First 40.7

100^th MACKINAC RACE WON BY SPANKER

COLLABORATION II MAKES BIG COMEBACK

(Tuesday, July 22, 2008) At 7:32 PM Monday, July 21^st, Jim and Dennis McDonnell's Spanker crossed the finish line to win 1^st place in the Beneteau 40.7 section of the 100^th running of the Chicago to Mackinac Island Race. The race which started, for the 40.7 section, at 12:50 PM on Saturday, July 19^th, has a rhumb line length of 289.4 nautical miles. Spanker's elapsed time was 54 hours 42 minutes 2 seconds. On corrected time, within the 180 boats of the Mackinac Trophy Division, Spanker placed 20^th. This is the second time in a row that the McDonnell brothers' Spanker has won the 40.7 section of the race to Mackinac Island.

Finishing in 2^nd place, 8 minutes and 59 seconds behind Spanker, was Tom Weber's La Tempete who in turn crossed the finish line only 18 seconds ahead of 3^rd place Collaboration II, skippered by Bob Vickery. La Tempete held on to 2^nd place after a furious battle with Collaboration II in the last miles of the race.

The entire top half of the 40.7 section, 1^st through 6^th place, finished within less than an hour of each other after more than 50 hours of racing.

This was the second year in a row that Spanker has won the 40.7 section. This is also the 5^th year in a row that Collaboration II has placed in the top three in the section (winning three straight years 2004-06, and 2^nd place in 2007). Though La Tempete has won many other events and series over the years, winning the Mackinac Race has eluded her. This is the third time since 2002, when the 40.7's began racing the Mackinac as a one-design section, that she has placed 2^nd.

Jim McDonnell had this to say about his second straight victory: "In terms of two consecutive 1st place finishes, in our competitive one design section, that is rarified air. Congratulations to Tom Weber and the always competitive La Tempete gang, and to Bob Vickery and Collaboration II. Their collective records speak for themselves. ‘We're never as good as we think we are and never as bad as we think we are always applies, so to repeat, it is truly a testimony to (lady luck) working the boat hard, in all the trying conditions and somehow making some gains that we we're able to hold on to through the end."

The morning of the start of the race saw a heavy rain falling straight down over most of the Chicago area. Crews arrived at their boats and final loading for the race began as the rain slowly abated.

By the time the 40.7's were ready to start the rain had mostly stopped and the wind was light out of the southeast. With hundreds of boats waiting to start a fairly effective wind fence was thrown up windward of the starting line making it difficult to maneuver.

To complicate the start, a northerly current, reported at one-half to one knot was running. This pushed a few boats over the line early. Due to the light wind and the wind shadows of hundred of sails, these boats found it difficult to get back and start properly.

Perhaps the big story of the 40.7 section on this 100^th running of the Mackinac Race is the story of Collaboration II and her skipper, Bob Vickery. Collaboration II was swept over the line early by the current. With her wind blocked by succeeding waves of starting sections, it was twelve minutes before Collaboration II was able to get back over the line and was cleared to start. Despite the light wind and numerous dead spots, most of the 40.7 fleet, had by this time made their way to about half a mile from the line.

Three hours into the race, according to the race tracker, most of the fleet was heading northeast off the coasts of Evanston and Wilmette. La Tempete and Temptation were the boats furthest north and Spanker, while about 4 miles south of them, was the eastern-most boat. Collaboration II was the sixth most northerly boat at this time.

"After my dismal start," said Bob, "I had to stay positive, convince the crew to stay positive and keep the mind set geared to be aggressive and attack."

By 7 PM on Saturday evening, the tracker was showing Das Boot and Temptation "leading" the section with the shortest distance to the finish line. But this distance can be deceiving because it only calculates distance as the "crow flies" and not the actual course needed to complete the race, for example the fact that the fleet generally has to pass around Big Sable Point and Point Betsie and then funnel through the Manitou Passage on the way to the passage through Grays Reef. At this time, 7 PM, Spanker was still the eastern-most boat, Temptation was the northern-most, and Vayu was the west-most.

More than a full day later, as the section neared Point Betsie on the Michigan shore at 11 PM on Sunday, Spanker was well in the lead followed by La Tempete behind and to the west, and Excalibur behind and to the east. The next three boats appeared to be Collaboration II centered east to west followed by Turning Point to the west and Vayu close to the east. It was just about 10:30 PM when Collaboration II on port and Vayu on starboard, closely crossed paths in the foggy darkness. Behind these six leaders was a close cluster of three boats - Cancan, Das Boot and Temptation. In the rear were Broderi, Mojo, and Northern Spy.

We were able to interview Bob Vickery at the awards party at the Grand Hotel on Tuesday and later by email.

40.7: "How can you describe the race from Gray's reef to the finish line?"

Bob Vickery: "Our race from Gray's reef to the finish was a continuation of a race that could only be described as catch up and attack. After MY dismal start, I had to stay positive, convince the crew to stay positive and keep the mind set geared to be aggressive and attack. From the Manitou Passage North, we could see that a respectable finish was possible, but we had to continue to sail fast.

"When we entered Gray's Reef channel, we finally had visual contact with La Tempete, but the fleet was in line for a broad reaching parade to the bridge with the dying NW breeze. My experience led me to believe that there would be a lull at the bridge, offering an opportunity to make big gains. Additionally, the breeze seemed stronger off the north shore of the straits, so we made course to the north side and Tempete followed to cover. The pressure stayed firm on the north side, but shifted 45 degrees right forcing us to drop our spinnaker and put up the light genoa. By the time we were half way to the bridge we could see that those boats that stayed in the parade had been headed and now were almost becalmed on the South shore. Tempete continued doing a good job of covering us to the North side but we cut their lead from 4 miles to 300 yards. By this point our crew was fully energized and eager to keep up the good fight.

"It didn't take a lot to convince the crew that we had a chance to catch Tempete and possibly reel in Spanker since we were only a 1/2 mile west of the bridge when we heard Spanker call into the race committee that they were now east of the bridge. For a brief moment I thought that Spanker might sail into a hole on the South side that would hold them and allow Tempete and us to pass by to the North. Tempete continued to cover well, positioning themselves between the finish and our boat, but a handful of other boats started to complicate the race course. On the east side of the bridge, several J120's and Farr 395's were involved in their own cover dual which caused us to be split from Tempete's grasp by a port/starboard crossing. Tempete was pinned on port tack heading to the southeast and we were forced over to starboard, but being led to stronger breeze funneling down on the west side of the island. When the Farr 395 that was holding us tacked over, we followed and made a ferocious dash for the line. Tempete broke free of the boats around them and were now paralleling our course, but separated from us by 500 yards. So the 100th race to Mackinac saw La Tempete and Collaboration II 2 sail the final 23 miles to the Island in a classic tacking dual which ended up in a 1/4 mile drag race for the finish line.

"I'm sure that Tom and the crew of Tempete were holding their breath because we seemed in a dead heat heading for the finish. In the end Tom and company beat us to the finish line by 18 seconds. I will honestly share that I couldn't have been happier for Tom and his crew and the great level racing that our fleet demonstrated to everyone watching. There could not have been a better commercial for the 40.7 fleet than the final 5 miles of racing between the bridge and the Island, between Spanker, LaTempete & Collaboration II 2. Our crew was left with the satisfaction that we cut Spanker's 11 mile lead at Gray's reef to 9 minutes and La Tempete's 4 mile lead to 18 seconds".

To get La Tempete's perspective on the final miles, here is the story from long-time La Tempete crew member, Gary Bunger:

"On the approach to Gray's Reef we keep hearing that Collaboration II was right behind us but none of us could see them with binoculars, so we didn't know what to make of it. We rounded can 3, the chutes were popping and there they were about 500 yards behind us! We were shocked that they were that close. They kept trying to out reach us but we stayed with them, then the wind started to clock and our chute was doing a bit better, but the wind kept going right and we all went to genoas. Then the tacking duel began. ...At one point they had to tack in a port-starboard situation and got pinned down by that boat (can't remember who it was) and we thought they were off us for good. When they finally tacked and we crossed again they were only about 4 boat lengths behind us.

We ran parallel to the shore to the north where the water gets fairly shallow, went under the bridge as far left in the left span as we could and took the shoals buoy as close as we could get. I really thought Bob was going to go over the shoal as he kept going really high of us.....maybe he was hoping to drag us over it? He dropped back down and took the can to port as we did.

It was just a drag race from there, and as you know he was just north of us and 18 seconds behind at the horn. It was a lot of miles of stress as that guy was throwing everything he had at us. It would have been a huge disappointment had we not held on after all the miles.

Looking back at Tom (Weber, skipper of La Temepte) after the horn, I would say he had a severe case of cottonmouth!"

Continuing the discussion with Bob Vickery:

40.7: "Whether you were in a difficult position or not, what was your plan or did you alter your plan for the first 200 miles (to the Manitou Passage)?"

BOB VICKERY: "Our pre-race plan was to work the west shore to the Illinois/Wisconsin line because the weather seemed to be coming from the west and we wanted to be windward boat and get the breeze first. By the time we re-started, we were at the east end of the line and buried by the next section. Sure enough, the breeze started filling in from the west and the next three sections all rolled us. It wasn't until 4PM Saturday afternoon did we get the boat rolling along in clean air. By Saturday evening, we felt we were situated to be East boat and tried to put a strategy together that would make that work. In retrospect, we came close to pulling that off, but the breeze was strong enough off the Sables to allow all of the "west" boats to slide east without being at a disadvantage."

40.7: "How did this, the 100th Mac differ for you from the others you've done?"

BOB VICKERY: "Race wise and (I don't know how to put it...) emotionally? As with every Mac, it's the same race course, but the conditions always seem to be a different mix. This year, the pre-race hype that CYC put together certainly got the crew excited and generated a lot of interest from our non-racing friends. But on the water it was the same, the boat that sailed the best 333 miles won."

Continuing our interview with winning skipper Jim McDonnell:

40.7: "From Saturday, Spanker was reported in the lead and stayed there till the end. Did the start have a significant bearing on your early standing?"

Jim McDonnell: "Our only early thought was to get lateral separation, not so much from the section but from the fleet which was predominately on port tack, and in the light conditions the cleaner air seemed prudent, although un-favored at the outset. Net result, we probably setup as the most right boat of our group early on."

40.7: "How did you interpret the weather to formulate a race plan and did you stick to it, at least for the first day and night?"

Jim McDonnell: "Good question, which weather? I attended the briefing and my take away was nothing. There seemed to be speculation the Northerly would dominate eventually, maybe?, substantial maybe, maybe not, and who knows when. I cut the Saturday Tribune weather graphical page out and that was about it. So we decided to sail what we had, when we had it, try to make good North-ing, be mindful of the rhumb, and boat speed and accept the changes when and if they developed. And change, was the key word from Saturday night forward.

"So that was about as planned as it got, and we stuck with what we had, in the breeze and holes."

40.7: "Did you ever see any of the other 40.7's after Saturday afternoon? If so did you take any action?"

Jim McDonnell: "No, we saw nothing from dusk until Sunday about 10:00am, when we saw 1 multihull and 1 other boat we could not identify. With the limited visibility we went the next 6-7 hours with no boats. The chatter was not very optimistic at this point, as we sailed in our own little bubble of fog. I forgot to mention, I did not want any of our gang to check the on -line tracking, tradition of not knowing status kept the mystery in it, so we were blind till much later in the race. About 1900 Sunday we saw a few boats, one was in the cruising division, and a few Section 3 boats, but then the visibility closed tighter so that was it for now. Midnight, wind shut off, chute down, head sail up. First light Monday, close reaching through the Manitou Passage, couple Farr 395 ‘s that was about it, we still did not know our standing, when we crossed the 45th (0530), and we were about an hour behind, versus last year's time. Close reach all the way to Grey's reef. Spinnaker after Bell #3. Crawled till about 5 miles from the bridge, then on the nose till the finish at approximately 19:30."

40.7: "This is two consecutive years for Spanker to win the 40.7 section. How was this race, the 100th, any different from any of the more than 30 you have done? Or similar? And how many Macs have you done? And what about your brother, Dennis?"

Jim McDonnell: "This was my 35th Mac and Dennis now has 36, even though the IGSS roster has us a few off, where does the time go? In terms of the 100th, considering we've done over a 3rd of them, you think you've seen it all. But this one was certainly promoted by CYC, the obvious increase in population of boats is encouraging, the excellent organization, boat tracking (for the youngsters!) best docking facilities yet, and the great fireworks display made for a great event."

40.7: "Were there any memorable moments?"

Jim McDonnell: "About 0100 Sunday a heron circled the boat, made an approach and landed on the second spreader. He or she stayed there for almost 2 hours, including a few tacks. We were ghosting, didn't budge, must have been exhausted. That was a first!

"Tom Weber from La Tempete reported, they had one land on the helmsman's head !! Other boats reported some landings as well, we speculated a lost flock in the fog, and just need a place to rest."

40.7: "Can you give us a brief synopsis of your sailing history? How old when you started, what boats, what encouraged you. What major events have you participated, or done well in?"

Jim McDonnell: "Dennis and I started in our 20's, day sailing a 22 ft. swing keel back in the early 70's. I began hanging around Monroe harbor about the same time and was crew on a Pearson 30, recruited a friend and Dennis, talked the owner into our first Mac and we finished in 105 hrs on Wednesday morning . Those fixed 3 bladed props were slow in a drifter......

"We formed a gang of four, bought the boat from the owner, started racing. We evolved through a Peterson 34, J41, pared down to two, and Dennis found a C&C 37R in Canada which we raced locally till the Beneteau 40.7. Most of our experience was OJT. We did participate (J 41) in the 1987 One Ton N.A's hosted by COL YC, a 7 day event that brought some of the best in the U.S. to Chicago. Thus, there have been 4 Spanker's and have 29 consecutive entries in the Chi/Mac under that name. We have been to the Mac podium 11 times in those yrs, and a 3rd place in the Super Mac finishing in Sarina, Ontario, in Lake Huron. We have always tried to be competitive, keep pace, and try to give ourselves opportunities."

40.7: "What can you say about your crew this year? Who was MVP?"

Jim McDonnell: "Boyd Rice, Chris Klee, Jeff Bell, Jerry Ring, Chad Smith, Rollin Pierce, Joe Spataro, Jim & Dennis. We intended 10 but had a last minute cancellation so nine was our group.

"We're all Chicago locals, last year Rollin was a freshman, so this year we all had Mac experience, (had it been blowing, maybe a little light handed) but we kept going in the tough, disorienting fog (driving), lots of sail changes, and quite a few laughs as the "bubble of fog" gave us some privacy......Chris, quality skills and energy......steady Boyd, Jeff, Chad, Jerry. And Joe was in charge of laughs.

"In terms of MVP, considering he does not get a chance to sail too often, Dennis kept us in a good frame of mind, provided the traditional shrimp cocktail & fillet mignon (Saturday dinner), and sage advice when the speculation of position, weather, wind, all started varying opinions, and wayward conversations...and so hats off to his 36 yrs of Mac experience, skill and leadership.

"Everyone worked hard and shared the typical ups & downs of a Mac race, so needless to say, to repeat, coming in 1st place among our great group of competition, is an overwhelming team effort/result, and what a way to complete the 100th anniversary of the Chicago Mackinac Race."

40.7: "Thank you, Jim."

We were also able to get some impressions of the race from Jay Muller, skipper of Das Boot, from his wife Cindy and daughter Cate. Jay was also on the 100^th Mackinac Race Committee.

40.7: "How was the start for Das Boot?"

Jay Muller: "Obviously in the light air, this was not one of our better Mac starts. We were over early and got off to the left side with a bunch of J109's who actually spent so much time trying to screw with each other that we were able to find a lane. Tempete was outside of us and we seemed to make some distance on them. I thought we were doing well as we saw Vayu and someone else park at the crib. After that I started paying attention to driving."

Cate Muller: "As Jay mentioned, this was not one of our better starts . . . in fact, it is hard for me to recall the last time we were over! Nevertheless, it has to happen sometime. I do think it actually worked to our advantage though. We were the first boat to clear ourselves and we were able to see what other boats were doing and establish a lane to the left, which paid off a great deal in the opening hours of the race."

40.7: "Did you formulate a plan and then did you stick to it, at least for the first day and night?"

Jay Muller: "We intended to stay left of the rhumb. From looking at the tracking, it seemed that everyone was within five miles either side. We probably were a bit too committed to our plan, but that is why one does this race, it is a continuing sailing education classroom."

Cate Muller: "We did establish a plan, which was hard to do given the weather reports we were getting, really, anything could have happened, and it was a very confusing situation to figure out. Unlike Jay, I don't think we were committed to our plan enough. It seems to me in a race like the Mac, you have to go big or go home. The guys on the top seem to be the ones committing. Over all though, we did stick to the plan the whole time, which was fantastic, given that we have deterred from it on other years, usually in the middle of the night Saturday or Sunday during the day."

40.7: "Were you getting race tracking reports?"

Jay Muller: "We had voice communication for the entire race (no, we weren't getting any reports!) and data for two-thirds. Data dead spot was on Sunday when we were in the widest part of the lake. Not sure if knowing where everyone was is a good thing or a bad thing, but it was interesting."

Cate Muller: "The reports were interesting, when we could get them. I agree, that I'm not sure if it was good or bad. I mean, this isn't the Transat or anything, and we aren't professionals. It takes a great deal of knowledge and experience to really be able to utilize a tool like tracking to it's fullest. Without it, it really becoming a distraction to the crew. Plus, I think it takes away a bit of the fun of it all (getting to the 45th and listening was always a favorite for me!). I also heard that all the tracking interfered a lot of radio signals and other things, I'm not sure if that is true, but I wouldn't be shocked. I'm on the fence about the tracking for sure."

40.7: "Did you see any other 40.7's after Sunday morning and if so did you take any action?"

Jay Muller: "We knew Cancan deux was near us in the straits so that kept us on our toes."

Cate Muller: "We saw Cancan deux, which was always in the back of our minds, just keeping a loose cover and knowing that they were back there. I think that had there not been so much fog, we would have all realized how close we were. The fog made a HUGE difference and I think it would have been a very close competitive race the whole time with out it. I mean, it was still very close with the fog, just imagine what it would have been like without it!!"

40.7: "How was this Mac the same or different from others you've done?"

Jay Muller: "FOG! I now have an appreciation for boat insurance realizing that there really isn't much time to react at 7 knots when you can't see past the bow pulpit. Not wearing contacts and having a perpetual rain shower inside your glasses doesn't help either! Another aspect of sailing experienced."

Cate Muller: "I'll second the fog!!! What a difference that made. Everyone is always a bit more anxious at night, just given the fact that it is night, but the fog gave it a completely new dynamic (very eerie). As a contact wearer I ended up doing a good amount of driving when I came on shift, and it was certainly uneasy, but then you realize that everyone on the lake is just as tweaked as you are, which helps a little.

"I also thought a good difference for us was our approach. I think we went into the race this year much more relaxed and prepared than we have in the past, not to say that there were no last minute stressors, but overall it was good, and I think that helped everyone stay positive throughout the race.

"Also, as I mentioned before there was the added dynamic of the tracker, I'm still not sure what my take is on the trackers and they have some pro's and con's, but it was different!

"One thing that was the same though was food! We have amazing food, and my mother is a champion in the galley (she made us guacamole for our burrito's)! I guess we ended up with a bit too much food in the end, but we also had more people than normal (boys that eat!!!) so the food amount is always just another piece of the puzzle.

"This was my 6th Mac, my first was 2003, when we got second, I couldn't have asked for a better race, and I think that is without a doubt a factor that keeps me coming back and looking forward to the race every year. Success is always an amazing thing, it gives you such a rush, and it's such a great challenge to achieve it again, I think that's what keeps us all coming back and doing what we do, with each other."

40.7: "Thank you, Jay and Cate."

The first six boats finished within 51 minutes of each other.

In the seven years since 2002 when the 40.7's began racing the Mac as a one-design section, only four boats have won: Finesse in 2002, Excalibur in 2003, Collaboration II in 2004, 2005, and 2006, and Spanker in 2007 and 2008

With Tsunami out of the race for repairs, many of her crew were picked up by other boats in the 40.7 fleet and even other section boats. Tsunami driver Bryan Hayes and their pitman, Ben Kramer were aboard Vayu. Bowman Mike Kaspar was aboard Cancan deux. And trimmer Sandy Lee found a ride on a boat in another section.

Next month: an interview with Bob Vickery,

For photos of the 40.7 Fleet in the 2008 Mackinac Race go to the 40.7 fleet's new Picasa photo album at Photos.

2008 Chicago to Mackinac Race Results 40.7 Section: