Mac Conditions

Tomorrow will see the start of the Chicago to Mackinac race.  With a distance of 333 miles weather
will have a role to play in the race's outcome.

Leading up to the race Lake Michigan has put on a steady show of breezy conditions.   Certainly
many of the racers hope these conditions continue.  That windy trend should hold today with
Westerly winds above 20 knots. 

Starting tonight the winds will begin to veer.  Tonight's forecast is for northwest winds of 15 to 20 knots.
As the first starts occur at 1200 central on Saturday forecasters are calling for 10 to 20 knot northerlies.

So at the least for the start of the race the windy conditions look like they will hold.  Whether the
winds hold as the fleet sails north is a guess.  The last lines on current forecasts contain the
word "diminishing." 

Outlook weather maps for the weekend show the dashed line of a stationary front.  They also show a
stationary pressure area over Lake Michigan.  Also the outlook says, "high pressure of 30.30 inches will
begin to build into the western lakes in the wake of the low."

Combine the diminishing returns forecast and the high pressure coming to the lakes and it looks like the
races start will be faster than the finish.

The Race to Start in Barcelona

The Race the round the world, fully crewed no limits yacht race finally has named a starting point.  The non
stop/no assistance race will start 31 December 2000 from Barcelona Spain.

The City of Barcelona and The Race reached agreement on this June 29th.  Beginning in December 2000
Barcelona will host the maxi catamarans being built for the event.  In the build up to The Race a series
of nautical and cultural events will take place.

For more on The Race See: http://www.therace.org/english/index.htm