Facebook

Login

Support Sailonline

If you haven't already - join the SAILONLINE YACHT CLUB!

Please also consider making a donation - all amounts are greatly appreciated!

Board » General Discussion » Storm claims two in Chi-Mac race tragedy

Posted by
A2


Users avatar

Posts
347
Registered at
2009-10-26 00:39:42
2011-07-20 18:31:50 - Storm claims two in Chi-Mac race tragedy
During the Chicago-to-Mackinac sailboat race horrific conditions early Monday led to the capsizing of WingNuts and the death of its skipper and a crew member near the Fox Islands off Charlevoix.

"The worst of the storm hit just after midnight which made bolts of lightning our only light source,"

Weather reports predicted winds of no more than 30 knots, as the storm built the sailboat's tack line exploded.

"We were knocked down immediately and stayed horizontal from winds of 54 knots for about 15 minutes. Shortly after being knocked down, with no steerage, lightning flashed and another boat, just to weather, without sails was planing right towards us.

Within minutes, more than a dozen boats were in the area trying to rescue the missing crewmembers of WingNuts, and soon after a Coast Guard helicopter.

The two deaths were the first drownings in the Chicago-to-Mackinac race history.
None so blind
Posted by
RainbowChaser


Users avatar

Posts
2656
Registered at
2009-06-14 09:44:50
2011-07-21 22:30:43 - Re: Storm claims two in Chi-Mac race tragedy
8mrWho - how very sad...must have been appalling conditions. :-(

The race's tracker system also went down which meant the organisers didn't really know where the boats were. They posted on Facebook and were asking for folks to text in their sightings of other boats. :-(

---------
spelling corrected:

--- Last Edited by RainbowChaser at 2011-07-22 13:48:18 ---
Posted by
zowee


Users avatar

Posts
17
Registered at
2008-02-09 14:52:27
2011-07-22 00:41:02 - Re: Storm claims two in Chi-Mac race tragedy
Hi SOLers. Due partly to my ineptitude, SOL didn't track along with the Mac this year. I was aboard Drumbeat in Section 7. We were about 5 mi SW of the tragedy location. Our instruments measured well over 50kts and the wind came up very quickly - like being hit by a wall. Many other distress calls rang out on the radio, but the calls from Sociable, who rescued 6 crew from WingNuts was the major focus, as other boats in the area stopped to look for the two lost sailors. Needless to say, it was a somber spirit at Mackinac Island after the race, as many knew the sailors or at least the boat from past Macs. R.I.P Mark Morley and Suzanne Bickel.

--- Last Edited by zowee at 2011-07-22 00:42:16 ---
Posted by
RainbowChaser


Users avatar

Posts
2656
Registered at
2009-06-14 09:44:50
2011-07-22 13:47:36 - Re: Storm claims two in Chi-Mac race tragedy
{{{{{{{zowee}}}}}} <~~~~ BIG HUG

Very very glad to hear that you stayed safe.. it must have been a very difficult situation for all of you. The stuff of nightmares.

Posted by
captjack1942


Users avatar

Posts
239
Registered at
2008-01-18 03:24:03
2011-07-22 16:55:50 - Re: Storm claims two in Chi-Mac race tragedy
Here's an article and a link to a slide show of the storm: http://www.sj-r.com/sports/x121488038/Springfield-sailor-survives-deadly-Chicago-to-Mackinaw-race

Glad you're ok zowee.

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m

Current Races:

Tall Ships Races 2025 - Le Havre to Dunkirk


Welcome to the first of four virtual Tall Ships Races in European waters which are concurrently being organized in-real-life by Sail Training International . The course for this first race is between the French ports of Le Havre and Dunkirk; circa 125nm in Sailonline’s magnificent 90m Barque.
NOTE: Starts and Finishes in tall ships racing are always offshore to avoid conflict with shipping and shipping lanes; online and real-life may not match exactly.
Race #1923
INFO by brainaid.de
Barque 90m PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: TS - SYC
Race starts: Jul 07th 16:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Young Island to Christmas Island 2025

The adventure continues as we launch this fifth leg of the RWW series, racing from Young Island to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, familiar from our Xmas 2 Xmas races. Get ready for a chilling new challenge as we set sail on the seventh leg of the 2025 Ocean Championship Series! A 4100nm journey of endurance, strategy, and pure sailing excitement. This leg will be pursued aboard the Super Maxi 100 v2, pushing sailors to their limits. Do you have what it takes to conquer the Indian Ocean? Join us and put your skills to the ultimate test!
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1929
INFO by brainaid.de
Super Maxi 100 v2 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ3 - RWW - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
Race starts: Jul 07th 11:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Red Eye - Key Lime Pie-gatta 2025

Opposite the Bahamas at the tip of the Florida peninsula, we find the Florida Keys, a honky-tonk arpeggio of islands, where another SOL classic, the Key Lime Pie-gatta, so-called after the famous local condensed-milk-based tart speciality, awaits to be navigated once again. We’ll race its “Red Eye” 180nm in very-American Santa Cruz 52s, ignoring such artefacts as bridges, causeways and piers joining the keys one to the other and to the mainland!
Race #1846
INFOby brainaid.de
Santa Cruz 52 PARTICULARS
NAM_AWIP WX Updates:
0245 / 0845 / 1445 / 2045
Ranking: SYC - RED
RACE CLOSE: Monday,
July 7 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Jul 02nd 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Sail Around Turkey 2025


Welcome to the 11th running of one of Sailonline's most iconic races, where our fleet races the length of the Turkish coastline from Hopa (the easternmost harbour on Turkey’s Black Sea coast) to Iskenderun (the easternmost harbour on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast). It’s a 1,372nm race and aboard our classic, 1st decade of the 21st Century, version 2 IMOCA 60, you should be able to get around the course in less than a week. That is if, of course, once you get out of the Black Sea you don’t stop to enjoy the sights or a BBQ or two in the Golden Horn, or on the Marble Islands, now land-locked Troy or Gallipoli or any of the myriad Aegean islands, that you shall have to carefully navigate past.
Race #1930
INFOfrom brainaid.de
IMOCA 60 v2 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC
Race starts: Jun 27th 15:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member FreyjaUSA
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Kipper1258
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rumskib
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Sax747
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member vida

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

SYC members have the benefit of access to our mobile/lightweight web client!

The mobile client