This year’s Mac was an epic race with several storms
crossing the course bringing lots of fireworks, big winds, and rain. Despite the
predictions of very light winds, the start saw all the boats quickly launch their
spinnakers and the drag race on as the boats spread out across the lake. It
was a beautiful sight to see several hundred boats headed north as the sun set
that evening. The early leaders started out just to the left of the rhumb line
while a number of boats followed the prerace forecast and stuck closer to the
Illinois shoreline. Late Saturday night the
first of several storms stuck bringing 50+ knots winds as the initial wall cloud passed over. After abating the winds settled to 20-24 knots, but that was only
a prelude to the storms that rolled across the lake Sunday. It made a huge difference
if you were ahead or behind a thunderstorm. As by Chris Bedford predicted at
the skippers meeting the rich got richer. That said, all the J105’s did a great
job and thrived in the big winds. Sunday night the wind settled down giving the
teams some much needed rest, before picking up to a steady 10-14 knots from the
west to sweep the fleet across the finish line. There were a number of lead
changes throughout the race.
Mark Gurney’s Buzz won the race and they had the scars to
show for it. One of their crew was thrown out of his bunk splitting open his
forehead. Fortunately, they had an oral surgeon on board who stitched him up
and they never stopped racing. A new comer to the fleet, Dave Pierce’s Caught
in Traffic finished 2nd. A fantastic accomplishment given the many
challenges the weather presented this year. Carter Williams’ Creative Destruction
finished 3rd with several junior sailors on board. For the full
results see: Race to Mac
Congratulations to all the boats for surviving a challenging
race with only minor damage. Looking at all the torn sails and wet gear spread
out on the island, the J105’s did a great job. It was a sail-maker's dream. Can’t
wait until next year!
No comments:
Post a Comment