Watertribe Everglades Challenge 2013

NOHUHU:
Nice event report, it appears Sew Sew flipped while 3-4 miles SW of Sanibel maybe last night (According to his tracker at about 6:30 pm), it looks like he limped back to shore (according to the tracker it took him several hrs to get in to shore), and is sitting in a park. Someone reported his AMA is heavily damaged, might end up being a DNF. Just glad he is safe.
I know I tried to chase him through Sarasota bay one year during the EC, I happened to be out sailing that day. I gotta tell you that boat is fast and sleek, probably one of the most impressive boats I've seen. Needless to say he made my mighty Ultimate TI look like a toy. I looked at his boat (Scizzors) closely this year on Friday at Ft Desoto, boy what a nice piece of workmanship.
I am still in awe about the SUP paddle guy, he must be very tall and has a giant very loose shirt on (to act like a sail). Just think about it, that has to be exhausting in rough water. My hat is off to the guy.
One other person I am following with interest in class 6 (experimental electric) is ShowMe running a Windrider 17, with 3 huge solar panels, and a Torqueedo electric, he told me he can get 8 hrs of running at 3mph, which is impressive. I know I tried to develop a system for my TI that my goal was to run 60 hrs at 4 mph and failed (worked on the crazy idea for a year, LOL).
I think I counted 9 Hobie adventure series boats on the beach Friday. There were 2 Triak's, and only one Windrider (the class 6 guy), 1 H16, 1 Getaway, and 1 H18 Magnum. Pretty impresive testimonial for the Adventure boats that we love.
Bob

Thanks, Fusion! Next year you can do it!

Day 2 - 7 pm update:
Capt, Chaos is underway again! Not sure why he stopped. Maybe is was his nappy time. Perhaps he was just giving the non-modified hobies a sporting chance.

Ride like the wind, JIM! You're only 50 miles behind Paul, with darkness setting in.

Speaking of Dog, he just took an inland shortcut to Gullivan Bay, and avoided a very nasty looking point in the dark. Still doing 5 knots. Good trick there, for an old dog.

Penguinman, in second hobie place, is 25 miles back, racing in open water to catch up.



Meanwhile, Shred is underway on the inside waterway. Chief is docked, Justcus is beached, and #3 Windblown seems to be looking for shelter.

As night falls, you got to wonder how cold, tired and hungry these guys are getting. I shall ponder this during our hawaiian happy hour. Thanks for the show boys!

7.30pm update

Oops! Chaos headed right for a marina. He's maybe still hurting, or he got voted off the island. Showme, the Windrider 17 and another guy were still there.



Dog is doing 7.5 knots in the dark, just outside the swamp. Paul, how fast did you say gators can swim? (And have they ever tasted penguin?)

Windriders are pretty capable craft. I wouldn't be surprised to see it do well even without a motor. But in shallow water any groundings will be tough. They're tough to drag.

I like em too. For some reason, he hasn't been doing that great.

I see it's not just the shallows getting folks this year: Windblown just texted -

"Broken rudder 5 miles off shore in 25 knots of wind and 6 foot waves. Hopefully getting it repaired and will be back on the water tomorrow!"

9pm and 2 guys are already rounding the south tip of FL, nearing checkpoint 3. Impressive. Monohulls are in control of the race this year.

Tom:
Windrider 17's are very nice boats, however on the EC he might be at a disadvantage. These are big boats (402 lbs) and with that deep center keel might not be very fun dragging through the shallows. In low or no wind it would be a bear to try and paddle. Personally I won't own a boat without a mirage drive.
For some reason the windrider in the EC doesn't have the screacher option ( bad choice this year). My opinion is this boat might be a bit much single handing the EC. Personally I think my Ultimate TI is a little more capable ( more sail area, much lighter, and faster in the right conditions), plus the TI is car toppable and half the draft, cost, and weight.
Of course this is all just my opinion, and every boat has it'a place and loyal followers.
Actually I'm surprised the Triaks never seem to do well in the race, they also seem to be nice boats.
Bob

Midnight on the swamp and all is quiet. Except for the slithering sounds of things that bite. If they can be heard above the snoring.

Our AI exhibitionists are all bedded down. Hope they have a drier, warmer night than the last one. They say it was bad.

Dog hit the entrance to the swamp checkpoint and stopped. Thought he would go on to be the #8 checkin. Maybe it was the current, or pure exhaustion. Maybe a gator got him.



25 miles behind him, Penguinman ended an inspired run. After surfing 30 miles of pounding open swells (where the SEWSEW wrecked) he scooted for a nearby channel and calmer water. In fact, it looked like Jim was headed straight to the nearest yacht club, (who could blame him?) but he reversed course and continued down the waterway at night, and camped on a beach.



I expect many tall tales will be told, by many participants, about that open water night crossing,

So, at bedtime, in AI order of appearance we have:

1. Dogslife
2. Penguinman
3 Windblown
(Standup guy!)
4. Chief
(Capt. Chaos)
5. Shred

Day 3 - 10am update

Our boyz appear to be stalled, or still bivouacked. It may be the weather. From my phone I can't tell. There were some issues with the spot tracking this morn.

Dog did check in and is hunkered down at the isolated check point 3. Resting up? Fixing stuff? Got duct tape, Paul?

The Hobies who were in the rear are now on the move, slowly creeping in protected water.

Near the end of the course, several boats (mostly monos I think) are about to cross the finish line. Stay tuned.

Jollyroger, our part Hobie TI/ part canoe, is closing in on the finish too. His story is going to be enlightening.

The middle pack of EC racers such as the paddlers are rolling along in tight formations. Day 3 must be a slog for these guyz!

Bad news is in- prepare yourselves,.. Capt Chaos is disabled, has hit his help button and dropped out. He never got out of that marina. Lets hope its "just" equipment problems, and something we can all learn from.

Take a bow, Jim. We love you, you maniac! Hope you'll update us soon.

It's a good reminder this is a survival challenge, not a race. It seems half the entrants never complete it. The hopes and reputation of the Hobie "Adventures" rests with the others. Good luck!

Thanks for the excellent updates, NOHUHU. Sorry to hear about out friend CaptnChaos. He will have an interesting story to tell for sure. The EC is a difficult adventure race. First timers frequently drop out for a variety of reasons. Often, like Dogslife, they come back very strong.

JollyRodger's "canoe" Hobie combination is not a canoe like say a Grumman canoe. You know the Brits, they call a lot of things "canoes," even sea kayaks. JR's "canoe" is has 2-3 times the freeboard of a typical American canoe. It is much larger. He is using a Tandem sail & Hobie akas and inflatable amas. Very interesting boat, but hardly a "canoe." He does plan on doing the inland route (Wilderness Waterway & Nightmare). With this relatively large boat, that will be an accomplishment. And, Nightmare will be tight & tough. Update: The latest "results" show that he has made Flamingo (Ckpt #3), only 35 mi to go to the finish.

A group of us are headed out to Pavilion Key south of Chokoloskee (Ckpt #2) tomorrow. It is very cold here for this time of the year. A new cold front is coming in Wednesday w/ strong winds. I'm sure it is hard on all the WT competitors. One thing about these people, especially the experienced ones, they keep going no matter how they feel or the conditions--just keep moving forward.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Just wanted to express my appreciation to those who are narrating this race for us (Nohuhu, Chekika, and others) It's fascinating to be able to follow along! Inspiring me to think about some BIG adventures that could be undertaken here in Canada.

_________________

It's a very unique race and watching it from my cozy armchair, I now have even more appreciation and respect to the watermen who sail down in Florida.

Chekika, I agree, Jollyrogers canoe is more of a "racing barge" And I wasn't quite sure how he got in that classification. From what I understand he has the ability to disassemble and put everything in that huge hull. Maybe he can also fold back the Amas for some of the tight inland passages. And then it has a mirage drive!

It's got to be heavy though. I'd like to see more pictures of it, but it's definitely more of a modular tri than a "canoe".

For years, the adventure islands did this too, seeming to fit into several classes, and I'm glad the EC has given them their own design class now. Anyway, Jollyroger is doing well and everyone is talking about the boat.

Will it get Hobies attention? After all, some of these builders are using Hobie parts, trying to create the fastest "all-around sailboat" that can still take a beating. That's one reason I have been watching the race so closely.

That and to watch chaos prevail. Good fun. Can't wait for the eyewitness reports.

Here is JollyRoger himself:


Then, his boat, the rear area. Note his bean bag seat. You get some ideal of the width by looking at the Hobie X-bar compared to JR's boat width.


Front part. Everything, akas, deflated amas, etc can be fit in this front part of his boat. This feature allows him to fit into Class 3.


I have lots of pictures, but no time to put them up now. I have to load my boat & gear for our trip out to Pavilion tomorrow.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Thanks Keith. Lots of time ahead to review the race.

Day 3 - 4pm update:

Down south, dog and penguin are making steady progress. The others are catching up somewhat. The winds are changing every day, and the tides are challenging many racers.



The top winners were just announced - both Monohulls w 2man crews. Fastest time went to veterans danceswithsandybottom and SOS. 2 Days, 0 Hours, 2 Min

Sambasailor and sailsalot also finished -about 7.5 hrs behind. Notice where our Hobie heroes stand.



This is what this crazy race looks like from space,..

Speaking of heroes, here's how Capt Chaos ended up.

Shred (aka Scott Prosuch) has been gaining on penguinman (aka Jim Czarnowski) while going around the horn. He just made a stop on the tip of Cape Romano Island though.



Making great progress before that.