Disney boat breaks record in 535-kilometer Race to Mackinac
Mon Jul 22, 2:28 PM ET
MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan (Chicago Yatch Club) -- Roy Disney's 75-foot (22.5-meter) Pyewacket won the annual Race to Mackinac, sailng the 333 miles (535 kilometers) across Lake Michigan in 23 hours and 30 minutes, breaking the mono-hull record by more than two hours.
Disney, vice chairman of The Walt Disney Co., is the nephew of the entertainment company's founder and namesake. Last month, his boat broke the record in the annual 635-mile (1,022- kilometer) race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda.
About 3,000 sailors and more than 300 boats took part in the 96th running of the Race to Mackinac, which began on Lake Michigan near Chicago on Saturday. The route heads north into the edge of Lake Huron and ends at Mackinac Island. It takes most boats between 40 and 60 hours to complete the course.
The Pyewacket finished the race Sunday afternoon, just before thunderstorms came through with gusting winds, forcing at least 16 to drop out.
Sunday night's wind helped some boats to the finish line.
"The storm has made this year's race an incredibly fast one," race spokesman ________ Schweers said. "There are lots of competitors mending ripped sails."
More than 200 boats had finished by mid-day Monday.
At least one boat capsized and its crew had to be rescued during the storms.
The entire crew of the 44-foot (13-meter) multi-hull Caliente was picked up by another boat, Kokomo, that saw emergency flares fired after Caliente capsized, race officials said.
The previous record for a single-hulled boat in the race was 25 hours, 50 minutes and 44 seconds. That was set in 1987 by Jennings' Pied Piper.
Meade Gougeon's Adiago, a 35-foot (10.5-meter) boat, was the first multi-hull to cross the finish, Whipple said. A time for the boat wasn't immediately available.
Mon Jul 22, 2:28 PM ET
MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan (Chicago Yatch Club) -- Roy Disney's 75-foot (22.5-meter) Pyewacket won the annual Race to Mackinac, sailng the 333 miles (535 kilometers) across Lake Michigan in 23 hours and 30 minutes, breaking the mono-hull record by more than two hours.
Disney, vice chairman of The Walt Disney Co., is the nephew of the entertainment company's founder and namesake. Last month, his boat broke the record in the annual 635-mile (1,022- kilometer) race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda.
About 3,000 sailors and more than 300 boats took part in the 96th running of the Race to Mackinac, which began on Lake Michigan near Chicago on Saturday. The route heads north into the edge of Lake Huron and ends at Mackinac Island. It takes most boats between 40 and 60 hours to complete the course.
The Pyewacket finished the race Sunday afternoon, just before thunderstorms came through with gusting winds, forcing at least 16 to drop out.
Sunday night's wind helped some boats to the finish line.
"The storm has made this year's race an incredibly fast one," race spokesman ________ Schweers said. "There are lots of competitors mending ripped sails."
More than 200 boats had finished by mid-day Monday.
At least one boat capsized and its crew had to be rescued during the storms.
The entire crew of the 44-foot (13-meter) multi-hull Caliente was picked up by another boat, Kokomo, that saw emergency flares fired after Caliente capsized, race officials said.
The previous record for a single-hulled boat in the race was 25 hours, 50 minutes and 44 seconds. That was set in 1987 by Jennings' Pied Piper.
Meade Gougeon's Adiago, a 35-foot (10.5-meter) boat, was the first multi-hull to cross the finish, Whipple said. A time for the boat wasn't immediately available.