Paul Corneliussen will be an old goat - and he's proud of it. A Rochester Hills resident, Corneliussen will be sailing in his 25th Port Huron to Mackinac Island race - formally known as the Bacardi Bayview Mackinac Race - on Saturday. "We're pretty excited about it," said Corneliussen. "I'm taking my daughter for her first Mackinac race - she's 15. "This is my 25th Mackinac, which means I'm an old goat. "Three years ago, I made a deal with my daughter, who was 12, that she would have to wait to go with me until I was an old goat."

Sailors who have done 25 Mackinac races are offi cially termed "old goats."

Corneliussen's daughter Kirsten, a sophomore at Rochester High School, sails in the Harrison Townshipbased North Star Sail Club's junior program. She's been sailing for about eight years.

"I like just being out on the water," she said. "It's something my dad likes to do, too, and it's a bond thing between the two of us."

She understands how special the race to Mackinac Island is. Now in its 82nd year, the race is the oldest consecutively run offshore yacht race on fresh water - and one of the biggest.

"This is the real thing," said Kirsten. "You can race on Tuesday nights in little regattas, but this is the big one."

Corneliussen skippers a 36-foot Catalina sailboat named Sorority. The name comes from his weekend crew - besides Kirsten, he has twin 12-year-old daughters, Sara and Hanna.

The crew for the Mackinac race will be "six guys and my daughter," said Corneliussen.

"She's pretty excited, obviously; this is a great experience," he said.

"There's six uncles on board, so she's going to be watched over pretty well."

He's looking forward to sharing special times with his daughter.

"Night sailing is the absolute best thing in the world," said Corneliussen. "She's going to be on the midwatch with me, which is from midnight to 4 a.m.

"It's the most beautiful time to be on the lake."

"The stars are incredible," he said. "Sometimes you get up in the northern part of the lake and the northern lights are visible.

"If the moon is out, it's just a delightful place to be."

Sorority competes in Cruising Class C.

"The last two years, we were seventh in our class," said Corneliussen. "Last year was just a wonderful ride.

"We were holding our own until Alpena, when we lost a position or two.

"Some of these guys I've been sailing with, we have been racing together for 25 years, as well. We don't expect to do real well, but our fun factor is pretty high."

Corneliussen and skippers in his class compete on the Shore Course - a 204-nautical-mile route that follows the Michigan shoreline from the start, 4 1 /2 nautical miles north of the Blue Water Bridge in Lake Huron, to the fi nish off Mission Point Resort on Mackinac Island. Larger boats race the Southampton course, 253 nautical miles around a special race buoy off Southampton, Ontario.

Regardless of how they get there, the goal of all the skippers is Mackinac.

"We started doing the shorter course about five years ago, and we really enjoyed it," said Corneliussen. "Our families meet us up on the island, and it gets us there a little quicker."

His class is scheduled to start around 12:40 p.m. Saturday.

"Last year, we almost made it by midnight Sunday night," said Corneliussen. "We finished around 2 o'clock in the morning Monday."

He struggled to describe the allure of sailing the big lake.

"I don't know. I'm Scandinavian by background. Maybe it's in your blood, being from that part of northern Europe," said Corneliussen.

"You can do it from 5 years of age to 85 and enjoy it every step of the way."