The 2024 Chicago-Mackinac was one for the record books. Not only were there TWO Blockheads who were first to the island, they also broke the race record, finishing in 22 hours, 24 minutes, and 23 seconds.

John Sullivan and Charlie Burris were crewmembers aboard Sanford Burris, William and Ward Kinney’s Maverick, an Andrews 80. We talked to John about his race. Read below to hear all about it.

Q: When was the first time you had ever done the race?

John: This was my second Chicago Mac.

Q: When were you first aware of the overall monohull course record and when did you start thinking about beating it?

John: I was first aware of the record when I started working on the boat over a year ago. The whole goal of the boat and the team was to se the record and become part of the history book. The boat definitely had its ups and downs when it came to getting it to sail fast and learning the boat, but everyone on the team couldn’t have done a better job this season.

Q: Did you see the Expedition Run Estimate for Maverick before the race and did it predict the record?

John: Team Maverick had a quick meeting inside of Chicago Yacht Club with our navigator (Stu Johnstone from J Boats)and the first thing he said was that we should have no problem beating the record as long as we get to our waypoints and average 15 knots. Some guys on the crew thought this might be an impossible feat, but Stu was spot on. After the meeting, Charlie and I started stripping everything off of the boat that we might not need since we knew weight would be a huge factor.

Q: When did you officially find out that your team had set the record?

John: We were fortunate enough to find out right away since we had a slew of camera boats following us at the finish and they made sure we knew we just set the record!

Q: Knowing you’d set the record, was it harder to sail right through the straights of Mackinac and keep sailing in the SuperMac?

John: It was really hard to keep sailing for the first 10 minutes, because we knew that we were going to miss a great party at the Pony. But our long-term goal was to also set the SuperMac record, which we did by more than 10 hours.

Q: Did you jump in the car when you got to Port Huron and drive up to the island to get your prizes?

John: When we got to Port Huron, my car was the only car there so the Burris family, myself, and Rodney Keenan (Evolution Sails founder) hopped in my car and drove to the island. We got there at 3:00am and took a fishing charter over to the island. None of it really set in until the next day at breakfast when everyone started coming up to us and congratulating us!

 

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