Yes, the conditions were challenging...for the Duluth crew. I think they had 12 to 15 boats scheduled to start and only about a third finished. Everyone from Bayfield finished. We had wind from the ESE which was great for a close hauled run to the turning mark. The waves were up around 4 feet I'd guess with an occasional larger set rolling through. Once we rounded the mark at about 2am, it was all downwind and reaching as the wind clocked through the SSW. We had a 3 to 4 hour rainstorm roll in between 2 and 5-6 am. That was miserable, but looking back, kinda fun. Once I came out of the fog 3-4 miles from Silver Bay, the wind decided to switch to the west so I had to throw in a couple of tacks to get to the finish.
The guys from Duluth had an awful time bashing into 5-6 foot waves with the wind funneling toward them directly on the nose! By the time the wind decided to switch in their favor, they were mostly there and had to face bashing back into the wind and waves to get back home!
We on the other hand had a screaming reach back home. We left Silver Bay around 10am and were back in the marina by cocktail hour! It was perfect and I'm sure, an anomaly.
