2009 Race to Mackinac Reflections
The 2009 Mac team on Big Country
Greg Scott, On Track's Creative Director sailed his 12th Race to Mackinac on a sailboat named Big Country. Big Country finished the 333 mile course in 59 hours 42 minutes, securing 8th place in
Section 1 and 30th place out of 337 sailing vessels, ranging in size from 30 feet to 98 feet. Of the 13 members of the crew for
2009, two experienced their first Mac Race while for three "Old Goat"
crew members it was their 27th, 28th, and 29th Mac respectively.
Chicago Yacht Club's 101st Race to Mackinac proved to be a slow boat ride to the
island. The wind was scarce and the nights were cold. Big Country
experienced no major heavy weather or even one drop of rain. A total of
337 boats started the race, with 33 dropping out. The quickest boat
finished in an elapsed time of 47 hours 57 minutes—the slowest finished
in 110 hours 57 minutes elapsed.
Cuisine
is often a concern on this race. As much time is spent by the crew to
schedule and create the perfect balance of nutrition, flavor, and "food
edible while making the boat go as fast as possible" as time is spent
on prepping the boat for safety. Essentially, the meal has to match the
conditions as best as possible and still be enjoyable and energetic.
Weather predictions help but many times are incorrect. So it does occur
when one has to be able to eat while on station and in position while
sailing as fast as possible. Ever try to eat a plate of lasagna while
heeled at a 26 degree angle, powering through four foot waves in the
rain? Big Country's meal highlights were Ham/cheese and spinach/cheese
gourmet empanadas (from our friends at 5411) delivered hot to the boat
right before departure; steak burritos; and a very memorable moist rum
cake that was devoured in a manner of seconds.
There was ample
celebrating by all of the teams after reaching Mackinac Island, during
which the race committee communications tent and the Land's End Store
area was illegally entered in the middle of the night. The thieves
stole all of the 2009 Lands’ End race gear clothing including the
clothes right off the mannequins. The mannequins remained unharmed in
the theft.
It had to be the logo.
Big Country as she parades by the end of Navy Pier for the spectators.
Just hours after the start of the race.
Once the you pass the start line—never stop sailing as fast as you can . . . all day-all night.
. . . and never stop looking for more wind.
The crew is always balancing out the boat, either on the windward or leeward side.
Big Country, outside of Little Traverse Bay, Michigan, around 7:00pm Monday, July 20th—
approximately 52 hours into the race. Photo taken by Rich Stearns.
The race start and finish, the competitors, and the courses they took in the 2009 Race to Mackinac. View the animated tracking of the race here
Trimming the spinnaker at sunset.
For more race info, click here.
For a comprehensive list of race results, click here.
If you’d like to see all of the boats in the race, click here.
If you’d like more information on Big Country and her crew, go here.
