We got this report from Steve Piche on his trip on the Chicago-Macinac Race:

Chicago to Mackinac ’05 Race Review

This past weekend, I had the privilege of racing on a F31-ID (trimaran) in the Chicago to Mackinac race. This is one of the oldest and most prestigious races in the US. I thought I would share some of our experiences from the race with you.

While Monday morning is usually not my favorite time of the week, this past Monday was truly an exception. As the sun was rising, we (Team Abandoned Assets) were bearing down on the Gray’s Reef passage that marked the entrance to the Straits of Mackinac in the very northern part of Lake Michigan. We had completed roughly 270 nautical miles and were only 40 nautical miles from the finish.

The wind had been building all night and as the sun came up it had freshened up to 20-25 knots. With our big spinnaker pulling us downwind, we were flying over the waves. The speedometer was running consistently between 15-20 knots.

As the sun came up, we were able to see as many as 20 large monohulls surrounding us. The winds had been light the first day of the race allowing the big sleds to get a substantial jump on us. However, as the wind built during the second day, we begin to buzz through the fleet flying past the slower monohulls.

As we entered the Gray’s Reef passage, a narrow cut in a set of shoals, all the boats congregated together. After nearly 40 hours of sailing, we were almost within touching distance of these magnificent, beautiful boats. The light of the rising sun, the beauty of the boats all flying along in a 20 knot breeze, the magic of Lake Michigan all combined together to make a scene not to be forgotten. At that moment, most Americans were rising to head off to work. We could only grin and think how luck we were.

The magic of the moment was amplified by the difficult road that it took to get to that point. The Chicago to Mackinac is a mythical race with over 100 years of history. However, it is also a very dangerous race. This is not a race that one enters casually, especially on a trimaran.

To enter the race, our boat needed to meet a very extensive set of safety criteria. Among the many items that were needed were survival suits, Emergency Position Beacons (EPIRBS), lifebuoys, flares, radios, jacklines, safety lines, etc. Because we took delivery of the boat in late May, broke it right away and then did not get it back until late June, we were very pressed to meet the over 20 pages of safety requirements.

In addition, entering the race is not as easy as sending in your registration. The Chicago to Mac race committee must invite you to participate. You must apply for an invitation which turns out to be a complicated process for those who have not sailed the race before. In the end, our first place finish in the Veracruz Regatta last year and some friendly recommendations allowed us to enter the race.

Not only was it a challenge to get into the race and get adequately prepared, it had also been a challenging sail to Gray’s Reef. The wind had really kicked up the previous evening and the boat was getting difficult to handle in the big waves. Occasionally, the rudder would cavitate in the big waves. When this occurred, the boat would start heading up into the power zone. It was an uncomfortable feeling on the helm and led to lots of shouts of “OUT ON THE MAIN, OUT ON THE MAIN!!!”. In addition, the waves really threw the boat around requiring great concentration on the helm.

As the wind gathered speed and the sun set, we needed to navigate around the Manitou Islands. This required everyone up on deck working together as a team as we guided our boat around these Islands in the dark.

As we turned the corner around the last island, a large thurderstorm appeared right in front of us. We could see lightening all over the place in this storm. It was right in front of us but how far away is it? In the dark, it was difficult to tell.

Fortunately, Jim Van Fleet, the owner of the boat, had put the best electronics on the boat. We had a large flat panel screen that not only displayed our position but was also capable of displaying radar images. The radar images are transmitted by XM satellite. This is a service that just recently became available.

I climbed down to the nav station to watch the storm on the flat panel. It was straight ahead of us but fortunately it was 20 miles away and moving to the east away from us. Although we were not going to get nailed, I knew that the boats just in front of us were taking a beating. The center of the cell was red on the radar and it looked very nasty from on deck.

Unknown to us at the time, an F31, Emma, was caught in the middle of this storm. As they tried to push for a good finish, they continued to run their chute. A micro burst suddenly hit the boat and it was all over. Emma flipped over. The nightmare scenario for all tri sailors had occurred.

The crew on board Emma was very fortunate. Since the boat was close to the entry to Gray’s Reef, a number of boats picked up their distress signals. They were plucked out of the water within 10 minutes. Their boat, turtled upside down, was left to drift away. (Unfortunately, the boat floated to the entrance of Gray’s reef where its mast stuck in the rocks. This led to a large amount of confusion as to the safety of the crew as a large number of monohull sailors sailed by the overturned boat later in the day.)

Given the difficulty of entering the race, preparing for the race and the challenges of the night of sailing, it was a truly magical experience when the sun came up and the beautiful scene described above descended upon us. We had made it!

A quick turn around the end of Gray’s passage and we blasted on a high speed reach under the Mackinac bridge and into the finish. A helicopter came along and snapped a picture of us on a high speed reach. The leeward hull is buried with spray flying 15 feet in the air. Aaron McCulley and Michael Yost are up on the windward hull with grins from ear to ear.

In the end, Team Abandoned Assets finished sixth in our class. Randy Smyth bested us and all of the other multihullers in all classes. We were happy with our finish. We were rookies and made some rookie mistakes (don’t go up the Wisconsin side of the lake, head east off the start, and don’t get too close to the shores where the wind turns off!). However, getting to the finish was a great accomplishment in itself given the lack of time for preparations.

In the final analysis, this is really a wonderful race. The number of boats that participate, the beauty of Lake Michigan, the great sailing, the parties at the start and finish all made for a great experience. Now I understand how some people become Old Goats and Double Old Goats. (An Old Goat has sailed the race 25 times and a Double Old Goat has sailed it 50 times!)

Steve

Great report, Steve!

Multihull Results
Sail Yacht 45th Call-in Time Finish Time Elapsed Time Corrected Class Div.
3 Rocketeer lll Sunday - 20:02 Monday - 05:01:17 38:51:17 42:09:40 Multihull 1 1
USA 64 Flight Simulator Monday - 01:20 Monday - 09:54:41 43:44:41 42:34:04 Multihull 2 2
USA 27030 Lei Loe Sunday - 19:35 Monday - 05:37:44 39:27:44 42:49:13 Multihull 1 3
USA 333 Nice Pair Sunday - 19:28 Monday - 06:43:55 40:33:55 42:56:32 Multihull 1 4
USA 28 Gamera Sunday - 23:41 Monday - 08:16:24 42:06:24 43:18:24 Multihull 2 5
USA 273 Condor Sunday - 19:36 Monday - 06:24:23 40:14:23 43:39:50 Multihull 1 6
USA 70 Big Storm Monday - 03:42 Monday - 12:54:47 46:44:47 44:17:31 Multihull 2 7
USA 25568 Stampede Monday - 00:30 Monday - 09:24:00 43:14:00 44:27:55 Multihull 2 8
USA 3 Caliente Sunday - 20:51 Monday - 08:01:49 41:51:49 44:45:22 Multihull 1 9
USA 27060 Moxie Sunday - 23:31 Monday - 08:39:30 42:29:30 ** 44:45:23 Multihull 2 10
USA 174 Zingara Sunday - 23:27 Monday - 09:46:34 43:36:34 44:51:08 Multihull 2 11
USA 25489 AHYADOOIN' Monday - 01:19 Monday - 11:05:26 44:55:26 46:52:08 Multihull 2 12
C 276 Abandoned Asset Monday - 00:48 Monday - 09:29:17 43:19:17 47:00:28 Multihull 1 13
R33 CAT 13 Double Time Sunday - 23:18 Monday - 08:12:59 42:02:59 48:32:47 Multihull 1 14
USA 411 Trixie Monday - 04:02 Monday - 15:22:40 49:12:40 50:36:49 Multihull 2 15
USA 009 Nelda Ray Monday - 01:14 Monday - 10:12:33 44:02:33 ** 50:36:50 Multihull 1 16

Rick

Beautiful sailing grounds. I was up in the Petoskey (Bay Harbor) area a few weeks ago and it is amazing how quickly the weather changes on the lake. One minute the air was stagnant and the next a gale was blowing through. I have difficulty though, imagining that such large waves could form there, but I guess they can.

Thanks for posting that Rick and thank you Steve .

I,ve always wanted to have a Tybee 500 or Great Texas race for cats here in Mi ,possibley coinsiding with the Mac races . Hope it all comes together someyear soon .

all the best
Carl Roberts

Fortunately or unfortunately (you pick) that is a common misconception about the Great Lakes.

These "little ponds" will kick you arss before you know what hit you. It's not that we get "huge" wave action, it is that these waves are more like small walls. Very steep and close together.

Some of the biggest and worse seas I have ever been in were in Lake Erie -- large and very shallow lake (average depth is only 30 feet) where the waves are extremely steep.

Worst one was in Laser in the 70s at I-LYA Bay Week. We were sailing along going to the weather mark when a cloud that reached all the way to the water came at us. From out of the cloud came the first of the waves and it was higher than my mast. Pretty much knocked the hell out of the fleet. Although, with a Laser is was just as easy to just stay on its side.., safer.
Rick

My grandpa was a steamboat captain on the Great Lakes all his life: some stories were nearly unbelievable about the storms and the waves. And do you know how many steel ships went down? Not to mention lumber hookers, and wooden sailiong vessels of all sizes.

So.....does a Lumber Hooker only try to pick up Johns wearing flannel shirts with Axes and Chainsaws?

As a sailor who has lived on & near Lake Michigan all my life I can tell you from reading books about the Great Lake Ship Wrecks that many went down, old, new, large and small. Many have never been found but just recently two were found off the West Michigan coast. Many ship captians fear the "lakes" worse than the oceans due to the lack of manuvering room, they have to ride the storms out.
My father rode out a storm in a 16' fishing boat in the mid sixties that had recorded 25 - 30 foot waves, many fisherman were lost. The wind and storms come up quick and you better reduce sail or head to a safe harbor. The Lakes are cold as well, just last week Michigan was only in the low 50s. A person doesn't last long in cold water.

Hope all is well with the crew. Remember the tri that flipped over a few years ago in the same race. "Caliente"

I grew up on Lake Ontario in the area known as the "Bermuda Triangle of the Great Lakes" which is an area with hundreds of ships sunk. This area goes from Kingston, to Long point to Main Duck Island. At the time we had a large farm (600+ acres and about 2 miles of waterfront.) Many ship boilers were visible 1/2 mile out into the lake, sitting in only 4-5 feet of water. There was even a French supply ship that went down with a load of silver that was the pay for the soldiers, in the 1600s, and this treasure has never been found. Many times I have seen over 20' rollers. 15 knots of wind will get you 6-7 foot ones, with a wavelength of 40-50'. Two years ago for our annual regatta it blew 38 knots, measured from about 7' above the ground. The best sailors of the fleet stared at the 12' breaking rollers with a glazed look.
http://www.divercity.on.ca/wrecks.htm
http://www.boatnerd.com/swayze/shipwreck/

I just got on the web site and saw that Rick had posted this story. Thanks Rick.

Since everyone has picked up on the "Big Waves", I thought I would give an explanation.

I am primarily a ocean sailor and have certainly seen my share of big waves. My definition of a big wave on the ocean is something that looks like an apartment building coming a you!

The waves on Lake Michigan were not big in this sense. They were probably 6 foot waves from trough to crest. However, they were much closer together and steeper than what one experiences on the ocean.

Because of the steepness, the wave would grab that backend of the boat and rotate it 30-40 degrees very quickly. You would be sailing at say 50 and all of the sudden you were at 85. The boat was thrown into the power zone and you need to head down. Unfortunately, as you started to try to head down the next wave would lift the backend of the boat up and the rudder would cavitate. The first time this happened, it gave me a good scare. The boat just seemed to keep coming up into the power zone and we dumped the main quickly to gain some control back. (Remember, this is with full spin up in 15-20 knots.) Fortunately, the backend would fall back into the water and you would regain control of the boat.

The boat would then take off on a 15-20 knot sled ride. The trick was to keep the boat bounding over the waves without getting stuck on the backside of a wave. Once caught on the backside, the boat would stop, get kicked around by 30 degrees as described above and the whole process would repeat itself.

On Monday morning, the wind finally got big enough that we stopped getting caught on the backside of waves. We just bounded from one wave to the next. As the wind started to increase, the leeward hull started to punch hard.

Eventually, the wind came up to 20-25. We were flying along at nearly a constant 18-20 knots. Finally, we got the boat over 20 knots and we came flying over a wave and down into a trough and stuck the boat hard. The boat went to about a 45 degree angle and the 6 foot rudder was 4 feet out of the water. Fortunately, we had headed deep and the boat did not rotate as it came out of the stuff.

Oh well, we had found the limits of the boat!

Steve