Ephraim Yacht Club Sailors Win 100 Miler Race

(Left to right) Deanna Peterson, Susie Voltz, John Peterson, Abby O’ Rourke, Benji Therien, Will Gheorghita and Stefan Peterson.

John and Deanna Peterson together with senior sailing instructors from the Ephraim Yacht Club sailed their Beneteau First 38 Charrette to victory in the 81st running of the Marinette and Menominee Yacht Club’s 100 Miler event this past weekend.

The race started July 22 in Menominee in very light winds and circled Green Island, the Fish Creek Bell, Horseshoe Island and Chambers Island before returning to Menominee. While a number of boats dropped out due to the light conditions, Team Charrette was able to stay close enough to the large boats in the fleet to notch the victory with a “corrected” time of 11:39:32 after adjusting for each boat’s handicap.

“The crew worked tirelessly and we were able to exploit a few key opportunities and that was the difference for us today,” John Peterson said. “After more than 11 hours of racing, all boats finished within 20 minutes of each other and our winning margin of only 81 seconds speaks to the quality of the competition.”

In addition to the Petersons, the crew consisted of their son Stefan Peterson, Abby O’Rourke, Benji Therien, Susie Voltz and Will Gheorghita.