Sailors Battle Changing Weather During 2023 Bayview Race to Mackinac

This story first appeared in the July 21, 2023, Mackinac Island Town Crier print edition

Depending on who you asked amongst the hundreds of sailors milling about the Mackinac Island State Harbor on Monday, July 17, as boats continued to file into place at the docks after finishing the 99th annual Bayview Mackinac race, the opinion about the conditions they had just raced in varied. There was lots of rain out on the open water. The rain wasn’t that bad. There was some wind. Not enough at times, too much at others.

According to the crew aboard Pirate, lucky for them, their boat likes heavy, strong conditions.

“It was a struggle, a battle,” Pirate crewmember Ric Schmidt said. And Pirate likes to work at night. “We won both nights.”

Pirate won the Shore Course Class N with a corrected time of one day, 14 hours, 41 minutes, and 23 seconds. They pulled into the harbor early Monday morning. Later that day, they were fending off bananas being thrown aboard from a neighboring boat. Crews should never have bananas on a boat, Mr. Schmidt said, since it’s an old sailor superstition that bananas bring bad luck.

Ben Skinner and Jamison Shaw of Its a Zoo secure the boat.

Reflecting on the race, Mr. Schmidt said the crew faced every type of weather condition.

“We had rain, thunder, lighting, no wind, lots of wind, crazy wind, swirling wind,” he said.

“Too much wind,” Pirate owner Jeff Henderson said.

As a boat owner, Mr. Henderson was worried about things breaking. He’s won Bayview Mackinac races nine times on other peoples’ boats, and after 12 years and many second and third place finishes on his boat, this was the first time Pirate took the top of the class honors.

“The first place is really something you cherish,” crewmember John Demers said.

Some of the friendships aboard the crew pre-exist their sailing days all together, Mr. Demers said. He described how, when you sail, many sailors and skippers start out on competing boats but eventually gravitate together.

Bayview sailors fill Mackinac Island Harbor celebrating the end of another successful race. In the distance, the cruise ship Ocean Voyager is seen moored at Star Line Mackinac Island Ferry Company’s main dock downtown. 

“It’s a community sport,” Mr. Demers said, and everyone knows they have a job to do. “It’s like growing up in a large family… Everybody brings a strength to the crew, and then you share that strength. And then you know what? You don’t have a weak link.”

On the other side of the harbor, Brett Dodds, sailing on the Shore Course in Class M, placed first with a corrected time of one day, 14 hours, 50 minutes, and 12 seconds aboard Gary Gonzalez’s Dos Mas. At first, he said there wasn’t much rain, or wind. It started out slow, until the boat caught a good breeze Sunday night, July 16. They had good wind at the end, he said, and overall, the race went well.

“I love this race,” Mr. Dodds said. “This is the true Michigan race.”

He’ll be back on the Island next week following the Chicago to Mackinac race, but this time, he’ll be sailing only on a different boat. The 2023 Bayview was his 11th race aboard Dos Mas, and Mr. Dodds said it was a fun experience. Also serving on the crew were three recent high school graduates who are already very experienced sailors themselves.

Marc Rosenthal, a sailor aboard Avatar, dries out the boat’s sails on the marina lawn.

Because of the heavy rain at times, crews took turns rolling and shaking out their sails on the lawn next to the comfort station to dry them before packing them up again.

Among these sailors was Marc Rosenthal, who sailed aboard Andrew Morlan’s Avatar. Mr. Rosenthal has been racing for more than 50 years and has competed in 14 Mackinac races. Avatar came in sixth place in the Shore Course Class I, with a corrected time of one day, 15 hours, eight minutes, and 48 seconds. The race went faster than expected, Mr. Rosenthal said, arriving at about 7 a.m. Monday, rather than in the afternoon like they originally thought.

Ric Schmidt (from left), Steve Witham (back), John Demers, and Jeff Henderson of Pirate, finishing first in Class N of the Shore Course with a corrected time of one day, 14 hours, 41 minutes, and 23 seconds.

The Avatar experienced varying conditions as well, Mr. Rosenthal said, with rain, drizzle, some heavy storms, and a variety of light and heavy wind. Most of the race saw 10 to 12 knots of wind, which is fairly strong, then winds picked up to 20 knots approaching the Island. The fleet was competitive, he continued. Avatar would pull up to third in the fleet, then would drop back to sixth, then go back and forth for a while, jockeying with the boat in front of them for fifth place.

“The positions in the fleet changed constantly,” he said.

As the boats continued to dock at the harbor, he camaraderie and joy after the 99th annual Bayview Mackinac Race was palpable. Just as the Pirate crew described, the sailing community convened at Island favorites like the Pinky Pony and Horn’s Bar.

A sailor climbs up a mast to fly small maritime flags while the sailboat is docked at Mackinac Island. With more than 200 boats registered for the race, the harbor was filled with Bayview racers Monday, July 17.

“Someone asked, ‘Why do you do this?” Mr. Schmidt said. “Because it’s fun when you win.”

But Mr. Demers had a different perspective: “As a crew, we sail because we have fun.” 

After most boats came ashore, the crews took turns bringing their sails to the lawn near the harbor station to dry off. 

The crew of the Pirate celebrates after a long journey.

Vicky Dodds (from left), Kimberly Lord, Jeff Lord, and Brett Dodds, aboard skipper (not pictured) Gary Gonzalez’s boat Dos Mas in the harbor.