The noon fog that hung over Huron's southern tip promised trouble. But for the first few hours there was only an innocent breeze to nudge the racers along the 243-mile course from Port Huron to Mackinac Island. Shortly after midnight, the storm swooped down from the northeast. Freakish gusts hit the fleet headon, built mountains of water that swirled 20 feet high.
The race became a roller-coaster scramble for the shelter of the Michigan shore. One yacht made it the hard way, running aground and breaking up. Another snapped her mainmast. Distress flares shot...
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