(Milwaukee, WI)- The South Shore YC on the southern part of the
Milwaukee Harbor breakwaters hosts their ever-popular Queens Cup Race, a
mad-dash straight across Lake Michigan to St Joseph, MI of exactly
78.4nm at a heading of approximately 131 degrees. It could not be a
simpler race course- from the starting line, sail straight and finish
just offshore of the Michigan shoreline. However, therein lies the
sheer maddening insanity of the race itself; the race is never what it
appears and the weather forecasts for it always seem to be wrong, not by
a little, but by a LOT! A classic enigma for most race navigators, but
that is what keeps crews coming back for more each year. This year’s
race was a test of skill, patience, and endurance- imagine that a TP52
takes over 15 hours to sail 78.4nm?? That’s an average speed of 5.2 kts-
OMG how painful.Nevertheless, no matter how good or bad the sailing is across the lake, the event is famously notable for the enormous parties at the start and end of the race. For starters, South Shore YC throws down the red carpet treatment, so to speak, for sailors on Thursday with their famous Pig & Chicken Roast. That’s accompanied by music & dancing featuring “Generation Z”, whatever that means!? Then, on the far end after the race, the St. Joseph River YC (now located in the Historic Light House Depot) hosts an even better party at the conclusions of the race (at least, that is their claim!).
This year’s Queens Cup Race had a great turnout for J/105 one-design class and J’s sailing in the PHRF handicap classes.
In PHRF 8 Division, Ben Wilson’s J/88 RAMBLER crushed their class, proving yet again that a J/88 on the Great Lakes is a weapon of mass destruction, especially on any reaching point of sail. Taking third was Ron Otto’s J/110 TAKEDOWN 2.
In PHRF 6 Division, Larry Schell’s J/35 TOUCH OF GREY walked off with the bronze in their class.
The J/111s, yet again, had a field day in PHRF 4 Division, with Richard Hobbs’ HOBGOBLIN taking 1st, followed by Tom Roop’s KASHMIR in 4th and Mark Caliban’s NO QUARTER in 7th. In 8th place was Fran Giampoli’s J/120 JAHAZI.
In PHRF 3 Division, Bob McManus’ J/130 EDGE placed 4th in class and Jim Richter’s J/44 CHEEP’N’DEEP II took 7th place.
The big boats in PHRF 2 Division saw the mighty J/145 MAIN STREET sailed by Bill Schanen and their family crew win class! The Schanen family are well-known in the Midwest for being the publishers of the popular large format magazine- SAILING! They were followed by one of their colleagues, Bob Klairmont’s J/133 SIROCCO 3 in second place.
In the eight boat J/105 class, Mark Gurney’s BUZZ won class by over ten minutes elapsed, followed by Stuart Boekeloo’s ATTITUDE in second, Mark Stoll’s PEREGRINE in third, Jon Weglarz’s THE ASYLUM in 4th and Mike Ludtke’s SMOKIN’J in 5th. For more Queens Cup Race sailing information
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