Traditions of the Annual Race to Mackinac
The Chicago-Mac Sailboat Race has Logged 101 Years of History
Jul 26, 2009
The Race to Mackinac, as it is officially named, is a spectacle of superlatives. Each new race is an event with descriptions attached to it, such as "the best" or "the worst" or "the most", and this year's race, the 101st, has now gone down in history as "one of the slowest" on record.
Although the frustrations associated with racing 333 miles with slow winds at your back can be felt in all the reports, ultimately these will do nothing to dim the enthusiasm of the many sailors, and land-lubbers as well, who love this race. Year after year, it is the longest freshwater distance sailing race in the world, a legend in sailing circles.
"The Mac", as it is affectionately called, has remained an amateur contest throughout its long history, yet has attracted the top talent of the racing world. Sailing Lake Michigan from bottom to top is a test many competitors say rivals any ocean race.
Racing Conditions for 2009
The lake can be a placid pond one moment, sailors "baking in the boredom of windless heat," according to sailor/travel writer Steve Blakely, then in the same race, they may face "harrowing, violent, full-blown storms."
Ideally, it takes 40 to 60 hours to complete the race, which in 2009 started July 17 and 18, and was not complete until five days later. The racing division boats (as opposed to those in the slower cruising division, which leave a day earlier) began to trickle across the finish line in the Straits of Mackinac, Monday afternoon.
Windquest was the first racing boat to cross, after nearly 50 hours on the lake. Finishers continued to arrive until Wednesday morning. The last boat, the Hannah Frances, logged 110 hours.
Some History of the Race to Mackinac
The Mac was first raced between two dueling sloops and 3 schooners in 1898, then not tried again until 1904. By 1906, interest in this contest was high, and the original Mackinac Cup was purchased that year and "adopted as perpetual trophy", for the race, which continued to occur sporadically until after World War I.
The earliest years, nonetheless, saw some real history being made. The race in 1905 is still the slowest one on the books; more than 94 hours elapsed before the first boat, Mistral, crossed the finish line. That same year saw the first of many "Macs" to include a female skipper. Miss Evelyn Wright, and her all female crew, sailed the sloop, Lady Eileen.
Mac Race Records
Two records, one impressive and the other infamous, were set in 1911. The winds blew that year to 80 miles per hour, and one yacht, the Vendector, wrecked (with no loss of life) on the rocks of an island off Charlevoix, Michigan. At the same time, Commodore Baum sailed the Amorita to Mackinac in 31 hours 14 minutes and 30 seconds. This impressive record was unbroken for 76 years; better times have been achieved only twice since.
It was Dick Jennings racing the Pied Piper who set the new record in 1987. His time was 25 hours, 50 minutes, 44 seconds, and it was the standard until Roy Disney, in Pyewacket, crossed the line in 23 hours, 30 minutes in 2002.
Getting an Invitation to the Chicago-Mac Race
The race has been a truly annual event since 1921. The number of boats in the race climbed slowly at first but a timeline offered by the Chicago Yacht Club proclaims that in 1936, "The Mackinac race is grown up. The race saw 42 yachts, representing 13 clubs." By the 1960s there were more than 100 boats participating, and more than 200 by 1973.
The entry limit for this year's race was set at 350 boats and was reached by late April 2009. Invitations to the race are issued to all who participated the previous year. A new skipper who requests an invitation receives one if the crew and boat meet the standards for experience and safety features.
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