No rest for the offshore navigator

The 2025 Bayview Mackinac Race will be the 101st edition with competitors starting July 12 for either the Cove Island Course (259 nm) or Shore Course (204 nm). Phoebe Wall Howard profiles one of the 191 entrants:

Nick Ward actually proves that the more you know, the faster you go. And while he plays a critical role on the sailboat, he often doesn’t actually sail.

“To many people, a navigator position is kind of viewed like, ‘Don’t run aground. Go the right way. Tell me where the (race) mark’s at and how far away it is.’ I think the position is changing from that to … it’s very data driven and there’s tons of analytics,” Ward told Shifting Gears.

“I don’t do any sailing. My single job on the boat is navigation. I spend a lot of time below deck.”

Ward, 51, of Port Huron, Mich., an engineer who works remotely for Norma Group based near Frankfurt, Germany, translates his tech skill to sailboat racing on freshwater and saltwater. – Full report