Volant's crew sailed a great 2025 Hook Race, with many adventures and a few misadventures. The Hook is a 189nm offshore race, originating off Racine, WI and finishing off Menominee, MI in Green Bay. Here is a report on the 2025 Hook Race that I wrote for the SJRYC Windward Sheet newsletter. And, below, here is a brief documentary told in pictures. Thanks to Asif for the photojournalism!
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| This is what the radar image over southern Lake Michigan looked like on the evening Doug, Dave, and I were intending to deliver Volant to Racine. We delayed departure until the next morning. |
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| Just a few minutes after we arrived in Racine on Friday late afternoon and docked the boat, a tornado watch was announced. Then, a thunderstorm and soaking rainstorm arrived and drenched us. |
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| Most of the weather had passed east by the morning of the race. |
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| Great crew of Asif, Chris, Mike, Bob, Doug, and Dave! On the way out to the starting area for a 0940 CDT start on Saturday morning, July 12. |
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| Through the day on Saturday, winds varied between southwest and west, and we peeled several times between the A2 and A3 spinnakers to match the angles. The crew set a goal of 4 minutes for a peel, but actually accomplished the change in less than 3 minutes! It was beautiful! |
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| Late Saturday afternoon, a rain squall overtook us with a heavy downpour that reduced the wind to 3 knots and flattened the seas. We were through it and back in breeze in about 15 minutes. |
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| A beautiful rainbow appeared after the squall. |
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| Saturday night was magical sailing. The seas, the sails, and the deck were illuminated in full moon and clear star-filled skies. Strong southwest winds made it a fast run all night. |
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| Not too many pictures of Saturday night, probably because we were so awed by the fantastic sailing experience. |
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| Came close to a fishing boat on Sunday morning off the Door County peninsula. Mike gestured for what size of fish, and the fisherman showed us that big! |
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| Just before we passed through Death's Door Passage and into Green Bay on Sunday afternoon, Volant had completed 178nm - 19nm from the finish - and was leading our section, as we had all through the previous night. Then we sailed into a hole once inside the unique Green Bay ecosystem, and almost all of the boats in our section bunched up. |
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| When we finally got clear of the hole, south breeze of 16-20 knots appeared, and we sailed fast to catch up with the boats that escaped the hole ahead of us. I had to confess to my sailmaker that we kept the G1 genoa flying during this entire upwind leg, even when the wind meter hit 20 knots. The competition was so close that we didn't want the delay of a headsail change! |
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| The boats in our section were very close together with 5-10 miles to the finish. |
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| The big 45-ft Beneteau Oceanis in our section, just off our beam, close to the finish. |
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| We crossed the finish line at about 1830 CDT on Sunday, July 13. The wonderful welcoming team of Mary Beth, Cindy, and Karen greeted us at the pierhead on our way into Menominee harbor with noisemakers and music! What an honor! |
Once the results were calculated, we dropped from 1st to 4th place in our section. The blame falls to drifting around in circles at the top of Green Bay for 45 minutes in no air, while a few of the boats in our section caught zephyrs along the peninsula shore and sailed away towards the finish line.
Though it was not the result we hoped for, it was a privilege to sail with such a talented crew, and I was impressed by how well we sailed through the entire course of the race! The Hook was a fantastic experience, with many lasting memories!
Update on October 24, 2025...
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