Fast Tango on winning streak: Skipper gets heart warning for 101st Mackinac
Crew says it won't make 'a shit bit of difference' in race strategy
Tim Prophit lit up a cigarette under gray skies, held it between his lips, then kneeled down on his hands and knees to affix silver duct tape to the deck of Fast Tango, his sailboat tied up at the Port Huron Yacht Club on the Black River.
Using a black Sharpie marker, he wrote numbers on pieces of tape. These would be reference points for his crew to repeat optimal settings for any given sail while racing his North American 40 from Port Huron to Mackinac Island.
The 101st Bayview Mackinac Race, the world’s longest continuously run long distance freshwater yacht race, begins on Lake Huron just north of the Blue Water Bridge on Saturday, July 12.
Prophit is focusing on tactics to more quickly achieve the best sail shape for wind conditions, which directly impacts boat speed.
“We intend to win every race we start,” Prophit said on Thursday. “We’ve got some very tough competition in our class this year. It’ll be a very, very tough battle. This is about tactics, strategy, putting the boat in the right spot and not breaking shit.”
Fast Tango won the back-to-back races from Port Huron to Mackinac, and Chicago to Mackinac, in 2023. Fast Tango won the back-to-back races from Port Huron to Mackinac and Chicago to Mackinac, in 2024.
Incredibly, the only boat to win four back-to-back Mackinac races in a row was Fast Tango, then a Santana 35, in 1992 and 1993.
Now Prophit, 66, is hoping to break his own record.
A hospital mixup
He’s starting the race with a Don’t Do List from his heart doctor:
No heavy lifting
No lifting bags of sails
No grinding winches
Drive only in moderate air
When the wind blows past 12 to 15 knots, surrender the wheel
Prophit was supposed to have a medical procedure on July 3 — strategically scheduled between the Mills Trophy Race on Lake Erie on June 6 (Fast Tango won its class) and the Bayview Mackinac Race — but a scheduling mixup at the University of Michigan forced postponement of the transvascular aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
“I consulted with the surgeon and asked if I can still sail. He said yes, then gave me a list of non-approved activities,” Prophit said.
“I used to sleep 3.5 to 5 hours a night and now I sleep 8 or 9 hours a night. I get fatigued easier. I walk slower and take breaks,” he said. “Basically, my body is not getting enough blood everywhere and I have to slow it down … The basic cardio architecture of my vessels is good, but the aortic valve is old and tired. I’ll be part pig or part cow when they put a valve in there.”
Avoiding jail
He hopes to get the surgery between the Chicago Mackinac Race (289.4 nautical miles) on Lake Michigan that begins July 19 and the Trans Superior Race (338 nautical miles) on Lake Superior that begins on August 2.
Prophit and his crew have vowed to long-distance race on all five Great Lakes in 2025, the final being on Lake Ontario in September.
“If I’d had the procedure when it was supposed to happen, I would have been 85% recovered by July 12. When they had to cancel the procedure, I was livid. I was ready to go full Keith Moon and start throwing things, but my sister — who is also a surgeon and my advocate — told me I couldn’t race if I ended up in jail.”
His longtime crew has unwavering confidence heading into the race on Saturday.
“We’ve got so much talent on the boat, plenty of muscle, people who can do lots of things. There’s no replacement for Tim’s leadership, both intellectually and spiritually, on the boat,” said Dave Simon of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. “Tim is a fantastic driver and he does everything on the boat super well. But that’ts all secondary to the mental side of it. As long as we’ve got his brain, we’ve got Tim.”
Sailors may race up the Michigan shoreline on the Shore course ( 204 nautical miles) or cross into Canadian waters near Georgian Bay before turning back west to Mackinac Island on the Cove Island course (259 nautical miles).
Fast Tango races the longer course.
No fear, no pressure
Despite the winning streak, Fast Tango racers don't feel pressured.
“Look, there’s only one direction and that’s forward,” said Dave Simon of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., a longtime crew member.
“We make sure the right sails are up, shaped and trimmed properly and we’re going as fast as we can in the right direction. It’s just about trying to sail super intensely in every moment. There’s no way to have past performance really affect that. You’ve got to be in the moment and do the best you can.”
Their headline last year: Fast Tango: 'Dead f**king last' to victory after big mistake in 100th Mackinac race.
Racers on Fast Tango feel like a band getting back together for a reunion tour, said Molly Radtke of Metro Detroit.
“We’re just so grateful to sail together every year,” she said. “A good crew is able to do every job. We can anticipate each other’s needs at any given moment. We’ve been through it all — including lightning strikes and 100 mph winds.”
Prophit’s medical condition? “It doesn’t make a shit bit of difference,” Radtke said.
“Tim is fanatical, completely addicted to the sport of sailing. This boat is his mistress, in a way. He is devoted to her.”
‘Laser focus’ and obsession
Sandi Svoboda of Grosse Pointe, Mich., vice commodore of Bayview Yacht Club, said Prophit is known for exceptional preparation and setting goals.
Race readiness results in high-profile successes, she said. “Not every boat will have that laser focus … Behind the scenes, Tim coaches adult learn to sail. He is always there for new sailors for advice.”
Prophit, a past commodore of the Bayview Yacht Club who sometimes wears dreadlocks and has tattoos covering his entire upper torso, says sailors should be judged not by their appearance but their performance on the water.
Prophit has won first overall in the Port Huron to Mackinac race twice, as crew on Majic Star in 2004 and skipper on Fast Tango in 2023. He has placed first overall in the Chicago Mackinac Race twice, as crew on Equation in 2001 and skipper on Fast Tango in 2011.
He talks often about the importance of making sailing available to families of all income levels to find untapped talent. He has been a vocal advocate for the Detroit Community Sailing Center on Belle Isle run by Ford Motor Co. retiree Harry Jones, who reaches out to families through schools, churches and community centers.
The sport survives only if it grows beyond the lily white country club crowd, Prophit says often, publicly and privately.
‘What you live for’
Working through challenges is part of life and required for any boat to win. This isn’t the first time health has been an issue during the Mackinac races. In 2018, Prophit raced from Port Huron to Mackinac in 87 days after open heart surgery. He raced from Chicago to Mackinac 94 days after surgery.
“I was wearing a dinghy vest backwards so I had the foam back of the vest protecting my sternum. I have a big zipper down my chest,” Prophit said.
High winds were a factor then, so he’s run this play.
“I was not allowed to drive my own boat and had to sit on the rail and do nothing,” Prophit said. “Last thing I wanted to do was blow up my sternum in the middle of Lake Michigan.”
While he is being careful, Prophit said, “The doctor didn’t tell me, ‘Don’t do this race because there’s a high chance something bad will happen.’ He said, ‘I understand this is your passion, what you live for.’”
Prophit and his crew say they prefer to be underestimated nothing more than to be underestimated by competitors.
“The Fast Tango war machine is ready to do battle,” he said. “I will modify my role on the boat as needed, out of an abundance of caution. But make no mistake, I’m here to race sailboats and do my absolute best with nine other very good sailors who have the same dedication.”
Relentless focus
Fast Tango crew members view every wind condition — heavy air or no air — as ideal, because each has led to victory, said R.C. Paschke of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.
“Fast Tango is not the prettiest boat, not the most high tech,” Paschke said. “It’s dirty, very ragamuffin, very guerrilla in terms of how people approach sailboat racing. And that’s kind of Tim. He’s very intense but relaxed around people who sail with him. It’s hard to describe the alchemy. He’s motivated, driven and yet has the ability to just let things happen.”
Sailors on Fast Tango refer to their boat as a warhorse because it has scars, it’s been broken and put back together, it’s noble and prevails against odds, Paschke said.
Those who race with Prophit understand no one slacks off, ever — not even in the wee hours of the night, said Art LeVasseur of Grosse Pointe, Mich.
“A lot of people think if it’s dark and you’re tired, let’s hang on with this sail for another half hour,” LeVasseur said. “We are working the boat 100% of the time. When the wind changes, we change sails. Every second counts. That’s the attitude … For Tim, it’s really never letting up.”
Phoebe Wall Howard covered sailing for The Detroit Free Press for seven years, until 2024. She is a member of the Port Huron Yacht Club. Find her recent sailing stories here.
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Thanks, Phoebe.although I am not joining FT the go around, I can tell you what I tell so many: I get to sail with exceptional people who also happen to be very talented sailors. It starts with my friend and crewmate of 35+ years, Tim Prophit.
Who’s got it better than us? Nobody!
Thanks for sharing a piece of what he brings to the sport so many of us love so much!