everglades challenge sailboat

Anybody know what happened to Randy Smythe?

 

Within sight of the finish he flipped Sizzors and couldn't right her again. A tow boat went to help right her but holed the hull and tore up the main sail. Randy later got in his kayak and finished the EC but did not continue on with the ufc.

 

AIUI Luke Wigglesworth did the 2005 NZ Coastal Classic (120 nautical miles) in 9h 59 minutes, second mono to the 98' Zana.

Tornado sailors Bruce Kendall and Aaron McIntosh finished the same race 5m behind on their T. They were chasing Olympic qualification at the time. They succeeded in qualifying. NZ didn't send them, but they were pretty damn good.

I knew Bruce from windsurfing worlds Back In The Day and even by the standards of a gold and bronze Olympic board medalist he was fit, and IIRC the Olympic boardsailors are on similar fitness training regimes to the runners. So I was shocked when we raced each other on Tornadoes in a windy regatta (well, actually I was a last-minute crew on one of the slowest boats so we weren't really 'racing' them!) when Bruce said that the T was really tough physically, and this as after a couple of years of Olympic campaigning IIRC.

I'm sure it's just a question of muscle twitch types and specific fitness, because I've also seen Olympic Tornado medallists who find high-wind windsurfing at a leisure level very tiring and the Bruces would do that in their sleep. I think it's a maximum load (higher on the Tornado) v reps and aerobic endurance (higher on the board) thing.

But the main point is that the Bruce and Aaron, both Olympic medalists, felt that the T was harder work, therefore any assumption that a board would be harder than a T in the Everglades Challenge may not be true.

 

ct249,
I think we all build our "motors" differently so some will excel at one type of activity and not so at another.

For the UFC I could either pick paddling or sailing, but 12 hundred miles? That's just a scary number, I think I'd rather sit and steer than paddle! or so I think anyway, I'm a pretty decent paddler and getting better. I look to ArdieO for inspiration!

but then I see SOS on Mosquito just flying along ........ oh the joy of speed!

though I am a bit puzzled, on the east coast I'd be offshore. Hey doug, you live out there, what do you think?

 

Lots of ENE wind the last few days-I'd stay inshore in any boat less than 20 ' and even then would use extreme caution(Worrell capable boats only). 20mph from E tomorrow.... Probably make better time in the intercoastal with few waves.

 

Errrarrrghhh! You need a few Anzacs to enter the Challenge. Just joking.
Thinking about Randy Smythe's capsizing again; Sew Sew is brilliant - but those small floats (which I'm presuming account for the trip ups) need foils - but you can't have deep foils in shoal waters - so fixed, but shallow, inverted Y's or L's might be the answer. Otherwise it is full length floats - and then the narrow spread beams arrangement would be insufficient to handle the wracking and twisting of the long amas, plus Sew Sew won't be able to scissor for narrow channels. A conundrum. What have you decided, Randy?

 

I see you're caught in the web! Damned if you do and damned if you don't, it's a puzzle many have been working on. Some think "Less is More" like ArdieO in a pure paddling machine, while Sizzors and Mosquito are at the other end of the spectrum. While I am a paddler I too am of the sailing theory for the UFC.

Here's my idea: and this is per the original rules for stage 4, no boat switch rule : "Bad Kitty" is my folding biplane rigged beach cat using aux peddle prop drive and oars. There might even be a kite involved! It will fold up for the road portage so it has less than a 3' beam. All gear will be stowed thru hatches in the hulls and in the center platform.

I first had to see if the portage mode was even possible:



note: the prindle 16 hulls are only for testing the ideas for this boat, it will become a working proof of concept boat and then I'll switch to symmetric hulls of some type with better floatation. I'm thinking about modified F16 or shortened A class.

I'm still fighting over what type of boards to use, shallow water says use lee boards, racing says dagger boards, ease of use says kick up center board, and then there's always low aspect ratio skegs. I want to keep is simple and I want to keep it safe.

In this video you'll see the folding action, but also the problem with stowing the masts. My peddle prop system will be mounted on the right side so the masts when laid down can sit on the left. I'm considering a wider 10' beam since I can't hike out on a trap wire.



The peddle drive system, being developed per another thread here on boatdesign.net. Oars will be back up.









Ok, who's next? what crazy plans have y'all got?

 

Looks interesting to me. And doable.

I like how yo take much of the stress off the cross beam assembly by stepping the masts in the hulls.

Just remember. All your portage gear must be loaded onto the boat when she sails.

 

I got some work to do on the bike. Either I have to make it disassemble and fit into the hulls, sit in a drybag on the front tramp, or my latest idea, inside the center platform. A bike is pretty skinny when the peddles and handlebar are removed. Then I'd not have to do much of anything to the bike other than to remove the front wheel, peddles, seat and cock the handlebars.

I do want a really lightweight bike though so I may have to make a bike from scratch, all composite, mostly carbon or it could be aluminum. It doesn't have to look pretty. The cart could dissemble and fit in the hulls or fit where the bike is going.

In the portage video the bike towed supremely well and I want to do a full weight test with a initial cart/dolly design. Not too sure what I'm gonna do with the wheels yet, have to figure out the installation process and if it's going to be in the water than I got to have some sealed bearing, or at least sealed good enough for a short time. then there's the matter of brakes .....

 

Didn't realise you were on the lunatic fringe when we were discussing unstayed masts. ;-)

The longest, lightest and hence fastest boat is a proa.

Say all up weight 300 kgs/660 lbs, which is a 30' long, 12" wide hull drawing 6" with 5' on each end folding up to give a 20' long vehicle.

The leeward hull has an 8' long x 2' wide space between the masts above the waterline as high as you need for comfort/shelter. You sit in a comfortable seat and a cover would allow you to lie down and sleep very comfortably.

The width would make it stable enough to pedal for the portage. The axle would pass through the hull above the waterline, with chain cog, derailleur and disc brake in the hull. The front wheel would be on a vertical yoke (mounted through the hull) for steering. No bike required.

Paddle wheels are not very efficient, but they are great in shallow water, mud and oyster beds, so I would think about a slip on set for the wheels rather than a vulnerable (and also not very efficient) propellor.

The unstayed masts would be on tabernacles for easy lowering under bridges (we are building 6 of these for 40' cats at the moment), but would stow along the sides of the hull on the road. Two masts makes steering in shallow water possible and reduces the length when pedalling.

The rudders would be on the lee side of the hull adjacent to the masts and able to kick up in a collision or for stowage. Could also make them somewhat liftable, but probably not worth the effort. Easier to partially kick them up and steer with paddle or sails. The rudders are oversize so no other leeway resistance is required. No holes or permanent appendages below the waterline

The windward hull would be on beams which telescoped externally (much less likely to jam than internally). Buoyant enough to support your weight when required, and big enough to stow the wheels and stuff in. Maybe 6' long x 1 foot wide. Beams far enough apart to paddle if required. The windward hull and beams stow behind you on the road. Beam length would be the width of the narrowest bridge, telescoping to almost double this.

Hulls would have bullet proof solid glass or infused plywood bottoms, which don't add much weight as the hulls are narrow. The fore and aft decks would be removable canvas for light weight and so the bits could sit in them during the portage.

In a breeze, you sail from the windward hull. For pedalling, paddling or light air, sit in the leeward one.

rob

 

Some really innovative ideas Rob. I especially like your integrated bike and the idea of the paddlewheel that fits on the bike axle. This might make progress possible if the water gets really thin, which it often does.

 

Cool! I can see I'm among others entering the Lunatics Zone! Wow, that is some boat you got dreamed up.

I still have a problem with a proa for this type of race though, and that is in tacking or jibing/gybing in narrow waterways such as they are in right now (the concrete jungle in the ICW) an then again in stage four which is the narrow river sections.

On my cat I plan on sailing at times in the proa mode, with only one sail so I'm kinda headed that direction already. I guess I'm a proa with equal length hulls?

I'd have to re check the rules for the portage. I think I remember something about the hulls can't be bike?

A paddle wheel would be better for the shallows! but per the peddle powered thread (here) you'll have a tough time convincing them that a paddle wheel is more efficient than a prop.

for beam, a Tornado gets thru the EC and I think that's 10' at one of the spots, but the River sections in stage 4 could be the tougher part. I had entered the Cross Florida Challenge (CFC) in 2011 so that I could scout out these sections but the event got cancelled, bummer. Anyway with the water the way it is out there right now I'd be using one of the other new rules to get thru.

A long fast skinny boat like you got here could really smoke most of the course, and instead of the concrete jungle you could be out in the Atlantic instead, then it's just a matter of the rivers and of course that portage with what seems to be a lot of boat to get onto a cart. Never the less, an interesting concept to which you already have a wealth of knowledge and experience in. Too bad you're on the other side of the planet!

 

Race update:
ArdieO in the pure paddle craft that was in the lead dropped out!

He was in a ruahine oceanx from new zealand

Here's a write up about him in the Texas Water Safari with this boat:
http://race.fit2paddle.com/C1347930755/E20070614100523/index.html
the third attachment is him in the white water paddling the Ocean X in the tws

 

The trimaran is quite a ways back if I'm reading the thing right... http://www.watertribe.com/Events/ChallengeMapper.aspx And "Riverslayer" is going twice there speed. How can you tell "Ardie O" has dropped out?

Appears Mosquito Magnet(not the tri), followed by Artie O and Sandybottom-SOS(the tri) followed not too far back by Riverslayer/

 

It was posted in the wt forums. You can't tell by the mapper page.