Thanks to Tom Barnes for this report: Friday night was the Nucore Triangle, and five J/22s participated. This was the warmup race to the Red Fox. Bob Grove on Pale Face Lite hasn’t sailed all season, rigged his boat an hour before race time and went out and won the race in a shifty 5 knot breeze. Chris Shadek on Windy City took second, and Bob Molter on Tactful took third. Tom Niles travelled all the way from Mississippi with Ms. Guided to attend and came in fourth. Tawas’ favorite son The Other White Meat got caught on the outside of a shift and came home fifth. Grilled brats at the top deck of the clubhouse, cocktails with friends and a beautiful view down the length of Lake Charlevoix…not a bad evening.
The light winds continued for Saturday morning’s Red Fox start. The first hour after the start saw huge shifts and big holes. Barnes on Reckless had an early lead with Tactful very close behind at the first mark. Spinnakers up! And then the wind shut down and came in spurts and on the next 1-mile leg. The lead changed at least three times, spinnakers dropped and went back up and boats in back caught up. Turning at C mark, Reckless was back in the lead with Windy City close astern. The fleet split, and those who went right found stronger pressure and pulled ahead. Three miles down to G mark and Tactful rounded first, Bill English on Commodore from Gull Lake was second and Pale Face Lite third, all within three boat lengths. This is another very long spinnaker leg, and fortunately for Reckless, the three boats in front all dove for the left side of the course and battled for clear air. Reckless sailed close to the rhum line and gained a small lead. As we rounded I mark, we heard a horn and noticed that the mark boat was there and had shortened course making it the finish. We heard the announcement a few seconds later. So Reckless pulled out the win over Tactful in second and Commodore in third. Pale Face Lite was fourth, followed by Ms. Guided, and then in a photo finish Abbey Lucas on Dockside snuck across in front of The Other White Meat. Windy City finished eighth, and Mark Walters (new to the fleet) on Bow Down finished ninth.
The chicken and ribs barbecue was delicious, the drinks flowed and merriment was had by all. The teams found their way to their accommodations…slept well and arrived at Boyne anticipating a light air Sunday return to Charlevoix. RC saw that the Boyne City end didn’t have wind and started a slow march closer to Charlevoix. All nine J/22s found tow boats, and we enjoyed the sunny 72-degree day. After two false hopes when breeze made some ruffles, we arrived at the Charlevoix end about 1:00 and found still no wind. RC chose to cancel racing for the day. About 2:00, the breeze filled in too late for any racing…but we looked on longingly. Boats were hauled and derigged, and at 3:00 the awards ceremony took place in the CYC Events center. I loved getting the win but would have been happier to have had a second day of racing. So, the Michigan Championship will rotate to Tawas Bay for 2026, Gull Lake in 2027 and back here in 2028.
