March 09, 2022
Mackinac Island’s historic sailboat race is making a big comeback
Phoebe Wall Howard Detroit Free Press While lakes are still filled with ice, summertime plans for the historic around-the-clock sailboat race from southern Lake Huron to the Straits of
While lakes are still filled with ice, summertime plans for the historic around-the-clock sailboat race from southern Lake Huron to the Straits of Mackinac are underway with a sense of early celebration.
Canadians get to compete again. And COVID-19 deaths have dropped dramatically.
A tradition that began in 1925 is seeing a surge of enthusiasm fed by lifted pandemic restrictions and relief about the return to tradition and a sense of normalcy.
“There’s pent-up energy and people are anxious to get out,” said Chris Clark, chairman of the 2022 Bayview Mackinac Race organized by Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit.
“We have a 50% to 70% increase in new requests,” he told the Free Press.
Organizers say the bounce is a response to two years of struggle that altered the race course, safety protocols and the island celebration. Now, the whole event is returning to what people loved. Planners say they expect more than 200 participants.
The race starts in Port Huron on July 16 and can last two or three days, depending on the sailing skill of the racers from all over the world. It is the world’s longest consecutively run long-distance freshwater yacht race.
Already 170 boats had registered by Tuesday with four months until the window closes, a pace about 10% higher than normal with more newcomers than usual. The deadline to register is June 12.
Fast Tango from Bayview Yacht Club throws a spray as it cuts through the waves in 2016 during the start of the Port Huron-to-Mackinac that begins on Lake Huron near the Blue Water Bridge.
Competitors are coming from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania (so far). Canadian sailors are back after being unable to compete in 2020 and 2021 because of restrictions related to COVID-19.
In 2021, 173 boats raced. In 2020, 81. And in 2019, 171.
There are big changes this year.
Boats will race on the Shore Course, along the Michigan shoreline, and the Cove Island Course, into Canadian waters, for the first time since 2019.
The Canadian border patrol has carefully monitored the waters during the pandemic and no sailboats were allowed to cross. So the race was restricted to the Shore Course, which is 204 nautical miles or 234.8 miles. Now the popular Cove Island Course is back — at 259 nautical miles or 298 miles.
“It’s returning to the races that everybody knows and everybody loves,” said Clark, who plans to race on Dynamis, a Santa Cruz 70.
Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!
Marx Layne is your competitive advantage.
Your reputation and success are our only concerns.