The Coast Guard is establishing a safety zone for the Sail Grand Prix event near Chicago Harbor Entrance and Monroe Harbor. This zone will be established to protect the safety of racing participants during the United States’ Sail Grand Prix race. During the hours that the safety zone is established, no recreational traffic will be allowed inside the safety zone. Only Sail Grand Prix flagged boats will be allowed in the safety zone while it is active.
Recreational boaters in the area can motor along a 300 meter transit lane demarcated by buoys to transit from the Chicago lock into Lake Michigan. This transit lane is shown by a dotted blue line in the diagram above. Boaters are asked to limit their speed to 5 mph when in the transit lane.
“We are excited to help ensure the safety of this event for the first time in six years,” said Cmdr. Thomas Pequignot, Coast Guard Incident Commander for the race, “We are coordinating closely with multiple agency partners to protect the safety of all participants and bystanders. We are urging patience and cooperation around the safety zone as the area is expected to be busy with boater traffic.”
Waterside spectators are expected to create an area of congested boater traffic surrounding the race box and the established safety zone. All boaters should heed the directions of any law enforcement vessels in the area.
If any waterside bystander of the race experiences an emergency, they can reach out to the Coast Guard on channel 16 or call the Sector Lake Michigan Command Center at (414) 747-7190.
A graphic showing the safety zone established by the Coast Guard and partnering agency during the Sail Grand Prix event.
For more news follow us on Twitter and Facebook. For recent photographs follow us on Flickr.
