Whether they’re from Norway or Northern Michigan, no sailors are as avid as Northern sailors, who cram more sailing into five months than the rest of the world does all year. Last week, Bayview Yacht Club and Chicago Yacht Club announced that they were reviving a classic race for 2009 – the famous SuperMac, which was last run in 2000. It will be the longest freshwater race of the year – nearly 500 miles – and is already attracting Anarchist favorites like perennial big boat favorite Natalie J, the turbo Melges 30 Peerless, the pimped 80s catamaran Nice Pair and Ron White’s well-known F-31 Cheekee Monkee. The race itself, if you can believe it, is a feeder for the 250NM Bayview-Mackinac race, which goes back the other way to Mackinac Island. As if this wasn’t enough, many of the participants will then head home to Chicago – a thousand mile freshwater journey, in all.
At least with so many folks out of work there will be plenty of crew available for this month-long sabbatical – and if we can find a fast enough ride, we’ll bring you the stories from on board.
