Setting a new record last weekend in the 2006 Bacardi Bayview Race to Mackinac with an elapsed time of 24 hours, 17 minutes, 38 seconds, and breaking a speed record in the 2005 Transpac race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, Windquest is one boat to watch in this year’s Chicago Race to Mackinac.

At 86 feet, Windquest is the largest competitor in the Chicago Mac and is owned by Doug DeVos, brother of gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos-- both the sons of Richard DeVos, co-founder of Amway. Team Windquest races with 19 crew and is led by 17 year Chicago Mac Race veteran Tom Giesler as captain.

Giesler says the Windquest was built in 2002, so it doesn’t have the very latest technology, but it does have a big advantage in its 86-foot length. “The water line length gives you more speed potential,” Giesler explains. The Windquest is making its second Mac appearance and has raced from California to Hawaii and from the East Coast to Bermuda.

How fast they'll get from Chicago to Mackinac will, of course, depend on the wind. What makes the Mac a challenge “is the changing wind conditions,” Giesler says. “It’s not like a typical trade wind. You have to be willing to change gears.”

Windquest will vie for the coveted Royono Trophy, designated as winning trophy for the First to Finish for monohull boats. The current record for the Royono trophy was set by Roy Disney’s Pyewacket in 2002, with a run of 23 hours 30 minutes.