Lack of wind provides biggest challenge for Huron Double-Handed sailors

The 22nd annual Huron Double-Handed Challenge from lower Lake Huron to Rogers City was described this year as slow, but one that made it possible for nearly the entire field of 44 boats to get in before the Monday night dinner bell. ?It was slower, particularly for the multi-hulls,? said chairman Jeff Kitson of Rochester. ?Ironically, the smaller boats, which are traditionally slower, got here before dinner this year.? About 38 boats finished the race. A Rogers City Chamber of Commerce-sponsored dinner is conducted every year before awards are handed out. In past years, some sailors had arrived at the finish line buoy as late as Tuesday morning. The race started early Sunday at three different locations. The traditional starting point is Sarnia, Ontario. ?It was not consistent on the entire lake,? said Kitson. ?Some of the fast boats got up the lake quickly, but when they got up here it was almost dead-calm.?

ROB FAIRBANKS, one of a handful of local participants, said there was some work needed to bring his boat home. ?The wind was in our face all of the way. We did better than last year. Last year we were second to last, this year we were third from last, but we had fun.? The number of boats was down from 51 last year to 44 this year, in part because of other races being conducted on the Great Lakes, as well as a weak economy. The first multi-hull boat to reach the finish line was ?Nice Pair,? a 40-foot catamaran, which completed the course in 18:37 although, because of the handicap time factored into the official race results, the boat finished second in its category. The first mono-hull to finish was ?Screaming O? with a time of 19:10.

WHILE KITSON was appreciative of the support Rogers City continues to show for the event, he was particularly pleased with the help provided by Al and Deb Stiller. Al Stiller, who is the executive director of the chamber of commerce, and his wife Deb, donated the use of their motorcoach, which was used as a temporary post for race officials to tabulate and record results. Al Stiller and former harbormaster Ken Rasche both received special awards at Monday?s reception. Kitson enjoys his visits to Rogers City and is looking at the area as a place to po

ssibly retire.

John McKenney already has made the decision to retire here. He is another sailor on a growing list of Double-Handed challenge participants who want to make Rogers City their future home after they leave the work force. After a race nearly four years ago, McKenney walked around town and wrote down the phone number of a house that was ?for sale? and was surprised that the prices were so affordable. ?I had been looking casually everywhere around the state, but things were cost prohibitive, really,? said McKenney. ?It was something I could manage. I starting inquiring, and one thing led to another.?

When McKenney retires from General Motors, after 32 years, the plan is to make Rogers City his permanent home, making the annual Huron Double-Handed challenge the finish line in more ways than

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