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Spitfire, US 42252
Last update: 2024
1987 Plan Graham & Schiageter, Franklin 40 1 Ton,

Spitfire was built in late 1986 or early 1987 about a year later for Horst Kwech.

1987 July, launched
July, North American One Ton, Chicago: 6e/19, Horst KWECH, Waukegan YC
Great Lakes Newspaper,


 Cutlass Race, Chicago: 1st/?? Section IOR 2, Horst KWECH

1988 Spring "Regatta Magazine",

June, North American One Ton, Detroit: 9e/18, AUSCA Racing

1989 New owner, Jim Hellquist

2000 Chicago Race to Mackinac: 1st/?? Section 04, James K HELLQUIST

2001 Chicago Race to Mackinac: 3e/?? Section 04, James HELLQUIST

2002 Chicago Race to Mackinac: DNF/24 Section 04, James HELLQUIST

2003 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 48h47': ?e/?? Section ??, James HELLQUIST

2004 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 70h52': ?e/?? Section 06, James HELLQUIST

2005 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 48h11': 15e/19 Section 4, ORR: 0,908, James HELLQUIST

2006 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 51h27': 11e/22 Section 4, ORR: 0,916, James HELLQUIST

2007 Chicago Race to Mackinac: DNF/17 Section 5, ORR: 0,915, James HELLQUIST

2008 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 55h15': 2e/24 Section 5, ORR: 0,922, James HELLQUIST

2009 Chicago Race to Mackinac: DNF/19 Section 05, ORR: 0,919, James HELLQUIST

2010 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 55h09': 10e/17 Section 04, ORR: 0,920, James HELLQUIST

2011 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 47h31': 2e/20 Section 05, ORR: 0,902, James HELLQUIST

2012 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 45h12': 11e/20 Section 04, James HELLQUIST

2013 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 67h50': 2e/18 Section 05, ORR: 0,902, James HELLQUIST

2014 James HELLQUIST was finishing the program...

2016 2 June, on Sailing Anarchy, Blake Banovitz: "My crew and I are trying to keep a living legend of a race boat off the dock and into the starting box. Spitfire is Franklin 40 1 Ton. A one of a kind boat with a one of a kind Captain. Jim Hellquist has been at the helm for over 30+ years racing every single race the Great Lakes have to offer, he has won a fair amount of them. His biggest joy is placing in the Chicago Mac Race. A couple years ago we were in a 68 hour grueling race with little to no wind, beating hot sun and to make matters ever more interesting a battery that died half way through the race and of course it was the only time we had any kind of wind. With 9 knots of wind we were cruising at 8.7 trying to match and or exceed the wind while our batteries lay on the deck baking in the sun so we can get whatever juices they have flowing. I will never forget the sound of that engine firing up as we all cheered in appreciation to this modern day maritime miracle. As we sailed into the finish line we heard yelling family on the beach telling us we just placed 1st… the champagne was flowing but later on we discovered we finished 2nd….. by a corrected time of 10 minutes… 68 hours and we lost by 10 minutes. The next season we all found out that Jim was finishing the program… we were devastated but understood the boat needed new sails and he had grand kids to think of. This past season the crew and i decided that enough was enough. We couldn’t let this boat and Jim’s legacy be done with out at least one more 1st place finish. 100's of racers have been able to race on Spitfire we want a 100 more to get the chance. Please help spread the word to as many that would listen. Any social media channel would be a huge help. ANYTHING from you guys would be truly appreciative. We need new sails and gear to get her racing again." https://www.gofundme.com/teamspitfire, with this Picture:

Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 41h30': 3e/14 Section 06, ORR: 0,904, Jonathan R BURBA & James K HELLQUIST

2017 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 63h02': 6e/12 Section 06, ORR: 0,892, Jonathan R BURBA, Mike F CUNNINGHAM & James K HELLQUIST

2018 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 59h29': 3e/11 Section 06, ORR: 0,893, Jonathan R BURBA, Mike F CUNNINGHAM & James K HELLQUIST

2019  Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 57h21': 9e/14 Section 06, ORR: 0,893, Jonathan R BURBA, Mike F CUNNINGHAM & James K HELLQUIST
Picture from Chicago Race to Mackinac website,

2020 Chicago Race to Mackinac: cancelled Covid

2021 New owner, Jonathan Burba
Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 57h26': 4e/13 Section 06, Jonathan R BURBA

2022 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time 43h41': 4e/12 Section 06, Jonathan R BURBA

2023 Chicago Race to Mackinac, elapsed time ??h??': 5e/12 Section 06, Jonathan R BURBA
Picture from Facebook 2023,