Check back here during the racing season to see fleet results.

Pre Canon Race 1 email

Greeting fellow racers,
I hope this email finds everyone well on this Memorial Day eve. I hope everyone takes a moment to reflect on those that gave their lives for our freedom.
I apologize for the lack of emails over the past few months. Like most of you, I’ve also been waiting for Spring to arrive and I’m hoping that starting tomorrow it will finally show up in East Tawas. My other issue is that I’m getting more and more tired of laptops so I avoid them when I can. I just spent the last hour firing up my laptop and waiting for it to finally let me touch it. I’m surprised it’s still in one piece.
Onto the business at hand…. Attached are the sailing instructions for this season. A copy can also be found in the information binder on the desk as you enter the club.
I’ve attached a liability form to this email for your review. A couple of people have suggested this now that we are allowing racers from other marinas/clubs to join us in racing. Those with boats in the harbor at the club are asked to provide proof of insurance prior to docking our boat at the club for the season, thus the reason that we haven’t pursued something like this sooner. Now that we are asking others to join us, it would be nice to give everyone on the racecourse some peace of mind that we all carry this insurance. I will print out several copies of this form and ask those competing in the Cannon Series to review and sign the form. I will NOT be verifying this information. Your signature is your word. There was a question of whether those in the yacht club would also need to sign this form, and it seems like it would be best for consistency’s sake. I will keep these signed forms in the racing office at the club. Please feel free to ask questions.
Chris Princing informed me earlier today that the navigational buoys we use for racing marks (such as R2, R4) have still not been set by the USCG. Maybe they’ll be set prior to our upcoming race, maybe not. We’ll monitor this and deal with it on race morning if necessary. In the meantime, if anyone happens to notice that they do get placed, please let me know.
Lastly, our first race is just a standard, single start, buoy race. The race is scheduled for Saturday, May 30th. The skippers meeting starts at 10:30am and the race start is 12:00pm. I look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday for the start of another great season.
Brian

Cannon Race 1 – May 30, 2026

Hello all,
We kicked off our 2026 season on Saturday with Cannon Race #1. The 9-15kt breeze was brisk, and the downwind leg provided some welcome warmth with full sun. Thank you to everyone that was able to make it out for the race. We had a total of six competitors! It hasn’t been easy to work on our boats this Spring with the lower temps so kudos to those that put in the effort. I know that there are still many of you putting in the work to get your boat in the water and I look forward to seeing you soon.
The race began promptly at Noon with a 1/2-mile windward leg followed by a 3-mile leeward leg to Gypsum 2 and then back to a windward to the finish for a total course of 6.9 NM. The race gave some of us a chance to reveal some kinks that need ironing. Most of us will be ironing all season long, but hey, that’s sailing. Thanks again to everyone that came out! Here are the results….
1st Bombshell
2nd Caliber
3rd Looney Bin
4th Island Girl
5th Skyfall
6th Altair
Cannon Race #2 is scheduled for next Sunday, June 7th. Skippers meeting @1030, first start at noon. This is our first of four pursuit races scheduled for the season. I will calculate the start times just prior to the skippers meeting.
Brian

Hello,
Below is a link or a QR code to access the online store that Chris Princing setup for apparel orders. Proceeds from these items will go into a fund that will help us purchase future items in support of the Cannon Racing series. We are open to orders from anyone and everyone, so please pass this along to your crew members, family, friends, heck, even your neighbors. Cristi, if you wouldn’t mind adding this to the Facebook page and Sue Alexander, could you send this out to the membership? Our Tawas Bay Marina racers are also welcome to purchase from the site. The more the merrier…. it’s all about promoting the sport.
Here is the link: https://www.storessimple.com/awardandsports/tawasbayracing
All items will be printed when the store closes and then shipped. Expect your apparel in 10 days to 2 weeks after the store shuts down. There is a clock at the top of the page with the remaining time left to order. Once that expires, there will not be anymore adding of orders. All orders will be shipped to customers.
Thanks for setting this up Chris, I know that it took a great deal of time, I appreciate it.
Brian

Cannon Race 2 – Sunday, June 7th recap

Good evening,
Thanks to everyone that competed in yesterday’s race. We had a very good turnout with six boats competing in our first pursuit style race of the season. If you haven’t raced in a pursuit race yet, I highly encourage it. The starting line is less congested giving you a perfect opportunity to work on your start line placement. I admit that we were several seconds late for our start on Caliber but everyone else was gone so nobody knows!!
I have heard nothing but positive comments regarding the pursuit style race and I’m happy to say that we still have three more of those scheduled for this season. If you’re interested in competing in one of these, take a look at the schedule to see when our next one is happening.
Now for the race…. We opted for a course somewhat similar to last weeks with one change and that was a leg that took us near the state dock. I want to continue setting up courses that take us near the state dock, simply for interest and visibility. We have a unique situation here in the Bay where showcasing sailing/racing is easier to do than it is in almost any other area in the state. Might as well exploit it!!!
Kudos once again goes to the crew of Bombshell for pulling off a first-place finish. Excellent job! Caliber was 2nd, Looney Bin took 3rd, Altair was 4th, Skyfall 5th and Flow was 6th. Josh Lamay (Flow) believes that the radar dome is probably slowing him down a little bit so he has it up for sale. (It is true, he is selling it!) All kidding aside, I couldn’t be happier to have all of you out on the course, it truly gets better every week because of you.
See you next Saturday, June 13th, for Cannon Race #3. Skipper meeting at 10:30am, start at 12:00 noon.
Brian

Cannon Race 3 – Sunday, June 13th recap

Hello everyone,
Yesterday sure was fun. There were a total of five boats competing! The wind maintained a steady 13 with gusts above 20. That didn’t stop The Orange Boat from getting out there and completing the race singlehanded. Well done. Inspiration comes from many forms, watching Mark Tomes race singlehanded is one of those. Aiden (Pierre’s son) was happy to jump ship and get on a faster boat, and he was a welcome addition to our crew. As you’ll see in the results though, Aiden learned that finishing first isn’t always enough!!! LOL. It’s a good way to learn some humility though.
Navigational buoys R2 and R4 are still not set so it does seem to limit some course options. I’m looking forward to seeing them again someday (hopefully) so we can explore more of the Bay. Aiden and I tallied up the results and it was difficult to keep him quiet initially. But, once I explained that we needed to save the results for the awards ceremony he embraced the challenge and held the results close to his chest. And in 1st Place…….Island Girl!! Well done Ryan and crew. You did a great job! 31 seconds later, for 2nd Place….Skyfall!! Also well done!! In 3rd Place, four seconds later….Caliber. My crew did great too!! Thank you. In 4th Place (Rob said he’d like to get a different color flag eventually) Altair. And in 5th Place, but right in the mix, The Orange Boat. Good job everyone. The camaraderie and support at the awards ceremonies after the races has been exceptional. Thank you.
Coming up…..As of right now, Caliber and Island Girl are planning to race this Friday evening in the Bay City to Tawas overnight race. It’s not too late to sign your boat up if anyone else is interested. Get with me if you have any questions, I’ll certainly help.
On Sunday, June 21st, is Cannon Race #4. It’s a pursuit style start. Be there or be square. The summer is flying by, and it really just started. Grab some crew and get out there.
Brian