July 28, 2006

The 98th Running of Chicago Yacht Club’s 333 mile Race to Mackinac presented by Land’s End saw two race programs win their sections for the third consecutive year and placed third and seventh overall in their respective divisions.

In the fast growing First 36.7 fleet, the first place honors went to 'Karma' owned by the Karma Sailing Group (J. Buoscio, L. Sandoval, M. Sandoval). 2006 represents the third straight consecutive year that team Karma has taken the first place honors in the First 36.7 section. 2006 was also significant because Team Karma was the second boat in the 150 trophy division to cross the finish line behind another Beneteau –"Smokum Too" (a Beneteau 42s7 and 2006 Overall Mackinac Trophy winner). With ORR handicaps applied-Karma finished 7th overall in the Mackinac trophy division-1st in the sixteen boat 36.7 section.

The sixteen boat 40.7 section was not to be outdone, as they too crowned their 3X Mac champion- Bob Vickery’s 'Collaboration'. Team Collaboration also added to their 'hardware' with a third place overall finish in the Mackinac Cup division. A very strong finish for this mature one-design fleet that also prides itself on the close competition and tight finishes. 2006 marked the first time since their inception that the 40.7’s had sixteen boats in the race.

Outside of the one-design boats, there were a total of 57 Beneteau Yachts that participated in the 2006 Race to Mackinac. This represented over 17% of the total race entries making Beneteau one of the top manufacturers represented in the race.

Beneteau First 36.7 Section Results:

1. Karma Karma Sailing Group
2. Program Warren & Sue Levins
3. Northern Light Tom & Linda Orlow
4. Rally Paul Stcherban

Beneteau First 40.7 Section Results:

1. Collaboration Robert Vickery
2. Finesse Allan McMillan
3. Excalibur David Tarson
4. Spanker Dennis & James McDonnell

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