The Waukegan Yacht Club hosted the annual Last Race Race the culmination of our racing season. This race has been held every year for many years since the club was founded. The race is sponsored in conjunction with the Kenosha Yacht Club who hosts the racers at their dock wall for drinks and dinner.
Fifteen boats participated this year, half coming from Wisconsin. Most arrived at the club around 0900. The club was opened and a bartender served the racers as they arrived. Many of the boats had to leave earlier from Kenosha to make it to Waukegan in time for the start.

The boats tied up along side the dock wall picking their spots carefully so they could get a good start at the proper time. The Last Race Race uses a Le Mans style race start. All skippers have to come inside the club and wait for their starting time, determined by a reverse PHRF calculation. The fastest boats are given starting times staggered to take into account their typical speed over distance.

Unplugged, a Waukegan boat, is readied for the start
The racers came in all sizes and the smallest was actually an 18-foot Buccaneer, which actually finished well up in the pack.

Racers came in all size, big and small, like this 18 ft Buccaneer.
The weather was cloudy with blustery winds coming from the southwest. Waves were one to two feet. Many boats launched their spinnakers after leaving Waukegan harbor or deployed spinnaker or whisker poles to sail wing on wing north.
The wind hit 15-20 knots at points in the race and running downwind the boats hit hull speed or better if flying their spinnakers. Many reported surfing on the fast moving waves. All the boats were moving quickly and promised to arrive in Kenosha in record time.
Final Results
The following results are final. We have received confirmation of finish times by several participants. One racer noticed that our original handicapped starting times were incorrect due to an incorrect distance used from Waukegan to Kenosha. After correcting the error we applied the resulting difference to all finish times to achieve the following standings. We apologize for the previous error. Congratulations to all the participants in this fun race! If you notice your corrected time is wrong please contact Sail@waukeganyachtclub.com and we will update the results as soon as possible. (Updated 9/28)
Place | Boat | PHRF | Corrected Start | Actual Start | Difference | Finish | Corrected finish |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | DERAILER | 165 | 10:41:02 AM | 10:39:36 AM | 0:01:26 | 12:38 PM | 12:39 PM |
2 | JOAN CLAIRE | 153 | 10:43:48 AM | 10:42:00 AM | 0:01:48 | 12:50 PM | 12:52 PM |
3 | UNPLUGGED | 168 | 10:40:21 AM | 10:39:00 AM | 0:01:21 | 12:54 PM | 12:55 PM |
4 | MADCAP | -30 | 11:25:53 AM | 11:22:00 AM | 0:03:53 | 12:53 PM | 12:56 PM |
5 | PATRIOT | 150 | 10:44:29 AM | 10:42:36 AM | 0:01:53 | 12:58 PM | 1:00 PM |
6 | KOOKABURRA | 132 | 10:48:37 AM | 10:46:12 AM | 0:02:25 | 1:02 PM | 1:04 PM |
7 | RHEA | 213 | 10:30:00 AM | 10:30:00 AM | 0:00:00 | 1:07 PM | 1:07 PM |
8 | SIROCCO | -3 | 11:19:40 AM | 11:13:12 AM | 0:06:28 | 1:01 PM | 1:08 PM |
9 | SERENITY | 153 | 10:43:48 AM | 10:42:00 AM | 0:01:48 | 1:10 PM | 1:12 PM |
10 | TAKEDOWN-2 | 90 | 10:58:17 AM | 10:54:36 AM | 0:03:41 | 1:09 PM | 1:12 PM |
11 | LUCILLE MARIE | 186 | 10:36:12 AM | 10:35:24 AM | 0:00:48 | 1:14 PM | 1:14 PM |
12 | CARAMAR | 207 | 10:31:22 AM | 10:31:12 AM | 0:00:10 | 1:16 PM | 1:16 PM |
13 | SMOKIN’ J | 87 | 10:58:58 AM | 10:55:12 AM | 0:03:46 | 1:15 PM | 1:19 PM |
14 | FREEDOM | 201 | 10:32:45 AM | 10:32:24 AM | 0:00:21 | 1:24 PM | 1:24 PM |
15 | CLARA MARIE | 204 | 10:32:04 AM | 10:31:48 AM | 0:00:16 | 1:29 PM | 1:29 PM |