The Clipper Cup 8-8-08

The Clipper Cup is a 68 nautical mile cross-lake race from Muskegon, MI to Port Washington, WI. This was my first crossing of Lake Michigan! It was an experience I won't soon forget. We did well in the race, finishing 1st in our division, and 4th overall (out of 31 boats). Our time was a couple minutes shy of 11.5 hours. We had steady NW winds around 14 knots for the first half of the race, with waves around 2-4 feet. The winds clocked around to the SW but died for about an hour during the windshift. Winds freshened to 17-18 knots and we flew the code zero to the finish. Our trip home is another story! We started out on a very lesiurly sail with 6-8 knot winds out of the West in flat seas. The forecast called for 20-30 knots out of the North, 5-8 foot waves, and a chance of T-storms later in the day. It was difficult to believe as the sky was sapphire blue with a few fair weather clouds and no fronts in sight. Well, we got everything except the T-storms! What a challenge! Waves were crashing and spraying which called for foul weather gear. We sailed from Port Washington to Holland which was 81 nautical miles. Another first for me was seeing a sunrise and sunset on the same lake on the same day! Here are some pics of this adventure...

Our crew (clockwise) Rubin, Alun, Jerry, Sheldon, Gordy, and me!

Leaving the Muskegon channel, facing West

The Muskegon channel facing East

A shot up the mainsail of Alun's J/100

Port Washington, WI harbor at dusk

Port Washington municipal marina at sunrise

A freighter (Canadian Navigator) we had to alter course for as we were in a crossing situation in the middle of Lake Michigan. The wake of this boat was the biggest I had ever seen. We also saw the Lake Express ferry on our trip home but I didn't take a picture of it. It is a huge catamaran.

Sunset about 5 nautical miles off the Holland pierhead. The wind settled down to 15-20 knots at this point and the waves settled a bit. Still a respectable 5 footer to our stern!