February 18, 2022

Race Chair Communication #5

Dear Bayview Mackinac Race Skippers, Crew, Sponsors, and Spectators:

I am pleased to announce that the hard work that has been put in over the last many months is starting to pay off. I have some very good news. The 2022 Bayview Mackinac Race has:

1)    Signed and finalized an agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources permitting us to tie up 170 boats in the State Harbor on Mackinac Island. This means we will be putting more than one boat in each well and rafting. This is fantastic news and the result of so much work by so many people who all love and support the race.

2)    Signed an agreement with Mission Point Resort to host the 2022 Island Awards Party on the island. Mission Point will also be the Race Headquarters on the Island. Another bit of great news. We are looking forward to a long-term partnership with Mission Point Resort and the Ware Family.

 

Race Website (www.bycmack.com)
There were some minor launch pains during the initial few hours of registration, but overall, everything worked great.

Rob Bunn, our webmaster, and Melissa Wenzler, our Race Administrator, have been hard at work creating a more streamlined user experience for the race website. As everyone looks for information, please remember that the entire front end of the race website is new. Some information has been moved and reorganized; it may not be where you historically found it. If anyone sees anything missing or obviously in error, please let us know. An enormous amount of work has been done error checking the information, but certainly, thousands of eyes will find things that tens did not. Please get in touch with Melissa via email at melissa@byc.com if you find anything that needs to be addressed or needs assistance with registration.

Many thanks to Rob Bunn, our webmaster, for all the hard work he’s put in to get us to this point!

Just a reminder, if a skipper adds previous crew members to their crew member list for 2022, it does NOT email the crew member for updates and waivers. The skipper has to go to the crew list and click “Email crew for update” for each previous crew member. When a new crew member is added, they will receive an email to go in and update their info.

NOR Amendment #1

An update to the NOR has been posted. Please go to the race website and read the amendment. The harbor agreement came with some Contractually Mandated punishment for violation of harbor rules. The bulk of these rules falls under what is termed the Michigan Clean Harbors Initiative. We are working on getting more definitive information, but some of the listed items in the DNR contract are:

• No fueling of boats in the harbor.
• No swimming in the harbor.
• No Littering on the docks or in the water.
• No running power to any boat not directly tied to a dock. An extension cord may not run power over one boat to another.
• No hanging or attaching sails to the fences along the road.

We all already know that the City of Mackinac Island is highly sensitive to:

• Excessive noise·
• Anything that may scare horses·
• Banners·
• Litter

It is up to all of us to be Ambassadors for the sport of sailing and make sure our hosts know much we appreciate the privilege of racing to Mackinac Island every year.

Mackinac Island State Harbor

As previously stated, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has permitted us to tie up to 170 boats. Historic registration for the race is just over 200 boats. This means everyone will NOT get to tie up in the harbor. There are approximately 140 boats registered today, which means only about 30 more boats can tie up in the harbor. I can’t make it any clearer. Docking will be assigned in order of paid registration. No exceptions.

US Coast Guard

Both Jim Motschall, our US Coast Guard liaison and 2020 Committee Member of the Year, and Commodore Brian Geraghty, our Safety Committee Chair, have let us know that there are new requirements for fire extinguishers. Information has been sent out to everyone in the race Eblast database. More information can be found at  Regulations.gov. If the link does not work, search for “uscg-2018-0099-0018.”


Safety at Sea

Due to popular demand, the US Sailing Safety at Sea in-the-water class offered by US Sailing, Bayview Yacht Club, and Detroit Yacht Club is full.

If you are in the Cleveland area, the Edgewater Yacht Club in Cleveland is hosting a two-day US Sailing International Safety at Sea Course with Hands-on Training on April 30 and May 1. Information and registration can be found at SAS.EYCWEB.COM. At this time, they have approximately 25 available seats remaining. Please go to the US Sailing website to find other venues offering the course.

What do I want you to remember?       

• Website working well!
• Read the NOR and Amendments
• There are new USCG Fire Extinguisher Requirements
• Donate your expired Extinguishers
• Be patient with US Sailing. They are working hard to support you.
• Competitors will be required to pay their entry fee to register for the race.
• Docking preference will be granted to boats in the order of paid registration in the race.  Register late, and you will end up paying for your well at Mackinaw City or St. Ignace.
• Entry does not guarantee dockage on Mackinac Island.
• More volunteers than you can imagine working hard to keep your cost down and fun up. Please appreciate the work they do.
  
  

I want to thank our sponsors and supporters for the race: Atwater Brewery, Bayview Mackinac Race Foundation, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry.

We at Bayview Yacht Club are honored that you choose to participate in the Bayview Mackinac Race and are putting forth our best effort to make it the best it can be for you.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns at any time over the next year.

Chris Clark
Chair, 2022 Bayview Mackinac Race
Mackchair2022@byc.com