Chicago Mackinaw - Has anybody seen the wind?

This start was with the wind out of the northeast at about 5 knots with a heavy chop. We went down the line on port ducking other boats (there were close to 20 boats in our time slot) to start in the second row on starboard. When the last boat passed we tacked to port barely missing the anchor line of the committee boat on the right side. Bob had me stay on port and sailed the boat a little low to push through the slop. 2 hours later when I handed over the wheel we were ahead of everyone including Night Moves who started just to our right. Apparently the wind had died on the left side of the course letting us get the lead. Even though the NOAA report said there would be wind all over the lake Bob and I agreed to go right when possible and moving up the ladder. The weather reports we saw and the grib files showed more pressure towards Michigan but because there was not a temperature gradient, going in close would not be helpful.

In the morning the only boats we saw in our class was Hot Ticket and Night Moves with NM trailing behind. The entire day was spent trying to beat Hot Ticket. It was found that there was always a little more pressure closer to shore (1/2 to 1 mile out) We made the mistake of staying a little farther out because of the fear of the air dying closer in when the thermals stopped. As the sun went down we gybed from starboard to port and cut a little distance on Hot Ticket by being on the inside. As darkness came the wind picked up to 15 to 20 knots so we essentially rode it straight past Point Betsy and the 45th parallel to 3 minutes behind Hot Ticket. The radio announcement confirmed that we were in a solid 2nd place with a possibility of 1st. The wind continued to increase and as we got to 20 knots I could no longer sleep in the bunk because I was worried about our .6 oz. spinnaker. As we passed 27 knots I made the decision to take it down and go to the 1.5 oz. I could see HT ahead of us going right and probably broaching. I thought that port gybe was closer to the course. At this point I thought that the 1.5 oz was the correct chute. I commented to Dave Coffey that I had used it up to 30 knots at Key West so we should be alright. Early in the morning just as dawn came we got hit with a squall. Ultimately the wind went up to 36 knots and we blew out the chute. After 15 minutes of getting it back in the boat we partially unrolled the head sail and went wing and wing. When the wind speed finally dropped to 22 knots I made the decision to go to the .75 oz chute. Roughly 20 minutes later we saw the distinctive red dot Hot Ticket spinnaker go up about directly a mile behind us. At his point we knew we had a good chance to win this race. After we went through the Graves Reef passage we went to a head sail. Behind us Hot Ticket started going high on the course so I knew that they were planning to launch a chute. Because we went into the conservative cover mode we were set up to raise our spinnaker at a moments notice. When the wind backed we put up the code 0 and eventually to the 3/4 and then the .6 runner to finish a minute ahead of Hot Ticket.

What lessons did we learn from this race? We learned to come up with an intelligent strategy and to not sway from it even though we saw other boats do different things. Sometimes it takes discipline to stick to a plan. We also made sure we were always on the favored board to get up the ladder faster. Secondly you have to push the boat hard if you want to win. The crew was down below in the lighter air but when it came time to push hard in heavy air they were all up making sail changes and in the back of the boat to keep it going fast. It was a tough but rewarding race considering we went from 3 knots upwind to 35 downwind with all the sail changes. Hot Ticket was competitive to the end. Their sportsmanship was also 1st rate. They bought me all my drinks in the Pink Pony.

One final note - This is the first Mackinaw Race I have won since I was 15 years old where I was the junior crewman on a 1936 45 foot wooden New York 32. It is the first race I have won on my own boat so this one was very special for me. My father when he was alive sent me off on every Mackinaw race in Port Huron. I just know he is pleased.

Crew: Colleen Flanagan, Dave Coffey, Rod Weston, Mike Badendieck, Nathan Caspers, Dan Lorenz, Nancy Caldwell, Bob Declercq, Dave "Baker" Keeler

Result: 1st out of 11 J120's, 2nd Hot Ticket, 3rd Night Moves

Link:http://chicagoyachtclub.org/racetomackinac/ , tp://www.chicagoyachtclub.org/racetomackinac/results.cfm?Class=J120 http://mywebpages.comcast.net/fkern

For a great story about Bounder's near win: http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe/2006/4%20seconds.htm

Kirkman kids showing their pleasure in placing 2nd.