About Us

  For those serious sailors who compete in the Chicago Mac, the Port Huron to Mac and the Trans Superior,
the boat with the best points overall will be the recipient of this prestigious new challenge trophy and title.  

 This unique Trophy was deeded to the Yacht Racing Union of the Great Lakes on February 11, 1933 by Commodore Otto Barthel who was joined in the gift by George Orr of Chicago and Thomas K. Wade of Toronto.
The first Barthel Series was to be held on Lake Michigan that summer. The deed of gift states, “The first race is to be held in connection with the Century of Progress International Exposition at Chicago, Illinois, and shall be open to all contestants throughout the world, a special plaque the presented to the winner.” Yachts of the International Eight Meter Class were to be used for this race.
The Union’s records show that this competition did not materialize. The first Barthel Series took place in August of 1937 on Lake Ontario at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. Three Eight Meter teams represented Lake Michigan Yachting Association, Inter-lake Yachting Association and the Lake yacht Racing Association respectively. The Lake Michigan sailors won this first competition.
The Trophy was sailed for on Lake Ontario the next year at Rochester Yacht Club and in 1939 at Youngstown Yacht Club. In 1940 and 1941 the Series moved to Lake Michigan and Universal Rule P Class yachts were used for those races. Milwaukee yacht Club hosted first and then was followed by the Chicago Yacht Club in 1941. By 1942, Lake St. Clair had a fleet of Eight Meters and the Barthel competition was hosted by the Gross Pointe Yacht Club.
The Trophy continued in competition in the above manner until 1953. Racing resumed in 1959 through 1964 when Dragons were then lapsed for four years until 1968 when the Royal Canadian Yacht Club announced that they would host the event again in Eight Meter Yachts. By now the Union had four Associations. The Inter-Lake team won the Trophy and took it back to the Cleveland Yachting Club where it stayed without further competition until the Union agreed that the North American 40’s would compete for it in 1978 in their Great Lakes Championship Series.
The North American 40’s were used for five years reaching into the 1980’s before succumbing to an end of their use in 1982. An oddity of having the competition sailed on J24’s happened in 1985 followed by another string of races during the 1990’s on the once again revival of the Eight Meters. In 1998, Ted Turner was co-awarded the Trophy for his participation in classic, division race being promoted that year.
With the turn of the century, so did the formula for the use of the Trophy. In the fall of 2002, Scott Jay Spaeth assumed the Presidency of the Yacht Racing Union of the Great Lakes succeeding Rolf Krotseng of Cleveland. It was decided, by consent, that a hybridization of sorts could be helpful to keep the Trophy in circulation and provide promotional power to three of the Lake Associations. The three Lake Associations would be Lake Huron Yachting Association, Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation and Lake Superior Yachting Association. Together, each Association with their historic and distinguished distance races, Bayview Mackinac, Chicago Mackinac and the Trans Superior respectively, would create The Tri Lake Challenge in 2003. The concept was simple but promotionally. Empowering to each Lake Association involved, it would also allow the Yacht Racing Union of the Great Lakes to award the Barthel Trophy every two years. The Trophy would be awarded to the single yacht, which successfully completed each of the three races, and maintained the best total finishes of all yachts competing for the Trophy.

The 2003 Barthel Tri-Lake Challenge has now been completed.   A total of three boats completed in this all new format used to resurrect the beautiful Barthel Trophy.   The three boats were two GL 70's and one N/M 50.   In the beginning all three VP's from each respective Lake Association gave input to the scoring of the event.   Basically, each race and its corresponding Lake Association used their local scoring system.   Each of the boats placed (1st, 2nd, 3rd) according to their adjusted finish.   The marketing and management of the Barthel fell upon LSYA in conjunction with their running of the Trans Superior, that being the last of the three races.

The winning boat was Colt 45, a GL 70, and it was officially awarded the Barthel for 2003.   A keeper trophy was presented.   The Barthel trophy will be placed (for safe keeping) with other suitable antique Trans Superior trophies in the Maritime Museum at Duluth for viewing and appreciation from a huge public visitation.   Some restoration is needed on the Barthel, namely a reworking of the engraved shields, to make them all as originally intended.

The boats that participated in all three races (and their results) were: