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Port Huron to Mackinac Coverage Now Available at www.porthuronmackinac.com
2003 Chi-Mac News	Weather Directly from Bouys on Lake Michigan	2003 Coverage & Updates

Visit the 2003 updates archive. Dates of future Chicago to Mackinac races now posted.

Overall Winners Announced
Alchemy First to Finish 2003 Chicago to Mackinac Race
45^th Parallel Reportings
July 14, 2003 Update

2003 Chicago Mac Preview

This year the Chicago Mac will be sailed beginning July 12. In odd numbered years the Chicago to Mac precedes the Port Huron to Mac starting July 19th. The Chicago version of the race is longer, with more marks than Port Huron. Still it is generally 2 nights on the water with any number of factors controlling the outcome. This will be the 96th sailing of the 333 mile race.

In simple terms the course takes the boats from one end of Lake Michigan to the other and often from one side to the other. The course includes cityscapes, sand dunes, islands, light houses, the Mackinac bridge, and plenty of blue Lake Michigan water.

After a new monohull record was set in the 2002 Chicago Mac by Pyewacket, the challenger for breaking that record is Alchemey, an Andrews designed 77 from California.  Rating 16 seconds a mile faster than Pyewacket under PHRF Alchemey could have a very fast ride if the conditions are right.  As for overall honors -the winners of this race will be determined by a new rating system. Race records are all about boat size and raw speed. For the rest of the fleet it's the chase for top places in each class that is most important.

Last fall Chicago Yacht Club the race organizer announced that mono hulls will be scored using the Americap II rating system. Americap II is a rating system combining multiple elements. Included are boat measurement (similar to IOR), Wind velocity and direction (familiar from IMS) and a combined time on time/time on distance scoring (both methods used in PHRF). Unlike PHRF there is are no subjective components that maybe finessed by boat owners. The multi hull fleet will not switch to the new system, rather staying with PHRF.

Sailboat racing has a long history of rating rules including: the Universal Rule, CCA, IOR, IMS, and PHRF. Hopefully America II will succeed where the others have eventually failed due to participant dissatisfaction.

Typically to be rated under Americap II a boat must undergo floatation measurement in order to accurately determine the displacement. For this 1st year, the flotation requirement is waved. Americap II has ratings for over 1200 designs, both stock and custom, expediting the transition.

Others will opt out of handicap sailing and compete on a one design basis. Fleets such as the Farr 40 and J 105 will sail the 333 mile course on a first over the line wins basis.

Once again the Chicago Mackinac will be one of the biggest races on the Great Lakes. Visit this website for unofficial and independent coverage.

The Mackinac will use a version of Americap II for Offshore Mainly Downwind courses. You can view a scratch sheet for this rating condition at http://www.ussailing.org/offshore/Americap/AMCPRatingSummary_DownWOcean.asp.

This rating condition scratch sheet gives separate ratings for 6, 10 and 20 knots of wind. For instance in 6 knots of wind Alchemy is rated 118 seconds per mile faster than Rosebud. In 20 knots of wind this dips to only 64 seconds.

Read more about the ratings changes for this year's race.