Large, diverse fleet to start the 101st Bayview Mackinac Race

100th Bayview Mackinac Race presented by National Fleet Services © Lynn Kotwicki

It is one day to go, and the fleet is assembled in Port Huron before the start of the 101st Bayview Mackinac Race, organized by the Bayview Yacht Club and presented by National Fleet Services.

Tomorrow, a massive fleet of 183 monohulls and 9 multihulls will set off to race the entire length of Lake Huron from the starting area just north of Port Huron to Mackinac Island in this annual offshore classic, the world's longest continuously run long-distance freshwater yacht race.

This year's edition will see a return to the two-course format where the faster boats in the fleet will race the 259-mile Cove Island Course from the start at Port Huron through a virtual gate off the tip of the Bruce Peninsula in Canadian waters before heading west, passing north of Bois Blanc Island, and finishing east to west at the finish line between Round Island and Mackinac Island.

The slower boats will race the 204-mile Shore course, which takes that fleet north, then northwest, then west around the eastern shoreline of the Lake to the same finish line at Mackinac Island.

The majority of the monohull fleet - 99 boats divided into 7 classes - and 9 multihulls in one class will race on the Cove Island course. The monohull elapsed time record for this course is 21 hours 45 minutes 12 seconds, set in 2017 by Peter and Chris Thornton's Botin Carkeek-designed Volvo 70 IL MOSTRO, and the multihull elapsed time record is less than one minute faster: 21 hours 44 minutes 58 seconds set in 2016 by Rick Warner's Marc Lombard-designed ORMA 60 ARETE.

The remainder of the fleet - 30 monohulls in two Racing classes, 49 monohulls in 3 Cruising classes, and 5 monohull entries in a Doublehanded class - will race on the Shore course. The elapsed time record on this course is 17 hours 11 minutes 18 seconds, set in 2021 by Oakcliff Sailing's maxZ86 OC86.

Defending class champions returning from last year who are sailing on the Shore course include Jeremy Thompson's Grampian 30 TRAV'LER, Adnan Medic's Hunter Legend 37 MERAK, and Everett and Cameron Benedict's Santana 35 SHAPE.

Other defending class champions from last year who will be racing on the longer Cove Island course include Chris Duhon's Botin TP52 MOCKINGBIRD, Charlie Hess's J/120 FUNTECH RACING, Jacob Thomas's JPK 10.80 SMOKE SHOW, Mike Welch's J/35 FALCON, and Tim Prophit's North American 40 FAST TANGO.

"We're really excited for this year's race," said Prophit, this year's Race Chairman. "Not only are many of us racing again in the open lake on the Cove Island course, which is interesting for both its strategic and tactical choices, but there are some technical features of this year's race that we think will improve the fairness of scoring such a large and diverse fleet."

Prophit is referring to how the ratings are determined using the ORC handicap system. Organizers of this race use models of wind speed and direction based on historical data collected from both race courses and the ORC system, then calculate the rated speeds for each boat sailing in these theoretical conditions on each course. New this year is that the range of wind speeds in the models has expanded down to include 4 knots, a historically common condition in many BYC Mackinac races.

There is also the possibility that the ORC's new Weather Routing Scoring method could be used, which, in theory, could be even more fair because it uses weather forecasts and routing tools to predict how every boat could sail this course and devise a rating accordingly. Unlike the static course models, this method could account for a scenario where the wind conditions are forecasted to change during the race and adjust the ratings accordingly to reflect this. Race organizers will determine which method will be used on the eve of the race and announce the ratings to the fleet before the start.

"There is sometimes an element of luck in this sport," said Prophit, "and what makes WRS so appealing is that it helps reduce the role luck can have on race results. We want to reward those who sail their boats as best as possible in the conditions they have during the race, not necessarily those who may have just been lucky."

Once the race starts on Saturday, July 12, veteran offshore race commentator Dobbs Davis from Seahorse Magazine will once again provide an analysis of this race in a series of twice-daily video shows. Using the YB tracker web portal for the race as a back drop, these shows are designed to inform and entertain followers of the race as to not only the team positions on the two courses, but the weather they are experiencing, the strategies and tactics they may be using against their competition, who are the class leaders during the race, any recent news from the teams or the organizers, etc.

These shows are supported by National Fleet Services and VanTol and Vitelli Insurance Group, and will be uploaded for viewing on a YouTube channel dedicated to this race.

For more information on the 101st Bayview Mackinac Race presented by National Fleet Services, visit the event website at bycmack.com. Media resources may be found at bycmack.com/press.