2011 Race to Mackinac - Final Recap

The 2011 Race to Mackinac will go down in history for what happened during the storm.  It was a race dominated by conditions we all dream of, but will be remembered for one 30 minute storm.

Antanas trimming the kite.

Saturday started with moderate winds which caused us to hug the Illinois and Wisconsin shore as we expected a sea breeze to develop.  It did, and we followed it much of the day.  We planned to be at least ten miles off shore by dusk....a plan we followed perfectly.....to be in the gradient winds predicted to take over as the sun set and the sea breeze died.  It seemed to be lining up as a perfect first Mac Race for Antanas.

Saturday Night

Dawn Sunday

It was a beautiful night.  The wind never died and we never stopped moving as we all settled into our sleep rotation and tried to get North as fast as possible to out run the predicted light winds on the Southern half of the lake.

Sunday we awoke to calm winds and seas.  We had numerous boats around us and felt positive with the progress we had made over night.  As the day progressed the wind and waves built.  By mid-afternoon we had 20+ knots consistently and 3-5 foot following seas.  We were hitting 10+ knots of boat speed regularly and topped out at over 18 knots.  We were truly ripping along.  In all the years we have done the Mac Race rarely do we get to Point Betse during the day on Sunday....and there we were crossing the waypoint in the GPS before night fall.

On Sunday night all hell broke loose.  The prediction was for the strong winds and waves to continue until a major thunderstorm came through and the front behind it would shift the winds to light with a change of direction to the west.

As darkness fell we were able to see the coming storm from the West.  A beautiful lightning show warned of the danger to come.  As we tracked the storm on our cell phones we knew we were about to get whopped.

Here is a link to a video of the storm radar: http://goo.gl/HxfKg  We had a brief 48kt gust, driving rain, an incredible lightning show, a few close calls with neighboring boats but other than that, not much else we havent seen in many storms over the years.  Once it passed we put the sails back up and continued on to Grey's Reef.  We saw search lights on he horizon behind us after the storm, but were not in a position to offer assistance.  By our best estimate we were 10+ miles ahead of what we later learned was a real disaster.

When the sun finally came up we were surprised to see some of our main competitors right by us.  A race to the finish was on.  We battled with Sealark for the next 80 miles to the finish.  Making up 5 minutes on them in the last 30 miles.  They beat us by 30 seconds......Oh the frustrations of the Mac Race!

Here is our track for those interested.  We learned the tracker was down during the race but diddnt know it was down the whole time.  Click the link below the map to see the whole thing.


View Mac 2011 in a larger map

Of course we feel for the people lost in this year's race.  Our well wishes go out to friends and families of those lost.  It was definitely much more somber than in years past on the docks.  As always after every race we examine all our safety measures and will continue to do so.  Playing with Mother Nature can be a dangerous game.  Safety has to remain our number one priority.