Constable: Arlington Heights man loses fingertip, finds love at Mackinac races
In a bag smaller than some overnight cases, Paul Murray carries the equipment that could save his life this weekend.
"That's my sailing bag," says Murray, an Arlington Heights veteran sailor who will be coordinating an eight-man crew aboard Liberty², a C&C 115 sloop, during this weekend's 107th Race to Mackinac. The bag contains the inflatable life jacket he'll wear most of the time, tethers to fasten him to the 38-foot boat, and a trove of safety and repair equipment.
No one on Murray's crew has had a serious injury or fallen overboard during his 27 previous races from Chicago to Mackinac Island.
"Sailboat racing is not easy. You find smart people who are good at problem-solving," Murray says.
The 333-mile journey to the island on the western end of Lake Huron begins Friday afternoon for the Cruising Division and on Saturday for more-competitive racers from the lighthouse east of Navy Pier. Boats finish in Michigan anytime from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday. Murray, who graduated from the University of Missouri with an industrial engineering degree and now works in computers, is one of several engineers on a crew that also includes a doctor and a registered nurse.
Boats, navigational equipment and racing aids are much better than they were in 1898 during the first Race to Mackinac, which became an annual event in 1921. But the race still requires sailors to master the variables of wind, waves and weather, and cope with long hours, little sleep and cramped quarters.
"Sailing attracts people who are attracted to challenges," Murray says. "Trimming sails is not a science. It's an art."
Growing up in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, Murray got his first taste of sailing as a 10-year-old boy at Camp Lakewood, a YMCA summer camp in Potosi, Missouri.
"I didn't have to paddle, and it took a little thought to do it," Murray says of sailing's appeal. "You had a sense of some speed. Sunnen Lake had no powerboats, so the sailboats were the fastest thing out there."
Being the fastest thing out there will be the goal of Liberty², which is owned by crew members Thomas and Virginia Blasco of Lake Forest, as well as the 323 other sailboats competing in the Race to Mackinac. Only boats invited by the Chicago Yacht Club can compete.
Murray's introduction to the famous race came in 1981, when he served as the navigator because the crew didn't trust the LORAN, a long-range navigation device developed during World War II.
"I remember that first time when you are out of sight of land," Murray says. "Then, I was young and stupid and I trusted people. Now, people trust me."
As with most crew members, Murray has raced a variety of boats owned by others. Only once in his previous 27 races did Murray fail to finish. The conditions were so good that the boat was traveling a bit too fast and nose-dived into the waves, blowing out the backstay and damaging the hydraulics. A storm was a few hours away, so Murray and the crew motored to shore. "We want to win, but we don't want to kill anybody," says Murray, noting that the safety of all sailors on the lake always takes precedence.
A member of the exclusive Island Goats Sailing Society by virtue of sailing in 25 or more of the iconic races, Murray's best finish was third in 2008. As hectic as it can be aboard a crowded boat with crew members sleeping in four-hour shifts, sailors embrace the close-knit community and always take time to enjoy the beautiful views of Chicago and the chance to be away from cellphones and the Internet, he says.
"There are spectacular sunrises and sunsets, and in the middle of the night, there are beautiful stars," says Murray, a member of the Columbia Yacht Club. Two years ago, when the wind died and boats basically were stranded, "I said, 'I think we should open the pool,'" Murray says. "And we all went swimming."
A week before the race one year, a hatch door closed on Murray's little finger, slicing off the tip. A surgeon shaved off some bone, saved the nail, and Murray raced that year. In 2011, Murray's crew finished the race ahead of a violent storm. A man and woman on a boat far behind them died from head injuries when their boat flipped, and six remaining crew members were rescued by another racing boat.
In addition to several much-shorter races during Chicago summers, Murray races during the winter in Atlanta and during business trips to St. Petersburg, Florida. He met Suzanne Glow, his "significant other" and fellow crew member from Arlington Heights, while sailing.
"On a sailboat, you have to be direct and honest. And in a relationship, direct and honest is good," Murray says.
"What happens at home stays at home, and what happens on the boat stays on the boat, except we might bring some of it into the car on the ride home," Glow says. "It works well for us."
It all comes together Friday.
"We sail with good people who understand clearly that there is danger and know what to do," Murray says. "We're there to race."
What: The 107th Race to Mackinac.
Competition: 324 sailboats race 333 miles from Chicago to Mackinac
Watching: Most are included in the Parade of Boats from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday at the east end of Navy Pier. For details, visit upshiftcreative.com/ashorething.
Follow: Track the boats during the race by clicking “Race Tracking” link at cycracetomackinac.com.