A light to moderate Bayview Mackinac Race turned out to be a lot quicker than most thought; with MaxZ86 “Windquest” finishing in just short of 28 hours. The real story though comes from TP52 “Natalie J”; the Detroit boat run by Anarchist extraordinaire Bora Gulari (and navigated by Steve Benjamin) took 31:05 to finish the 250-odd NM course – just 5 minutes longer than the much faster STP65 “Equation” and enough to lead overall on the Cove Island course. The pic of Equation crossing clear ahead at sunset comes from Bora’s cell phone, 3 miles from the finish.
Also standing out just 7 NM from the finish is the Carkeek 40 “Denali2” making her debut in the race; if she holds on, she’ll take second overall behind Natalie J; another great result for the shit-hot new boat from Shaun Carkeek.
We’ll have plenty of reports tomorrow after the hangovers have worn off and the slow boats have finished. Track ‘em here and tune in to the thread for the latest.
