Mackinac race: It's not a pleasure cruise

There's something about sailing that leads some people to believe it's all Muffy and Skippy, wearing deck shoes and brass-buttoned blazers with ascots, and sipping champagne.

Those people couldn't be more wrong. Talk to sailors racing in the Port Huron-to-Mackinac sailboat race and they'll tell you it's about one thing:

Winning.

It's not called a race for nothing.

"We want to win," said Mark DenUyl, of Marysville. He owns and is captain of Good Lookin' out of the Port Huron Yacht Club. "That's our goal.

"We got second last year in our class, which was great, but ... we want the Bayview first-place flag."

DenUyl is in his 20th Mackinac and he's clearly the veteran on the boat.

"We've got a pretty young crew," he said.

The Good Lookin' crew includes DenUyl's two sons, Bryson, 14, and Brock, 12, and Nelson, 17, and Brennan, 14, Churchill. Bryson sailed in the Mackinac in 2015.

"Last year, in the Mackinac, I helped with sail trimming," Bryson said. "And I also did skirting."

He said sailing is fun and he also gets "to eat pizza."

But it's much more than that.

"It's something to do besides just lay around the house — and because it's competitive," Bryson said.

Brock said he's looking forward to his first Mackinac race.

"My dad's been racing for a long time," he said. "Our whole family has.

"I know he's been doing it, and I've been wanting to do it from a long time ago."

He said he'll be working in the hot box.

"It's a lot of hype," Bryson said. "You gotta be really excited for your boat and your team to do well."

One of the times in the race where crew members get really excited is at the start — the Shore Course is 204 nautical miles and 235 statute miles and the Cove Island Course is 259 nautical miles and 298 statute miles.

"You want to start in the lead, and every second counts," Mark DenUyl said. "Last year we missed first place by four minutes after racing all that distance."

Tyson Connolly, a former Port Huron Yacht Club commodore, will be racing in his 26th Mackinac aboard Details. He said there are several reasons why the start is important.

"Obviously everyone's adrenaline is going and all the preparation that has taken place over the off-season and leading up to the race is right in front of you," he said.

"And every second counts in this race."

He said he was on the Tigress in 1996 when it lost its class by 1:52.

"Those are things you don’t forget, and in 1999 we won our class by 7 seconds," he said.

"When you think about that over the course of a 260-plus mile race ..."

He said each boat has its game plan and tries to stick with it.

"There’s a lot of conversation about the rules and who has the right of way," Connolly said. "It can get animated."

The start is one of the few times shore spectators can watch the boats race.

"... It’s kind of like mass chaos to a certain degree — long moments of boredom interrupted by abrupt moments of terror," Connolly said.

"There are lot of boats trying to get through that starting line and get in the best position you can.

"When you have a good start it can be pretty uplifting to the crew, a morale booster to the crew," he said.

Pam Wall is the captain of the Chippewa. Both Wall and her boat will be in their 24th Mackinac. In that time, the boat has won its class eight times.

"Our boat is 48 years old this year and it’s more of classic-style boat," she said. "It’s not a modern racing style. They’ve changed boats over the years and we’re very much a classic, old-style boat — but it’s still fast. It’s a fast boat."

Like other sailors, Wall said the Chippewa is in the race to win.

"... There’s boats in my class that I’m dying to beat, but they’re not from our club," she said. "We’ve pretty much been sailing against this same group of boats for years."

Wall also said the start is extremely important.

"Absolutely, I think that for the morale of your crew for one thing being out in front at the very start of the race really gets your adrenaline going," she said. "That probably is the most exciting part of the race.

"Sometimes you don’t see a boat for God knows how long. To me it is very important: Getting an early lead and trying to hold onto it."

Pat Hoy will be racing on Split Decision, owned by Judge Michael West.

"We want to win," he said. "That's the only reason we're going. I've been lucky enough to win one time."

Hoy said there is a boat the team wants to beat more than any other.

"That's called Genesis out of the Detroit Yacht Club," he said. "It's exactly the same boat as Michael West's boat. That's kind of a rivalry."

Nick Ward will be aboard Equation out of the Bayview Yacht Club.

"The goal is to win your section and do your best to finish overall," he said.

The start is critically important, he said.

"... The old line is you can't win the race on the first day, but you can lose it," he said.

Don Walsh will be racing in his 18th Mackinac aboard the Tantrum, captained by Terry Vigrass. Walsh used to own the Good Lookin'.

He said the race is "way serious.

"Everybody wants to win, trying to make the boat go as best as it can at all times. Trying to get the best out of the conditions God gives you."

Brad Burda is the commodore of the Port Huron Yacht Club. He'll be racing with Pam Wall aboard the Chippewa. He said the race is more marathon than pleasure cruise.

"It takes two days and you’ve got minimal rest," he said. "It’s not like you’re camping somewhere out in a campground. You can’t run to the movies when it starts raining.

"It’s a competition. Everybody out there is very competitive. We wouldn’t be out there if we weren't."

He said the race is "one of the biggest pains in the butts you’ll ever do, but it also is a very big challenge and when you do well it makes it better."

"You’re racing more than 200 miles," Burda said. "There are no pit stops, there are no timeouts. When the wind dies you are still racing."

Contact Bob Gross at (810) 989-6263 or rgross@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobertGross477.