The Port Huron to Mackinac sailboat race

Every July, the waters off Port Huron fill with hundreds of sailboats, their crews waiting for the gun that starts one of the oldest and longest freshwater sailboat races in the world: the Port Huron to Mackinac. The fleet starts just north of the Blue Water Bridge, then runs the entire length of Lake Huron to finish at Mackinac Island, more than two hundred miles away.

The race has been run by Detroit’s Bayview Yacht Club every year since 1925, when a dozen boats made that first crossing, and it has sailed on through wars, storms, and hard times. In 2024 it celebrated its hundredth running. Lake Huron can turn rough in a hurry, which is part of the test, and reaching the island is a real badge of honor among Great Lakes sailors.

For Port Huron, the race is the centerpiece of Boat Week, the city’s biggest summer party. The night before the start, downtown fills up for what everyone calls Boat Night, and the docks along the Black River are packed with people admiring the boats before they head out onto the lake. You can find this year’s schedule at exploreporthuron.com.