83rd Bayview Race Still Adventurous Despite Lack of Wind
By Eric Fish

Crew members on Carinthia celebrate their first-place overall and J120 Class wins Tuesday, July 24, at the awards ceremony at Mission Point Resort. The boat is skippered by Frank Kern and crewed by Colleen Flanagan, Steven and Fred Rozelle, Rod Weston, Robert Declerq, Mike Badendieck, Nathan Caspers, and Nancy Caldwell.

As the Mackinac Island Marina began to fill with yachts from the 83rd sailing of the Bayview Mackinac yacht race, crews and captains reminisced with each other about their respective adventures.

The competitive nature of the event had subsided for all those who docked, and all crews gathered like one giant family on shore. Music blared from the hubs of boats and laughter flowed almost as freely as the beer.

It didn't matter that good winds were few and far between and it was the slowest finishing race in years; the Bayview Yacht Club Race Committee confirmed that approximately 200 boats still needed to finish by Monday, July 23, at 4 p.m. and another 60 were yet to finish by Tuesday, July 24, at 9 a.m. They had left Port Huron early Saturday afternoon.

Hot Ticket completes the 83rd annual Bayview Mackinac yacht race and prepares to dock in the Mackinac Island harbor. The boat is owned by Robert Kirkman. Its crew consisted of Amy Miller, Bobby Kirkman, Michael, Trish Kirkman, Rob Baidas, Tom Schulte, Rick Rothenbuler, and Russ Linclau- Miller. They finished the race at 10:56 a.m. Monday, July 23.

The awards ceremony began at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 24, at Mission Point Resort, without some of the fleet.

"How far are we away and how much longer before we get in?" asked Mike Ruhland, who sailed aboard Dolphin. "It's a very important tactical decision at this point."

At the awards ceremony, Matt Bombery, a 10-year race veteran who sailed aboard Windancer, was reflective of the race.

"It's a challenge," he said. "It's a definite challenge. You have to deal with everything. There are probably 10 little races within one big one."

"It kind of went as predicted," said crewmate Jim Key of the race. "We had some good winds and we knew it was going to be quiet for awhile.

Windancer, of Muskegon, finished third overall in the Great Lakes 70-foot (GL 70) sailing class. Finishing first in the class at 51 hours, 20 minutes, 34 seconds was Nitemare, of Berkeley, Illinois.

Other finishers are as follows:

CC 35 Class, Mystery

Cruising A Class, Outrageous

Cruising B Class, Allure

Cruising C Class, Bear's Mistress

GL 70 Class, Nitemare IRC A Class, Natalie J IRC B Class, Power Tripp IRC C Class, Pendragon IRC D Class, Collina IRC E Class, Wind Toy IV IRC F Class, Risky Business

J105 Class, Sorcery J120 Class and First Overall, Carinthia J35/T35 Class, Rowdy Multihull A Class, Lucretia

NA40 Class, Velero VII

Official race results are posted at the Bayview Yacht Club's Web site: byc.com.