The penultimate event on the West Michigan Offshore 2026 schedule, the second-year Play The River Weekend was on tap last weekend and attracted 45 boats. The course boasted stops in Harbor Springs, Bay Harbor, Charlevoix, Oyster Bay and East Jordan.
The 45-boat fleet included plenty of impressive hardware. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
“The event was fantastic, and East Jordan is a great place it visit,” said John Vanderwiel, the president of West Michigan Offshore. “The community there was extremely accommodating.”
Proceeds from the event will go to West Michigan Veterans Ranch. The total raised for the nonprofit organization has not been tallied.
“We are just getting back today,” Vanderwiel explained yesterday. “The WMO Board will be meeting on Wed and balance out all the numbers. I am 100-percent confident it will be much more than last year.”
Though time for events beyond the rookie foray into offshore racing hasn’t left Justin and Melissa Snook—once avid poker-run participants—of Mancelona much time for pleasure boating they did participate in the West Michigan Offshore event. But the left Dead Man’s Hand, their pristine 42-foot Fountain, at home.
Donated by Justin and Melissa Snook of Mancelona, Mich., this custom-painted shot-ski brought in 4,100 for charity.
Instead, they ran their 28-foot Bracket 500-class V-bottom dubbed Whiskey Throttle Racing. Plus, they donated a shot-ski they custom-painted as an auction item, The ski fetched $4,100 for the event’s benefitting charity.
“I’ve been a West Michigan offshore member for 10 years now and this is a pretty close to home event being only 20 minutes away,” Snook said. “I had the suggestion of having something up here a year ago and this was our second annual. It was amazing to see the turnout this year. It was almost double what our first year was.
“I usually run a 42 Fountain, but we hurt it at Boyne Thunder,” he added, then laughed. “So I was pretty desperate to still be on the water in my own boat, Melissa and raceboat. Lake Michigan kicked up a little bit, so we had some 3 footers out there—and we had a blast.”
The event also impressed Michigan Offshore Member Terry Gruppen, who owns a Nor-Tech 390 Sport center console.
“It is a very credible area with beautiful scenery and many opportunities to go boating in areas I don’t get to go boating usually,” he said. “The West Michigan Offshore board of directors thinks outside the box, always looking for new ways to have a good time.”
Editor’s Note: Reporter J.R. Bellis compiled the interviews for this story.