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Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac

Competitor communications 2021.

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DNC - "Did Not Compete" - a competitor who has completed registration at the Pre-Race Sign-In but did not check in at the Check-In-Boat and did not cross the start line. Will be in the list of competitors and scored DNC. The "check in" test is used in lieu of the RRS "did not come to the starting area". Boat will display on the online list of entrants.

DNS - "Did not start (other than DNC and OCS)" - boat was properly registered, checked in, but failed to properly start. Boat will display on the online list of entrants.

OCS - "Did not start; on the course side of the starting line at her starting signal and failed to start, or broke rule 30.1". Boat will display on the online list of entrants.

RET - "Retired" - boat STOPPED RACING for any reason before the expiration of the Time Limit, or notified the RC it had retired after Finishing.

DNF - "Did Not Finish" - boat did not Finish before the expiration of the Time Limit.

SCP - "Scoring Penalty"

DPI - "Discretionary Penalty Imposed"

RDG - "Redress given"

DSQ - "Disqualification"

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Each boat racing is equipped with a YB Tracking satellite tracker that sends boat GPS information (location, speed, and direction) every 15 minutes and displays the location and track on the race course.  

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Tracking for this year’s race will be available on the web.

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"Buy" the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac in the YB Tracking app. The Race will be available to download the race on Thursday of race week.  The race will be available at no charge to our fans and friends; the Mac is covering the cost of it. 

At 333 miles (289.4 nautical miles), the Race to Mackinac is the oldest annual freshwater distance race in the world. ‘The Mac’ starts at the Chicago Lighthouse, just off Navy Pier and continues to Mackinac Island.

This is the official notice board for the 2024 Race to Mackinac. It will be updated throughout the lead up to the race. 

Sports | Sanford Burris skippers Maverick to record time…

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Sports | Sanford Burris skippers Maverick to record time in Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac

That was 1 hour, 6 minutes and 11 seconds faster than the record set by Roy P. Disney aboard Pyewacket in 2002.

The Maverick crew celebrated briefly as it crossed the finish line between Mackinac Island and the Round Island Lighthouse on Sunday. It then kept sailing as part of the “Super Mac” race, a combination of the Chicago Mackinac and Bayview Mackinac races that continued into Lake Huron for a total of 496 nautical miles.

Maverick also claimed the Royono Trophy for being the first racing monohull to finish the 115th edition of the race, which is sponsored by Wintrust. Southerly winds and overnight storms created the perfect conditions for an incredible downwind race.

Burris, from Kirtland, Ohio, is co-owner of the carbon fiber Andrews 80 along with William and Ward Kinney. Burris sails with his sons and many longtime friends. Also among the 20-member crew is Evolution Sails founder Rodney Keenan.

“I will tell you from my perspective, I wish the record had lasted longer, but these things are inevitable,” said Disney, a grandnephew of Walt Disney. “Given how long it took to break that record shows how difficult a course it is and what a classic sailboat race it is.”

Photos: 115th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac

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Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac ®

Race registration and scoring system.

Welcome to our updated and modernized race registration and scoring site.  To benefit from the advanced features, we recommend you use a modern browser on a recent computer, tablet, or even smartphone.  We ask you to bear with us as we add features and functionality daily.

Each user in the new system - Invited Competitor, Crew, or race administration - now have a single "User Profile" that contains basic contact information - name, email, cell phone, address, birthdate.  Login credentials for all returning competitors and crew are the email address and password you previously used for your Crew Profile login.  If you do not recall your password you can click on the "Forgot your password?" link on the login page.  If you no longer have access to the email last used in your crew profile, please email the CYC staff Regatta Manager ( [email protected] ) for assistance.

In addition to your User profile you will have a "Dashboard" that will walk you through the steps required to participate in the race as competitor or crew.

Crew Member :  To participate as a crew member be sure your skipper has your current email address to email you the invitation via the system.  A link to accept or decline the invitation will also appear on your Dashboard.

Request For Invitation:  To enter a boat in this year's race for the first time or if you previously entered a boat but were not eligible for an automatic invitation, login and click the "Request an Invite" on your Dashboard to initiate the process.  

Request For Change:   If you received an automatic invitation to enter a boat but wish to change the boat, the division, or both, Accept the invitation.  Do not initiate a Request For Invitation. To then initiate a Request For Change,  first invite your crew members. As your crew complete the minimum number of Preliminary Crew Profiles + waivers required for each division (50% of crew, but not less than 5 for Cruising or Racing Monohull, 3 for Multihull, 2 for Doublehanded) the links below your Dashboard for submitting a Request For Change will become active.

Again, if you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to the CYC staff Regatta Manager via email: [email protected] .

The Chicago Yacht Club Mackinac Committee

To request an invitation to the next Race to Mackinac, go here,  https://www.cycrtm.com/dashboard/ and click the Request an Invite Button.

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Chicago to Mackinac sailboat race: Storm snaps masts, tosses sailor into Lake Michigan

A fast-moving summer storm Saturday night on Lake Michigan left carnage in its path after three huge sailboats snapped masts and a fourth boat had to rescue a man after he fell overboard, all in the middle of the night under total darkness during the first day of the Chicago to Mackinac race .

“It was about 11:30 Eastern Time and we outpaced a couple storms. The team was getting ready … when a squall hit us. The wind picked up from about 18 knots to over 30 knots and shifted 80 degrees,” Skip Dieball, 53, of Wilmette, Illinois, a tactician racing on the 52-foot Usual Suspects, said on Sunday. “Sometimes in the daytime, you can see some of the shifts coming, the wind pattern on the water. But it was so dark we couldn’t see anything. We told each other we would prepare early. We were, and it just came really fast.”

Disaster was averted after Madcap, a Santa Cruz 52 owned and skippered by John Hoskins, responded to a man overboard report from Callisto, a J/125 owned and skippered by Jim Murray. Both boats resumed racing the 333-statute-mile (289-nautical-mile) race without injury.

In addition to Usual Suspects, owned by Eric Wynsma, masts broke on the 65-foot Sagamore owned by Laura and Tone Martin, along with the 45-foot Sapphire, owned by Robert Radway. No injuries were reported, according to Laura Muma, communications director for the Chicago to Mackinac race.

Despite being on high alert to take down sails, the demasting events were intense.

‘Loud as the loudest thunder’

As soon as the mast snapped, Dieball said the crew started doing a head count to be certain all 13 sailors were still onboard. The rig could have come down on the crew if they had been in their normal stations, but they were scattered. While the mast “broke violently,” Dieball said, “it did not come down violently.”

The race boat, with its custom carbon fiber mast, strong and light but brittle, is designed for high-performance racing and often used in America’s Cup races.

When the mast broke, it sounded like a “crack of thunder” immediately overhead, Dieball said. “It’s as loud as the loudest thunder.”

When the mast settled, the crew had to rapidly assess next steps. The biggest fear is that the broken mast will bang against the boat and puncture a hole, Dieball said. A mast on a boat that size can be 60 or 70 feet tall, he said.

“Part of your safety equipment is having cutting devices that get the mast away from the boat. The mast had broken in three different spots and it was time to start cutting things away,” Dieball said. “Carbon fiber, in many ways, is sharper than steel. We had to make sure no one was in a spot where one of the pieces would actually cut them.”

So sailors took out cutting tools and knives they’re required to carry as part of the racing protocol — and sliced away rigging as fast as possible, letting material sink into the water.

‘Survival mode’

Skipper Eric Wynsma, a real estate developer from Grand Rapids, had three of his grown kids racing, too. This was his 25th Chicago to Mackinac race.

“We were just in survival mode,” Dieball said, cutting away for about 30 minutes. “After the (storm) cell went through, the wind died off. So it wasn’t like we were battling elements. We were into the race about nine hours, finishing about a third of the course, and we returned to Muskegon.”

After stabilizing the situation, the Usual Suspects crew contacted the U.S. Coast Guard and reported debris in the water. The race boat didn’t need assistance once the rigging was cut away, Dieball said. They made certain nothing was wrapped around the propeller and Usual Suspects spent the next three hours motoring back, arriving about 5 a.m.

No one was freaking out, Dieball said. “It was all business.”

The costly damage prevents Usual Suspects from racing the Bayview Mackinac race from Port Huron to Mackinac, which starts Saturday.

Fast Tango fights DeTour

Tim Prophit , of St. Clair Shores, owner and skipper of the 40-foot Fast Tango, didn’t get slammed by the storm, but his nine-member crew prepared by making sail changes and reefing the main sail for better control.

“All of a sudden, the waves felt different, a different pattern, a different height. And the temps dropped,” he said Sunday while racing. “We were paying very close attention to the weather.”

Fast Tango won its class and placed second overall in the Chicago to Mackinac race last year, and was the overall winner in the Port Huron to Mackinac race.

This year, Fast Tango is battling the 34-foot DeTour, owned by Chuck Stormes, of Grosse Pointe Farms, no stranger to winning class and overall trophies.

Christy Storms said early Sunday afternoon she couldn’t look at the tracker to see how her husband was doing. It made her crazy. She didn’t know there had been a storm, she said, thank God, or she would have been worried sick.

“This is the first year I’ve been trying to not stalk him,” she said. “It’s tough looking every minute. It just makes me crazy.”

Family members are known to sleep with their phones under their pillows, call and text each other every hour through the night until the race is finished.In years past, Christy Storms said, “it was like crack. It just make me so anxious.”

So, she went online, noticed he was doing great, took a snapshot of the tracker, put her phone down and went to bed with their 11-year-old dog Striker.

Early Monday, Prophit confirmed that Fast Tango won first in class against 11 competitors. They crossed the finish line in 41 hours, 59 minutes, 47 seconds.

Chaos on other boats, too

Following the storm, 15- to 20-knot southerly winds continued to propel the 247-boat fleet north, Muma said in the race update.

While mast loss made headlines with sailing reporters, other boats had serious issues that went unreported. And they kept going, hoping for the best.

Mark DenUyl, of Marysville, Michigan, owner and skipper of the 34.5-foot Good Lookin’, watched his carbon fiber bowsprit snap in half during the high winds right about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Now it’s held together with electrical tape and sail tape.

Crew member Brennan Churchill, 22, texted his dad at home in Kimball, Michigan, with an update on the damaged equipment used to extend the sail, so it captures more wind.

“He knew better than to tell his mother,” Tracy Heany Churchill said Sunday. “He knows I go into freakout mode.”

Ron Churchill always sails with his son, who won his first Mackinac race at age 15, but Ron couldn’t leave work as a senior operations manager for a natural gas storage facility to do both the Chicago and Port Huron races to Mackinac.

“I feel like I’m lost right now. I just feel like I’m supposed to be there,” Ron Churchill said Sunday.

Brennan Churchill described the boat tipping so far to one side that the crew was in waist-deep water, his father said. “Everybody stayed on the boat. Water was washing over them.”

The sudden gust of wind created such force that it likely flexed and snapped, he said. As a result of the damage, the crew held steady until daylight to try and figure out what to do, Churchill said. “They did a good job with just staying composed and keeping the boat moving well.”

On Monday morning, Good Lookin’ crossed the finish line in third in class against a dozen other J/105 boats despite damage to critical equipment.

Cara DenUyl and her 19-year-old daughter, Riley, woke up at 5:30 a.m. Monday to watch online the Good Lookin’ finish. “It was a nail-biter. It was close between second and third. They were in second place at 2 a.m. Sunday, when that storm hit. Then they fell back all the way to seventh place. At the time, we didn’t know the storm had hit. Somehow they got everything fixed enough to keep going, thankfully. I feel relief that they made the podium.”

‘Breathtaking’ speed

With storms come great wind. Or, in sailor speak, great air.

Winn Soldani, race chair of the Chicago to Mackinac race, said this weekend’s storms brought “epic” conditions that weather models predicted, which is important for safety.

“We’re watching boats going 20 knots, or about 23 mph, and it’s breathtaking,” Soldani told Shifting Gears from the finish line near the Mission Point hotel on Mackinac Island on Sunday.

“When the squalls hit, the wind changed direction very rapidly, from out of the south to out of the west, at 33 to 35 mph,” he said. “Some of these sails are the size of tennis courts. They’re huge. So this changes pressure on the mast.”

That’s what causes masts to snap, Soldani said. Strict safety protocols protect the 2,200 sailors racing this year, and that’s why they’re required to wear special tracking devices on their bodies at all times.

Storm winds create record-setting conditions

As a result of the strong winds, this race broke the speed record.

The 80-foot Maverick finished in 22 hours, 24 minutes, 23 seconds, breaking a record set 22 years ago by 66 minutes, 11 seconds. 

Sanford Burris, of Kirtland, Ohio, sailed with his sons and friends on the carbon fiber Andrews 80 they have spent the past three years upgrading, according to Muma. The 20-person crew included Rodney Keenan, founder of Evolution Sails.

“The team celebrated briefly as the Maverick team crossed the race to Mackinac finish line between Mackinac Island and the Round Island lighthouse … and then kept on sailing,” said the Chicago to Mackinac news release.

Maverick is one of 25 sailboats registered for this year’s “Super Mac” race, a combination of the Chicago Mackinac and the Bayview Mackinac races, which means they will continue into Lake Huron, heading south to Port Huron, for a total of 565 statute miles (495 nautical miles).

More: Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry Co. sells to Florida billionaire

Phoebe Wall Howard, a Free Press auto reporter for nearly seven years, now writes a column on car culture, consumer trends and life that will appear periodically on  Freep.com  and in print. Those columns and others will appear on her Substack at  https://phoebewallhoward.substack.com/about  Contact her at [email protected].

Frank C. Paine CARA MIA

Sail Number: Q 15

  Type: Q Class

LOA: 53’0″ / 16.15m – LWL: 35’3″ / 10.75m – Beam: 8’10” / 2.46m – Draft: 7’0” / 2.13m – Hull Number: – Designer: Frank C. Paine – Original Owner: Harold S. Wheelock – Current Owner: Scott Pavelchik – Year Built: 1929 – Built By: George F. Lawley & Son – Hull Material: Wood – Gross Displacement: – Sail Area: 883 sq ft – Engine Model: Univ. Atomic-4 – Home Port: Milwaukee, WI – Status: Scuttled

Historical:

The longest Q ever built, CARA MIA was designed by Frank Paine and built by Lawley. Eighteen Qs were built for Marblehead racing which lasted for eleven years.

1948 Ole Karas converted her from a sloop to a yawl, gaining two hours of handicap, setting a Chicago-Mackinac corrected time record of 30 hours, three minutes and 21 seconds.

Known Racing History:

1945, ‘47, ’48 and ’49 — Chicago-Mackinac – Winner

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1929) Harold S. Wheelock Owner/Guardian: Leland L. (Ole) Karas, Chicago Yacht Club Owner/Guardian: (1957) John Walch Owner/Guardian: Otto Seifert Owner/Guardian: Scott Pavelchik

James Cady – April 26, 2017

I sailed on the Cara Mia in about 1958, as my brother in law, Richard L. Vennell was the navigator, very experienced sailor, and good friend of the owner, Otto Seifert. Cara Mia was harbored at that time at the Chicago Yacht Club. I was with them in a race to Michigan City, but was too young and inexperienced to race to Mackinac. I slept in the right rear lazzerette. The whole experience is something I will never forget.

Marilyn Kinsey – June 6, 2018

I am working on a historical summary of the Escanaba Yacht Club from 1934 to 1959, with reference to the purchase of Cara Mia by John Walch in ~1957. The photo on this website is labeled as Cara Mia, but the boat shown does not look like a 53′ Q boat.

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One Comment

Both photos are most definitely Cara Mia the 53′ Q I have a set of her lines drawings, and sail plan.

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