Port Huron – Mac: No Longer the Underdog! We had our ‘elbows up’ the entire race!
July 24, 2025
By Roger Renaud
The Port Huron to Mackinac Race 2025: – Underdog finished 1st in Class, 1st in Division, as well as 1st in the Corinthian Amateur Class, which included both Shore (short) and Cove Island (long) courses.
Out of the 192 boats registered, five were Canadian. Underdog purchased a new asymmetrical chute which features a large Canadian Maple Leaf to promote the Canadian heritage in this year’s race. Underdog did us proud! Elbows up all the way!
Cameron Paine from the Windsor Yacht Club, along with his team, did us all proud! He tells us all of his crew is experienced, and has sailed the Port-Huron to Mackinac race several times on Underdog.
Sailing with Cameron were:
Lee Shuckerow – Windsor Ontario
Anissa Noakes – Windsor Ontario
John Hreno – Windsor Ontario
Andrew French – Rondeau Bay, Ontario
Steve Conger- Michigan
Casey Petz – Michigan
Underdog placed first in class in 2019, 2022, and 2024. After the first Underdog was written off by fire in 2023, Cameron searched for another C&C 35 to replace her. He purchased the well-known C&C 35 Ruffian, owned by Bill Noakes and family, for 50 years. Anissa Noakes, Bill’s daughter, was a regular crew on Underdog. Ruffian had not been raced in some time and went through a substantial refit with new paint, running rigging, and new sails by Doyle-Boston Sailmakers out of Sarnia Ontario. The boat Ruffian was then renamed Underdog. The new Underdog placed 1st in class and 4th in division in 2024. Cameron says: – “This year we had our focus on trying to improve on past years performance, with hopes of winning a division flag”.
The race forecast was for potential thunderstorms on Saturday followed by fairly clear lighter wind conditions on Sunday. Cameron says: -” We had a good start and led the fleet with a small lead into early Saturday afternoon. The predicted thunderstorms appeared in the late afternoon, but luckily, we were just north of them on the course and did not experience the heavy weather many boats to the south encountered. The forecast was for fairly stable winds from the west Saturday, night so we did not see an advantage of heading out to the lake which several boats attempted”. “We rounded Thunder Bay Island and headed west north west. As luck would have it, we were just far enough west when most of the fleet behind us became stuck in lighter winds, which opened up our lead on the boats in our class”.
Cameron tells us: – “Our focus remained on keeping the boat moving. In front of us some of the larger faster boats in the division also become stuck in a hole. Our focus on what was happening to the fleet helped us navigate and keep the boat moving in the 3-4 knot range. We caught up to several larger boats in front of us. After that, the remainder of the race was a continued focus on keeping the boat moving and paying particular attention to what was happening to other boat around us”.
This race was crew member Andrew French’s 5th Port Huron/Mackinac Race, with this same crew on board Underdog. When I asked Andrew what the race highlight was for him, he said: – “it was all a highlight, but what really stood out, is that we just worked really well as a team, and everyone respected each other. What I will remember from the race was a real focus to keep the boat moving fast. It was inspiring to learn from the more experienced guys on the boat, and to see how determined they were in keeping the boat moving”.
Congratulations team Underdog! Good on ya!
