This Saturday, at noon, the famous Chi-Mac race begins.
For those who don't know it is rather difficult 333 mile race. Lake Michigan can be unforgiving with short, tall choppy waves and strong winds. There are calms, too, as I experienced in 2001. The race takes about 3-4 days of non-stop sailing. You could do it in 18 hours on very fast catamaran (Stars and Stripes 60ft. 1998), or in 24 hours on very fast boat(Geronimo 33ft. 1997, Pyewacket 77ft. 2002), but most of us don't have the money these boats cost, and this is what makes it wonderful, in comparison to let's say America's cup -- anybody can participate, even if you are as slow as a river barge. There are safety rules of course.
I am planning to be on the water to see the start (I have my sailing class at the same time in Chicago).
Later, in the afternoon, if we will be able to sail out off Waukegan harbor at 4 PM we could see some of the yachts again under the full sail.
I am planning to bring the good telescopic lenses, bring some video cameras, too.
Let's hope for the good weather, the winds from SW, so the boats will have big, colorful spinnakers out.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 79. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 10 and 20 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, then gradually becoming clear, with a low around 59. West wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming north northwest around 5 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64.
