Tag Archives: Chicago to Mac Race

With her bulkheads back in place, the Evelyn sailboat RUSH is back in action.

Replacing Damaged Bulkheads

By Dan Witucki

Above: With her damaged bulkheads replaced, the Evelyn 32-2 sailboat RUSH is back in action. Several weeks later, the new bulkheads proved they could handle the stress of a heavy knockdown and a major storm during the infamous 2002 Chicago to Mackinac race.

If you race a sailboat long and hard enough, it eventually will reveal its weaknesses, sometimes violently. My friends and I race an Evelyn 32-2 called Rush. Less than a month before the 2002 Mackinaw races, we were competing in the Saginaw Bay Yacht Racing Association, Gravelly Shoals race. Throughout the race, the wind had been building and we were a little overpowered with a full main and 150% headsail. We had completed about 45 miles of the 50-mile race when the starboard chainplate decided it had enough and pulled out of the bulkhead. Continue reading

Adagio in the Chicago to Mackinac Race

Old Lady Survives 70 MPH Blast

In the Chicago to Mackinac Race

By Meade Gougeon — GBI Founder

Above: Adagio, Meade Gougeon’s 35′ trimaran in the Chicago to Mackinac Race. This boat is a testament to how many decades wood epoxy structures can last.

The 35′ trimaran Adagio, designed and built by Meade and Jan Gougeon in 1969, survived the harrowing conditions at the finish of the 2002 Chicago to Mackinac race this past year. Continue reading