Rock star Seger in boat race

PONTIAC, Michigan: Rock star Bob Seger said this year's Race to Mackinac was scary because of severe storms that forced at least 18 boats to drop out of the 333-mile (535-kilometer) contest from Chicago to Mackinac Island.

Seger and the crew of his 52-foot (15.6-meter) sailboat, Lightning, finished the race, but winds up to 70 mph (113 kph) and torrential rain split one of the boat's sails and tipped the boat hard to one side.

"It was like a blow dryer blowing Lake Michigan," Seger told The Oakland Press.

"The cold water was hitting the lake and steam was rising, and the water was moving almost laterally in the wind," the 57-year- old singer said from his cabin in Good Hart. "We were OK, but it was scary. I was saying, 'Do I want to do this anymore?"'

Lightning also lost steering at one point, but finished in 33 hours, 39 minutes and 34 seconds.

Last week, Seger skippered the boat to a victory in its division in the 78th annual Port Huron-to-Mackinac Island Sailboat Race.