min! A remarkable performance and kudos to the
J/30 class and teams who've been helping them realize their dream to
sail fast and safely offshore. Who says these girls can't race the
Chicago-Mackinac Race!?What's interesting is that another J/30 sailed by Dell Todd, TEMPTATION, also sailed fast in PHRF Division 8 with a full crew could just muster an elapsed crossing time of 12 hrs 51 min, exactly in between the two double-handed J/30s in terms of time! As a result, TEMPTATION finished 4th in PHRF 8 and 26th overall.
In Division 2, the J/130 WILLIE J sailed by Doug Petter sailed the race in 10 hrs 24 min to finish 5th in class, but only four minutes out of a third place podium finish! In Division 5 the J/105s finished 6th and 7th just ten minutes out of first place! Tight racing. Mark Gurney on BUZZ (6th) and Pat Mullins on ARCHELON (7th) probably wondered where they "lost" that time on the race course. In Division 6, the J/100 SHEK O sailed by Al Wilson sailed fast to grab third in class, just five minutes out of first.
Sailing photo credits- Meredith Block For Queens Cup sailing information
