The documents for the 2013 Lake Erie Solo Challenge are posted in links below. Sailing Instructions will be proviced at the prerace meeting. These documents are PDF files - if you don’t have Adobe Reader™ installed on your computer, it is available as a free download by clicking the button below.

The Challenge

The Lake Erie Solo Challenge represents the fourth GLSS membership granting event on the Great Lakes. While Lake Erie may be the smallest and shallowest of the Great Lakes, those very characteristics make for some extraordinarily difficult sailing at times. Winds can produce large, steep-faced waves seemingly in minutes, and summer thunderstorms can turn a placid body of water into a tempest just as quickly. Throw in in a high concentration of pleasure craft, fishermen, and fish nets interspersed with commercial freighter traffic, and the ingredients are in place for a Challenge on par with those of any other lake.

The Lake Erie Solo Challenge begins with a start off of North Cape Yacht Club near Monroe, MI and the fleet proceeds past Pelee Island, Ontario and eastward to a rounding of the Seneca Shoal Light near Buffalo, NY, thence on to a finish off of Presque Isle Harbor at Erie, PA. The course measures 312 statute miles, and in terms of comparison to the other GLSS Challenges, it ranks fourth behind the Trans Superior Solo, the Lake Ontario Solo Challenge, and the Chicago to Mackinac Island Solo Challenge. The 2013 event will mark the seventh running of the Challenge - come on down to Erie and see what all the excitement is about!

Online Application Form

If you have a PHRF rating, please use the online application form to enter. You may submit your entry fee using PayPal - the link to do so is on the online application page.

Changes to the 2013 Erie Challenge

• Several changes have been made to the Required Equipment List. These changes have been underlined in the List so please read them carefully.

2012 Lake Erie Solo Challenge Documents

2013 Notice of Race

2013 Entry Form Lake Erie Solo Challenge

2013 Required Equipment List

2013 Physical Condition of Skippers

2013 Anti-exposure Suit Certificate

Resumé and Solo Passage Documentation - Non GLSS Members Only

Non-GLSS members who wish to enter the Lake Erie Solo Challenge, must submit a Sailing Resumé and also a Solo Passage Documentation form to be considered for entry. Early submission of these documents will allow the GLSS Board of Directors ample time for review, and provide you with time to correct any deficiencies.

Resumé form for the Lake Erie Solo Challenge
Solo Passage Documentation form for the Lake Erie Solo Challenge

Additional info at:


North Cape Yacht Club (NCYC)
Erie Yacht Club