Chicago to Mackinac Race

There was nothing quick about getting to the finish line in the extreme light wind conditions sailors faced in the 105th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, presented by Veuve Clicquot. In the 333-mile invitation-only race from Chicago Yacht Club to Mackinac Island, there were 301 boats and 2,472 crew registered for this year’s race. Winning the Mackinac Cup Division was Providence, an Ericson 35 owned by Jerry and Greg Miarecki of the Chicago YC. Providence won the division with a corrected time of 57:16:27. This division included boats from Sections 5-8, Beneteau 36.7, J/105 and Tartan 10. The J/105s had the largest J/One-Design fleet with 16 boats participating. Topping the fleet was the 2012 Bayview Mac winner, Mary Symond’s Pterodactyl from Grosse Point YC. Top local Chicago boat was Mike Tuman’s Striking in second followed by Clark Pellett’s team on Sealark in third, Mark Gurney’s Buzz in fourth and John Moore’s Here’s Johnny in fifth.