A Memorable 101st edition of the Bayview Mackinac Race

16 July, 2025 - Mackinac Island, MI, USA - Nearly the entire fleet of 191 entries in the 101st edition of the Bayview Mackinac Race organized by the Bayview Yacht Club crossed the finish line with the impression that this was a remarkable race, one likely to be remembered for years to come. Everyone in the fleet of boats ranging from 27 to 68 feet in length finished in 45 hours or less since starting on Saturday in Port Huron, half a day faster than the slowest entries in last year’s 100th edition.

This year’s race was supported by presenting sponsor National Fleet Services and is the first major offshore race in the USA where ORC Club, ORCi and ORC Multihull certificates were used for scoring.

The brisk southwest winds on Lake Huron on Saturday propelled both fleets at high speed downwind sailing northwards on the 259-mile Cove Island course and the 205-mile Shore course along the Michigan coast.

“This was the fastest start to the race I remember in 10 to 15 years,” said Tim Prophit, who was not only this year’s Race Chairman from Bayview Yacht Club, but also skipper of his perennial class winner, the North American 40 FAST TANGO. “For us, headed to Cove Island, it was a drag race up the lake, also for those sailing on the Shore course.”

There was, however, one hiccup to these ideal conditions when a squall came through the course a few hours into the race and resulted in rig, gear and sail damage for some, two crew-overboard incidents that fortunately resulted in successful recoveries. In all 8 boats retired from the race but no significant injuries reported in any incident.

The remainder of the first half of the race for both fleets remained fast until the wind speed dropped and shifted towards the west on Sunday night.

“There was a transition zone when the wind shifted, and then things got interesting,” said Wally Cross, tactician on Tim LaRiviere’s Italia 14.98 EAGLE ONE racing in Class B on the Cove Island course. “Not everybody does well when there are zones like this, but these are where the race can be won or lost.”

EAGLE ONE favored the north side of the rhumb line initially, trying to stay ahead of our pack, and Cross said he noticed a lot of wind shear and even adverse current in this area. They then broke free of the pack to head to the Michigan shore where the new shift was expected, caught this shift, and vaulted to a more comfortable lead to carry into the finish at 12:30 AM on Monday and earn victory in Class B.

Seven hours ahead of them the group of three frontrunners in this race - the TP 52’s HEARTBREAKER skippered by Bob Hughes, MOCKINGBIRD skippered by Chris Duhon and NATALIE J skippered by Phil O’Niel - finished their intense 28-hour boat-for-boat battle only minutes apart, with HEARTBREAKER emerging victorious in both Class A and overall Division I results. MOCKINGBIRD placed second overall, and NATALIE J third among 95 teams who finished the race on this course.

On the shorter Shore course the wind angles resulted in even more of a drag race, with lead changes coming from speed more than tactics, until the transition in breeze produced a few light air speed bumps in the course along the northern Michigan shoreline. Some went out into the lake to find better wind, others stuck close to the rhumb line, but all who won their class were better than their rivals at keeping up their speed in these transitions.

Emerging victorious in Division II overall after finishing Sunday night at 10:10 PM was Cameron Paine’s C&C 35 Mk I UNDERDOG, who is also the top-finishing Canadian entry in the race, followed by Rob Bunn’s Morgan 42 WIND TOY in second and Everett and Cameron Benedict’s Santana 35 SHAPE in third among the 33 finishers racing on this course.

Winner of the Division III Cruising classes was John Seago’s Oceanis 400 SEAGOING II, winner of the Doublehanded entries on the Shore course was John and Johnny Walton on their Express 27 RIPTIDE, and the winner of the Multihulls in Division IV was Matt Scharl’s Gougeon 35 trimaran ADAGIO.

“This version of the Bayview race was truly unique,” said EAGLE ONE’s Wally Cross, who said this was his 54th race to Mackinac. “We had great wind, enough transitions to make for interesting tactics, and a really diverse range of boat types in our class to race against. The fairness and transparency of the ORC ratings was really helpful to know where you stood on the race course.”

Complete results can be found at https://bycmack.com/results.

A group of eleven of the Cove Island fleet finishers did not turn right and head ashore at Mackinac Island to enjoy the post-race festivities but kept sailing west under the Mackinac Bridge to then head south racing towards Chicago to finish the 548-mile Ultra Mac race.

First to finish yesterday afternoon in this long race was Trey Sheehan’s TP 52 HOOLIGAN, followed by Mike Evans on his Pogo 50 POMMES FRITES early this morning, then Doug Evans on his J/122 ELBOW ROOM, and then Mike Tobey’s Nelson/Marek 40 FREYJA. There are five remaining teams still in the race, with two retired.

For this race Chicago YC race organizers are using ORC certificates using the Chicago Mac All-Purpose scoring model ratings.

During the race twice-daily race analysis videos were produced by veteran offshore race commentator Dobbs Davis and available on YouTube.  These shows were supported by National Fleet Services and VanTol and Vitelli Insurance Group.

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

More information on the 2025 Ultra Mac race is available on the website.