Merritt, Scott Sellers come from 'dead last,' win 46.5-hour race from Chicago to Mackinac

Merritt Sellers, at 15, and the crew sailing on "nosurprise" won a 46.5-hour race from Chicago to Mackinac Island by fewer than 6 minutes on Monday.

The crew of eight sailors scrambled to overcome a mistake and seize victory. This was the second year in a row that the 36-foot sailboat owned by Scott Sellers of Larkspur, California, won its class in a race from Lake Michigan to the Straits of Mackinac. The boat is based at the Little Traverse Yacht Club in Harbor Springs, where Sellers has a summer house.

"We were over (the starting line) early, so had to go back and restart," Merritt Sellers told the Detroit Free Press while returning the transponder that tracks race boats to event organizers based at the Pink Pony in the Chippewa Hotel on Mackinac Island. "We were dead last for a while. We were a mile behind. The entire race, we were fighting back, taking boat by boat."

It wasn't until early Monday, she said, that nosurprise moved into first place.

"Then we lost it and then we got it back," Sellers said.

The sailors on the boat − from Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Connecticut, Ohio and California − wanted to be right at the line to go full speed as soon as the gun fired. They didn't realize they were early until about 3 minutes into the race.

"They say it over the radio. They call your sail number," Sellers said. "It took us 7 minutes to get back" to the starting line.

The crew, which included Hadley Camp and Owen Beckley of Harbor Springs, finished in 46:27:06 hours, according to the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac results posted online.

"We didn't panic"

Hannah Sellers didn't sail after last year, despite winning.

"It was a pretty gnarly race — pouring rain and thunderstorms and lightning for hours. It was one of the most intense storms I've ever seen. It felt really exciting to race through that," 18-year-old Hannah Sellers told the Free Press at the time. "Then a tough finish for seven hours upwind with intense waves and a cold front. It was pretty chilly on the boat."

This year, the wind was "up and down and shifting directions. We had to shift a lot of gears and change a lot of sails," Scott Sellers, a private equity manager, told the Free Press after the race. "We didn't realize we were over early, and we had to go back. ... But we didn't panic. We knew it was a really long race. We were conservative in our tactics."

Winning, he said, "takes a combination of a lot of effort, skill and luck, and we had all three."

Scott Sellers grew up in Birmingham and began racing Mackinac at age 14 with his father — Bob Sellers, who owned the Pontiac Buick General Motors dealership in Farmington Hills before selling it, moving to Florida and retiring from racing as an "old goat." He earned that title, which carries honor in the sailing community and is sometimes tattooed on ankles of sailors, as someone who raced at least 25 times from Port Huron to Mackinac Island.

More: At 15, Merritt Sellers returns to Mackinac races and inspires young first-time sailors

The J/111 was viewed as highly competitive, as illustrated by the tight margins between the top finishers. Colin Caliban of Covert, Michigan, and his seven crew members placed second on No Quarter. The boat from South Haven Yacht Club finished in 46:32:07 hours. Bradley Faber of Holland, Michigan, and his four crew members finished third on Utah of Macatawa Bay Yacht Club in 46:50:06 hours.

Bayview Mackinac vs Chicago to Mackinac

Nearly 200 boats raced in the Bayview Mackinac race a week ago. More than 230 boats sailed from Chicago, according to the Chicago Yacht Club. Race officials said they didn't expect any changes to the nosurprise victory but said results are considered provisional initially in case of protest or another unexpected development.

Only Merritt and Scott Sellers sailed the 2022 Port Huron to Mackinac race together, with Merritt driving alone at night, and won their class. They did not make the podium this year in the Bayview Mackinac Race. But Merritt Sellers is credited with inspiring other young sailors to race the long Mackinac course.

The sailboat that carried Merritt and Scott Sellers to victory had been owned by Dave Irish, a Great Lakes legend and past president of U.S. Sailing. He earned a reputation for offshore sailing skill and mentoring sailors who went on to compete in America's Cup.

Scott Sellers, who sailed 20 Mackinac races with Irish, purchased the boat in 2020 with hopes of carrying on his legacy of introducing new sailors to the sport. Of the eight crew members finishing Monday, five were 25 or younger.

"One more thing that made this special was that it was a three-peat," Sellers said. "Winning the J/111 class three years in a row, every year since the prior boat owner and my sailing mentor, Dave Irish, passed."

More: Sailors overcome emergency at 2 a.m. in rough waters to win Bayview Mackinac race

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Editor's note: Phoebe Wall Howard, an autos reporter, also writes about sailing and Mackinac Island. She is a member of the Port Huron Yacht Club and part of a longtime sailing family that has visited Mackinac since her childhood.

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Sailors win Chicago-to-Mackinac race by fewer than six minutes