(Chicago, IL)- With 324 boats participating in the 333 mile (289nm)
journey from Chicago to Mackinac Island this year, the 107th Chicago
Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Wintrust, starts on Saturday,
July 11th in the afternoon. The weather forecast certainly won’t
present any records for the big boats. A warmish southerly flow with
the chance of thunderstorms and dense fog going up into the northern
portions of the lake will make for an interesting experience for
navigators.The J contingent should enjoy the light to moderate conditions since it will have a lot of reaching and VMG sailing; in particular for the asymmetric boats.
With eleven J/111s sailing one-design, the fleet may yet again set the pace for the top 20 overall in the ORC Division. In the last three Mac Races, just about the entire J/111 fleet occupied most of the top 20 slots. Most of the top boats from both the Mac Races and the J/111 North Americans will be participating, including HOBGOBLIN from South Shore YC, IMPULSE, KASHMIR, LUCKY DUBIE, and NO SURPRISE.
The J/109 fleet has nine boats participating this year. What they lack in numbers is made up by the fact that it’s a very competitive fleet. The leading boats should include CALLISTO from Chicago YC, FULL TILT from Columbia YC, MOMENTUS from Columbia YC, NORTHSTAR from Chicago YC and SLAPSHOT II from Chicago YC.
The
J/105 class has yet another enormous turnout of twenty-two boats this
year. Many of the Great Lakes top boats are in the mix, including
CREATIVE DESTRUCTION from Little Traverse YC, PTERODACTYL from Grosse
Pointe YC, Sandy’s ROCKING HORSE from Chicago YC, THE ASYLUM from
Chicago YC and the Petkus’ VYTIS.The Level 35 class has six J/35s participating including known rock stars like TOUCH OF GREY, HAT TRICK and ALPHA PUPPY.
In the Chicago-Mac Trophy division Section 2 are two J/145s- MAIN STREET from Port Washington YC and VORTICES from Bayview YC. In Section 3 are three J/130s (SALSA from Chicago Corinthian YC, WILLIE J from Macatawa Bay YC and EDGE from Milwaukee YC) and two J/133s (RENEGADE from Columbia YC and SIROCCO 3 from Chicago YC). The J/120s and J/122s will certainly have a royal battle for class honors in Section 4. Leading the J/122s could be the overall and class Chicago-Mac winner, Mitch Padnos’ SUFFICIENT REASON from Macatawa Bay YC. They will be up against two other J/122s, EVVAI from Marquette YC and GOTTA WANTA from Grand Traverse YC. The three J/120s are JAHAZI, MAZAL TOV and PERVERSION.
In the Mackinac Cup Division, sailing Section 6 are three super-fast J/88s- Rich Stearns’ HOKEY SMOKE, RAMBLER and SLOT MACHINE from Columbia YC. Taking them on will be the J/100 BARRACUDA, the J/33 RETRIEVER, the J/35 BOZOS CIRCUS, and the J/92 CYCLONE. For more Chicago Mackinac Race sailing information
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