Bayview Mackinac Race
Bayview Mackinac Race takes place Jul 9 - 10, 2027 (Boat Night in Port Huron Jul 9, start Jul 10; the 2026 edition started Jul 18) in Port Huron, Michigan, USA. The dress code is Casual summer wear. Boat Night on the Black River is a lively informal street party, so shoes you do not mind getting beer on are the right call. Free to attend; budget up to 900 EUR per person for hospitality and extras.
Run by Detroit's Bayview Yacht Club since 1925, this race takes several hundred boats from Port Huron up Lake Huron to Mackinac Island on either the shorter Shore Course or the longer Cove Island Course. The night before, Port Huron's Boat Night turns the Black River into a free and famously rowdy street festival with the fleet rafted along the downtown wall. It is the more informal of the two great Mackinac races.
- When
- Jul 9 - 10, 2027 (Boat Night in Port Huron Jul 9, start Jul 10; the 2026 edition started Jul 18)
- Where
- Port Huron, Michigan, USA
- Dress code
- Casual summer wear. Boat Night on the Black River is a lively informal street party, so shoes you do not mind getting beer on are the right call.
- Cost
- Free to attend; budget up to 900 EUR per person for hospitality and extras.
- Weather
- 22 - 28C, warm and generally pleasant on shore; Lake Huron turns cool, breezy or stormy offshore at night
- When to book
- Port Huron rooms for Boat Night sell out months ahead - book by spring, or stay in Sarnia across the bridge; race entry opens through the Bayview Yacht Club in spring
- Getting there
- DTW (Detroit), 75 min to Port Huron; PLN (Pellston) plus a ferry for the Mackinac finish
- Where to stay
- DoubleTree by Hilton Port Huron (riverfront, in the middle of Boat Night), Hampton Inn Port Huron (simple and close to the start area), Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island (the classic finish-line stay)
- Official site
- https://www.bycmack.com
How to attend
Free to join Boat Night along the Black River in downtown Port Huron the evening before, and to watch the start from Lakeside Park and the Blue Water Bridge shoreline. The finish is on car-free Mackinac Island, reached by ferry from Mackinaw City or St Ignace. To race, enter a qualifying keelboat with an experienced crew through the Bayview Yacht Club, with entries opening in spring and crew spots posted on the club's board in the weeks before.
Boat Night in downtown Port Huron and the start off Lakeside Park are both free to attend; the Bayview Yacht Club registers competing boats only.
Insider tip
Boat Night the evening before is the real event - the fleet rafts three deep along the downtown Black River wall and the whole town turns out. Get a spot on the Military Street bridge before dark.
Get inside Bayview Mackinac Race
Booking matters here: port Huron rooms for Boat Night sell out months ahead - book by spring, or stay in Sarnia across the bridge; race entry opens through the Bayview Yacht Club in spring. Members track that window, what it really costs, and 573 more events across the season.
Free while in beta. One email when your invitation is ready, nothing else.