Mast Down

I want to thank Gary Kuncar, Keith Wagner, Jim Sliger, Phil Bonzon, Matt Roth, Parker Roth, Todd Merrill, and Sam Hardy for helping me drop Bootlegger's mast. I've raised and dropped at least 50 mast, and this was the first one that made me nervous: the lift house boom was so low that we had to put the lifting strap about 7 - 8 feet below the balance point making the mast top heavy and prone to twisting.  The mast will break if the spreaders are allowed to go perpendicular to the water, we had a few close calls.

I set the mast up on stands at the same height as the boom so that we'll have room to maneuver under the mast on the river trip.

Volvo 70 doing Mac

The Mac Race now has 280+ entries including one boat that some of you Volvo Ocean Race fans might recognize, Puma II Mostro. She is rumoured to have some of the best professional sailors on board.

And then there were two...

Our sistership, Absolute, has entered the Mac Race. She's carrying a crew of 10, while we're going with 6- 7. If it's windy and/or upwind for most of the race the advantage is hers, if it's downwind and/or light then the advantage is ours.

Nav Center

I've redone the navigation area: we have a new GPS, AIS, DSC Radio, graphic trending barometer, and everything is networked to the computer. When I replace the depth sounder, I'll put a SSB radio in it's place.

Before:

After:

Grand Hotel Deal

As of today there are 271 boats entered in the Chicago - Mac Race. Unfortunately, our sistership, Absolute, has not entered as of yet - I would really like to square off against her. Matter of fact, only one other Peterson, Blitz (Peterson 43), has entered the race, missing are Cahoots, Snafu, and the usual entourage of Peterson 34's.

And from the race committee:

I also want to alert you to a very special deal – once again this year, we have been able to secure a special room rate for Mac sailors at Grand Hotel. With so many of our race activities centered there – the Grand Porch Party, special activities for the kids, the Sailors’ Celebration on Tuesday, what better place to stay? The rate is $309.00 per night. (Plus tax and tips) It provides for up to four to a room and includes a fabulous breakfast. There is no minimum number of nights required at Grand Hotel and rooms that are paid in advance will be held regardless of when you arrive. Consider staying at Grand Hotel. It’s a great place. Call the Grand to make a reservation at 1-800-33-GRAND   

Change in email notifications

I've added a new feature to www.sailingbootlegger.com, you can now follow the site by adding your email address to the "FOLLOW BY EMAIL" feature on the home page. You'll only receive emails when there are new postings, no new postings then no new emails.

You'll want to add your email address ASAP because I'm going to disable the present feature that is sending you email notifications of new postings. With the present system only the email address' that I manually enter receive emails, with the new system anyone can follow our adventures on Bootlegger by signing up for "FOLLOW BY EMAIL."

Unfortunately, you still won't be notified when I make changes or modifications to existing postings, so you'll want to check on the site periodically.

Race registration off to a great start, expected to sell out

The Chicago - Mackinac Race committee has announced that after only two weeks of the registration being open they already have over 200 entries. They fully expect the race to sell out early with 375 boats and 3,500 sailors. Last year's race saw 365 entrants start the 333 mile sailing adventure that starts at the Chicago Lighthouse, just off of Navy Pier and continues to Mackinac Island.