A Winning J/35's Perspective on the Bayview-Mac

(Mackinac Island, MI)- Call it what you may, but sailing offshore brings great camaraderie to small crews and big crews. In this year's version of a pandemic-driven reduction to family and smaller crews, it only brought people even closer together.

We got a wonderful report from our friends in Cleveland, Ohio- Brett Langolf who generally races his lovingly restored J/34 IOR classic Half-Ton racer on Lake Erie. This year, he had the privilege of sailing with a bunch of local friends on a J/35 called MAJOR DETAIL. Here is Brett's report:

"Why this year's Bayview-Mac?

Because you never stop racing.
Even if it’s less than 3 miles to go.
Even after almost 240 miles upwind, the lead J/35 is still extending.
Even if we've thrown everything at them, you can and have exhausted all options.
Even when sending the entire crew to sleep on the rail over the last 12 hours didn’t work.
Even if the Class President already sent an email congratulating the other boat on winning the Port Huron to Mackinac Race (watching the tracker live on-line).

So, you pause and decide to all have a beer as the sun rose and the finish line was in sight, “because good things happen when we drink beer!!”

You all raise Canadian beers, even though you had to stay out of Canadian waters, the whole race for fear of deportation. You all "cheers" for what you are about to achieve.

Cheers to second place in the Port Huron to Mackinac.
Cheers you didn’t break anything.
Cheers to old friends and new on the crew.
Cheers that all tested negative for COVID-19.
Cheers to our weekend boat escape.
Cheers for the families we are about to see.
You cheers to an amazing skipper that created this opportunity.

Cheers because….wait! What?? This dog fight of a J/35 battle just gave itself an insanely bizarre turn-of-events. The lead boat has tucked themselves into shore, to leeward of Mackinac Island, and potentially impacted by an on-the-nose current.

Check Yellow Brick Race Tracker. They are going 1.1 kts and we are going 7.1 kts! We can only see them through binoculars and all of a sudden, we like what we see.

“Mortimer, we are back in business!”

“Legs Out. Traveler Up. Keep us in the breeze. Grab me a water. Don’t screw this up,” we all said at once.

One last thing to throw at us. Over the line first? Maybe.

We pulled it off, the mano-a-mano J/35 battle was over. We pulled it off against an amazing crew!

Wait, this is an ORR Race. How much time do we owe them? Crap, almost 6 minutes? OK we got it.

Well, cheers to us, we pulled it off.


First in Class E, First in the J/35 Fleet and Yacht Club Challenge Winner. MAJOR DETAIL was on the virtual podium, the real awards happen once America figures out this COVID mess.

J/Boat sweep- J/35, J/35, J/109....but we need to update one minor detail, it was MAJOR DETAIL in 1st!

Grab your wallet and your masks boys, "Pink Pony" here we come." Editors note- the Pink Pony Cafe & Restaurant is the de facto race HQ for all sailors after completing any Mackinac Race.   Thanks for contribution from Brett Langolf. Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Bayview Mackinac Race Preview

(Port Huron, MI)- Another year, another very different experience for Mackinac Race veterans.  While the Chicago-Mackinac Race was canceled, due to pandemic scenarios, the 2020 edition of the Belle's Beer Bayview Mackinac Race will be taking place this coming weekend, starting on Saturday, June 11th just offshore from Port Huron. Unlike in past years, where the bigger faster boats would sail the "Cove Island" race, an island just a few miles off the Canadian shoreline and deep into Canadian waters, the entire fleet will simply sail straight up the lake to Mackinac Island.

Due to Canadian restrictions related to the pandemic, no yacht may cross the Canadian "border" in the middle of the lake, having to stay off to the west of that imaginary line. And, the mandatory "trackers" placed on each boat will indicate if there was any violation of crossing international boundaries- an automatic DSQ. 

The course is simple enough, go due north up the Michigan shore to the "virtual finish line" at Mackinac Island, leaving Thunder Bay Island and Bois Blanc Island to port. The finish is a virtual GPS finish line. A boat finishes when its position transponder, in its assigned location on the stern, crosses the finish line from the course side. Once you finish, "touch and go" docking is available on Mackinac Island, but that's it.

While many have questioned the wisdom of running the race in these crazy, uncertain times, the Bayview YC and race organizers have worked hard on the "terms and conditions" of competing, ensuring that all boats observe the guidelines for "social distancing" (where possible), wearing masks at all times, not sharing water bottles, and so forth. Nevertheless, that scenario alone will be a challenge for the crews during watch changeovers, changing sails, packing sails, and so forth. An experiment in social interaction, to be sure.

Despite the challenges, there are twenty J/Teams participating, making up nearly one-third of the fleet! Clearly, the passionate J/sailors cannot wait to get back on the water...escapees from months of "lock-down mode" in the State of Michigan. 

In Division 2 will be a slew of very fast 36 to 41 foot J's. Leading that charge will be Bob Christoph’s J/121 LOKI and the Matt Schaedler's J/122 BLITZKRIEG. Chasing them hard will be a quartet of J/120s (Mike & Bob Kirkman's HOT TICKET, Steve Polk's KAIROS, Mike Fozo & Robin Kendrick's PROOF, & John Harvey & Rick Titsworth's SLEEPING TIGER), a quartet of J/111s (Jim Cooper's FREEDOM, Don Hudak's CAPERS, Scott Seller's NO SURPRISE, & Carl Hanssen's VARIANCE), and Tim & Cathy McGuire's J/112E ELEVATION.

Division 3 is comprised of the 35-footers division, mostly all J's. The twin J/109s should be setting the pace in this group with Bill Hamilton's PHOENIX and Chris Mallet's SYNCHRONICITY. They will be challenged by a trio of J/105s (Cynthia & Jim Best's PHANTOM, Mark Symonds' PTERODACTYL, & Sam Power's GRYPHON) and a trio of J/35s (Jim Watts' GRIFFIN, Ed & John Bayer's FALCON, & Bill Vogan's MAJOR DETAIL).

This year, the race has featured a "Shore Course- Sport Boat" division. The sole J/team is Scott Sorbie's J/88 LEGACY.

Follow the race by going to the tracker web site here.  For more Belle's Beer Bayview Mackinac Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race Preview

(Port Huron, MI)- Even though it is 95 years old, the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race is showing no signs of slowing down. The longest consecutively run freshwater race in the country starts July 20 with 202 boats on the starting line. The fleet, representing nine states in the U.S. and two provinces in Canada, has been divided into 20 classes in three divisions on two courses.

The race starts on lower Lake Huron and finishes at Mackinac Island to the north. “We’ve come a long way since the first race in 1925 when 12 boats entered,” said Event Chair Robert Nutter, adding that even through the Great Depression and World War II, the race carried on. “It’s now a can’t-miss event on the Great Lakes sailing schedule, and it has been enjoyed by generation after generation of sailors.”

The weather forecast for Saturday looks a bit questionable, showers and thunderstorms are forecast, temps in the upper 90s, and west to southwest winds in the 5 to 15 kts range (e.g. a roasty toasty humid start!). A least the fleet will be able to start their northerly tracks and escape the heat near Detroit. After the slow-moving cold front moves off to the east, another one rolls in on Sunday late morning to early evening, with winds backing into the northwest in the 6 to 12 kts range.

Cove Island Course
The longer Cove Island course takes the “big boats” due NNE to an island in Canadian waters in the northeast corner of the lake. From there, the fleet heads nearly due west to the finish at Mackinac Island, using the same iconic Old Round Island Point Lighthouse as the southern marker for the line.

Class D includes several hot J/Teams, such as Robert Christoph’s J/121 LOKI, Robert Klairmont’s J/133 SIROCCO 3, and four J/111’s (Don Hudak’s CAPERS, James Cooper’s FREEDOM, Jeff Schaeffer’s SHMOKIN JOE, and Tim Clayson’s UNPLUGGED).

Class E is comprised of ten J/120s. Those teams include Charlie Hess’ FUNTECH RACING, Mike & Bob Kirkman’s HOT TICKET, Marv Ihnen & Ken Tanner’s IHNSANITY TOO, Dave Sandlin, Kenneth Brown & Mark Pikula’s J-HAWKER, Stephen Polk’s KAIROS, Arne Fliflet’s MAZAL TOV, Henry Mistel’s NIGHT MOVES, John Harvey & Rick Titsworth’s SLEEPING TIGER, Curtis Kime’s VICTRIX, and Tim Yanda’s VIVA LA VIDA.

Class H is virtually all J/35s, ten of them are making the trip north across Lake Erie! No question the “gold standard” for the class will be Bill Wildner’s infamous MR BILL’S WILD RIDE. Hoping to give them a “run-for-the-money” will be teams like Tim & Amie Ross’ BLACKHAWK (Team Detroit Lions), Cheryl Miller’s DEAN’S LIST, Ed & John Bayer’s FALCON, and Bill White & Bill Mosher’s STEELIN GOLD.

Class I is comprised of J/105s, J/109s, and a J/112E. The J/105’s include Mark Symonds’ PTERODACTYL and Cynthia Best’s PHANTOM. The J/109’s include Jim Murray’s CALLISTO, Robert Evan’s Chicago-Mac Cup winner GOAT RODEO, and Chris Mallet’s SYNCHRONICITY. The lone J/112E is Tim & Cathy McGuire’s ELEVATION.

Class K- Cruising includes Gary Warner’s J/35 DYNOMYTE and Gary Gonzalez’s J/42 DOS MAS.

Class L- Doublehanded has Brad & Ian Faber’s UTAH racing against two other good fast boats- a Farr 30 and Olson 40.

Shore Course
The Shore Course for smaller boats goes straight NNW direct to Mackinac Island, so the Michigan shoreline becomes a factor in decision-making regarding how the hot shore, cool lake dynamic affects the winds.

Sailing in Class N is the famous J/34 IOR KNEE DEEP sailed by Brett & Katie Langolf from Sandusky, OH and Adam Lawing’s J/29 KOLOA.  Follow the Bayview Mackinac Race on Facebook here  For more Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/122 BLITZKRIEG Blitzes Bayview-Mackinac!

(Port Huron, MI)- The “slowest race in decades” implies and defines the light winds that plagued the 2018 edition of the Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race, which began on Saturday, July 14. Over fifty boats had dropped out of the race, many due to the consideration they wanted to complete the delivery all the way to Chicago for the start of the Chicago-Mackinac Race!

199 boats started the 93-year-old race. The largest brand represented in the fleet was J/sailors from across the Great Lakes- thirty-three crews in total; virtually all of them sailed the 259nm Cove Island Course.

The Overall winner and Class E winner was Matt Schaedler’s J/122 BLITZKREIG from Tecumseh, MI.  His crew included Zack Rush, Mike & Chris Cyrul, Terry Reid, Brian Goldberg, Rick Rothenbuhler, Bruce Huddleston, Paul Healy, and Chris Edwards.

Schaedler commented on their performance, “We got the boat this spring. It’s phenomenal, a great sailing boat, comfortable and fast. We sailed with 10 people.  Great race, fast crew, we were in the right place at the right time. We sailed down the rhumbline, either stopped or going slow all the time. We did 31 headsail changes, but kept going and never let up, always looking for wind. We’d see it and got to it, that’s what made the difference for us.”

Taking seventh Overall and the J/105 One-Design class win was Mark Symond’s PTERODACTYL, with crew of Matthew Morin, Arthur Rose, John Quinlan, Kevin & Mike Morin, Thac Nguyen, and Duane Rose.

Then, in ninth Overall and the J/109 One-Design class win was Jim Murray’s CALLISTO, with crew of Juan Lois, Brad Stocker, Douglas Wolfe, Katie & John Davis, Sam Kashy, and Rob Evans.

Division I- Cove Island Course
Class D was comprised of only J/111s and J/120s, fourteen-boats in all.  In the end, it was the J/120s that won bragging rights this time around.  The J/120s swept the podium- winning was Geoff Brieden & Jeff Clark’s SCOUT, followed by Mike & Bob Kirkman’s HOT TICKET, and J-HAWKER (Dave Sandlin, Ken Brown, Mark Pikula).

Sailing in the eleven-boat Class E were seven J/Teams. It was yet another sweep by J/teams.  Winning, of course, was Matt Schaedler’s J/122 BLITZKRIEG.  They were followed by Mark Symonds’ J/105 PTERODACTYL and Jim Murray’s J/109 CALLISTO.

The dozen-boat Class G (the “Level 35” class) had ten J/35s.  The top J/35s were Cheryl Miller’s DEAN’S LIST in second and Ed & John Bayer’s FALCON in third (btw, a team with 200+ years of Bayview-Mac experience on board, having won class 3x and the J/35 NA’s 5x!).

Perhaps the most amusing (or scary, depending on your point of view) element of this year’s race was the “Special Notice” that was posted on the Notice Board for all competitors.  In short, it read:

“We have been notified by the United States Air Force that a special training mission will be taking place on Monday, July 16th after 1400 hrs. in the special military training box noted on Lake Huron chart #14860 that lies 13 miles east of Thunder Bay. This exercise will involve dropping inert bombs from very high altitude B-52 aircraft (e.g. from 30-45,000 feet high).

Any BBBMR racing boat that is in that box after 1400 hrs on Monday will be escorted out of the box by the USCG cutter Bristol Bay. Failure to obey the USCG, US Air Force, or any other military or law enforcement representatives may result in those persons and vessel being taken into custody and/or fined. This warning supersedes the Racing Rules of Sailing and any other BBBMR race documents.”

Needless to say, given that it was a light air race and a large number of the Shore Course boats would be in the vicinity, many boats made sure they were well inshore of the “bombing box”!  For more Belles Beer Bayview Mackinac Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.