No Two Chicago to Mackinac Races are the same and this year’s 116th running of the 333-mile event the length of Lake Michigan truly tied the crews’ patience. The wind, which often whips up into sudden summer storms, remained calm and fickle for the whole fleet.
As of midday on Wednesday, 255 of the more than 285 boats that entered this year’s race had sailed under the Mackinac bridge, rounded the iconic Round Island lighthouse to finish at the famous resort island in the tip of Lake Huron.
Run by the Chicago Yacht Club, which this year is celebrating it’s 150th anniversary, the fleet had a staggered start, with the cruising division getting away on Friday, July 18 and the racing division crossing the starting line on Saturday. The cruising fleet ran the course in an average of 68 hours while the racing fleet took an average of 57 hours. This is a huge contrast to the windy 2024 event in which Maverick set a new course record of only 22 hours.
First to finish was Peter Thornton’s 104-foot Bruce King-designed ketch Whitehawk (above) in the cruising division which sailed across the finish line on Sunday morning with an elapsed time of 1 day, 20 hours and 31 minutes. Almost a day behind Whitehawk, the fleet of Great Lakes 52 came in early on Monday morning all within minutes of each other.
The 285 boat fleet was the largest in recent years with organizers attributing the retun of the multihull division, the new First Timer’s Program to encourage new sailors and the innovative and spectator-friendly Skyline Sprint event that ran close to the Chicago waterfront.
Truly an American classic sailing event with a long tradition, the Mac Race as it is often called, offers sailors from all over the country a chance to compete in a race that has become known with good reason as the American Offshore Challenge.
