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Never miss a chance to shake down
We’re preparing to race across Lake Michigan in the Queen’s Cup — a 66-nautical-mile sprint into the ever-shifty, often-contrary arms of Lake Michigan. It’s not the <i style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>main event (that’d be the Chicago to Mackinac), but it’s a time-honored tune-up for teams getting their sea legs under them.
Yesterday, our crew got together for a shakedown sail, aka “Let’s find the problems now, not at 3am mid-race.”
We started late – everyone is still working on Wednesdays. Everyone was tired. Some of us were hungry. A few may have crossed into hangry. Spirits were… “crusty.” But the boat is freshly splashed (only a few weeks ago), the mast is in, the new sails are on, and even though we were all eyeing the dock, we pushed off for a quick lake loop.
In 30 minutes, we learned a lot:
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The new electronics? Beautiful… but wired wrong.
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The new blast reacher? Needed a chafe patch yesterday.
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The engine and water pumps? Working. We consider this a moral victory.
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And most importantly: we’d rather be sailing than fixing things any day.
Even when you’re tired, sore, and rethinking your life choices—never skip a chance to go sailing. Turns out, it’s still the cure for pretty much everything.
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If you’re not familiar with the Queen’s Cup, it’s one of the oldest trophies in yacht racing. The race stretches across the lake from Milwaukee to Muskegon, testing crews with unpredictable breeze, changing conditions, and enough darkness to make you wonder if your compass is messing with you just for fun.
It’s not just a race, though — it’s a celebration. A gathering of racers, cruisers, dreamers, and a few people who just really like night sailing.
We’re thrilled to share that American Sailing and North U will be out in force, with over 20 North U sailors and 5 coaches taking part in the event. If you’re racing, we’ll see you on the line. If you’re watching from shore, cheer loud and track us with optimism (and low expectations for sleep).
See you on the water —
kb
Proudly over-prepared and still fixing things
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