How to follow the Mackinac Race
December 18, 2008
Thanks for all the great feedback and notes of encouragement. I appreciate it and know the other members of team En Pointe do too.
Following along is pretty easy. For the first time in the history of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, all boats in the fleet will carry position transponders, which will allow spectators around the world to follow the Race. This state-of-the-art tracking system allows anyone following the race receive hourly updates on individual boats (we are the Dehler 39 En Pointe), entire sections (we are section 5), or even the entire 436 boat fleet as the race moves up Lake Michigan.
Race tracking services are being provided by iBoattrack, a division of Horizon Marine. There are two methods to access the tracking site maintained by iBoattrack. The first way is to go to the Race to Mackinac web site then click on multimedia and race tracking. You can also bookmark the site directly at http://charthorizon.com/races/2008_chicago_mackinac/htdocs/ (the site will become active shortly before the race begins).
You can easily select individual sections to track (the ‘class’ drop down box). You can also use the movie mode to animate the race. Note that you can mouse over any boat’s current position (except when in movie mode) and get the vessel’s boat speed and other information.
If you would like more detailed data on any boat, select either the ‘Boat Mapper’ or the ‘Google Mapper’ from the links at the top of the page. These will take you to a separate page that allows you to focus on an individual boat or boats. It allows you to animate the race too.
In case you encounter difficulties with the website, there is a ‘help’ button in the top right of each page of the tracker.
Comments
Got something to say?
About me
I am the owner of Gale Force Sailing and write about all things related to coaching, instruction and team building. contact me>>
Be in the know with the latest adventure, finest dark and stormy and whereabouts of Kristen Berry, owner of Gale Force Sailing. 
Show your true sailing colors today by purchasing Gale Force Sailing's speciality tees, mugs hats and much more.