Mackinac races attract 420 entries

July 21, 2023 - Chicago, USA - At 229 monohull entries, the annual 300-mile Race to Mackinac from Chicago is the largest race in the western hemisphere to use the ORC system for rating and scoring. There will be 35 entries starting today in three Cruising ‘sections’ (a local term for classes) and the rest of the fleet starting tomorrow in 19 additional sections. Six of these will be level racing for elapsed time results in the First 36.7, First 40.7, J/105, J/109, J/111 and Tartan 10 sections, with ORC ratings used to determine overall rankings among entries in these and the other sections.

All entries are required to have valid ORC Club or ORCi certificates, except boats with GPH ratings faster 515 sec/mile are required to have ORCi certificates.

The race is scored with the use of one of three possible scoring models: a mostly Upwind, mostly Downwind or All-Purpose model, with the choice, announced prior to the start of the race based on the weather forecast.

Flashback to 2022 race

This race annually attracts 1000’s of sailors, with those who complete the race 25 times or more being celebrated as “Old Goats.” The starts conducted from the front of the city of Chicago on Lake Michigan provide one of the most spectacular backdrops of any offshore race, in sharp contrast to the finish at the small island of Mackinac in northern Michigan. Teams will likely experience a full range of weather, from quite calms to the violence of summer thunderstorms, thus making the race a significant challenge for all who attend.

GPS TRACKING via YB Tracking

Each boat racing is equipped with a YB Tracking satellite tracker from that sends boat GPS information (location, speed, and direction) every 15 minutes and displays the location and track on the race course.

Last week’s 99^th edition of the Bayview to Mackinac race was slightly shorter in length at 259 miles for the Cove Island Course and 204 miles for the Shore course coming at the island from the Lake Huron side. With 191 entries, this is the second most popular ORC-scored race in the hemisphere and uses a single course model for scoring each course.

Overall Cove Island course winner was Tim Prophit’s NA 40 FAST TANGO from Bayview YC in Detroit, while the overall Shore Course winner was Jeremy Thompson’s Grampian 30 TRAVL'ER from Port Huron YC.