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| Great newspaper article by Carla Byrnes ! |
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In the copy of Carla's wonderful and informative article below, I did add just a very few words to give you a few more additional details about Graham's EC and Alan's UFC. Thanks for the great article, Carla !
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Two local men set to
compete in Florida
BY CARLA BYRNES
Special to The County Compass
EVERGLADES FLORIDA --
It is the first Saturday in March. The
sun is rising over the beach in Fort DeSoto [Park]. Stretching along the beach, as far as the eye
can see, are about 100 watercraft: canoes kayaks, and small sailing craft of
all types. When the horn sounds, the
air is filled with the sound of shouting, grunting, hoots of encouragement and
good wishes as the competitors push, pull, shove, drage, roll and haul their boats into the
water. That will be the scene this year
on March 5 for the launch of the Watertribe’s 300-mile Everglades Challenge (EC)
and its continuation companion race, the 1200-mile Ultimate Florida Challenge
(UFC)!
Among the pushing, shoving, dragging crews are two of
pamlico County’s own. Graham Byrnes
(a.k.a. ‘Roo’ denoting his Australian heritage)
and Alan Stewart (a.k.a. ‘SOS’).
The two are partners in B&B Yacht Designs, based in Vandemere,
NC. Byrnes and Stewart have both
competed in previous years’ Everglades Challenges and both have multiple wins
in various classes of the annual competition.
The EC and UFC are adventure races. The term ‘challenge’ is no hyperbole. The EC is a 300-mile long race which begins
on the west coast of Florida in Tampa Bay and continues south and the east through
Florida Bay to end at Key Largo on the east coast. The UFC then continues up the east coast of
Florida, west on the St. Marys River to a 40-mile portage across the isthmus
for a total race of about 1200 miles!
As it the distances were not daunting enough, the race has
many ‘filters’ which allow disparate craft to compete. The boats must be able to be launched from
the beach by their crew with no outside help.
There are three required check-in points between the start and Key Largo, with bridges, narrow winding channels and
strong tidal stream obstructions. There
are inner passages that favor the paddle craft as well as open waters which
allow the sail boats to stretch their legs at full speed.
Everything you need must leave with you at the start. Hence, the boats doing the UFC are also
required to carry appropriate gear (wheels) for pulling or pushing the boats
across 40 miles of land.
Both boat designers built
innovative new prototypes for this year’s race:
Byrnes will be racing a Core Sound 17 Mark 3 in the EC, Stewart will be racing an Expedition Sailing Canoe in
the UFC.
So he can ‘single hand’ in Class 4, Byrnes invented a ‘wind vane self-steering’
as an addition, along with a bowsprit to assist in deploying a spinnaker! Not to be outdone, Stewart will be carrying
his folding bicycle which he modified to save weight and reduce the size for
portaging his boat.
Both designers are well-known for thinking and engineering ‘outside the box’
and their boats this year are no exception.
B&B Yacht Design craft are found all over the
world. The Watertribe’s EC, UFC and
similar adventure races provide a laboratory for testing designs, materials and
hardware in real-life use and under extreme conditions. B&B only sells and
markets designs that have been tested and used themselves.
It is rare for the general public to be able to follow an
offshore distance sailboat race, but this is the exception. Each boat carries a SPOT messenger device
which transmits their position (via SPOT International) to the WaterTribe’s
race tracking map every 10 minutes showing the location of each boat. You can follow your favorites or watch the
whole fleet. Watertribe member – race participants
have tribal names (as in Graham and Alan’s case, ‘Roo’ and ‘SOS’). Go to www. watertribe.com to follow the
race. There will be action around the
clock, so you can check in anytime and see someone on the move. Obviously. solo and paddle craft will have to
stop and camp to rest, but many of the Class 4 and Class 5 boats with crews of
2 or 3 can run non-stop.
As you follow the race, you will note there is a large
attrition rate (30% to 50% !) This is not just about
winning, it is about finishing! It takes
heart, guts, grit, and yes – probably just a little bit of insanity.
Good luck and a safe trip to Graham and
Alan.
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| Roo (Graham Byrnes) will be sailing this Core Sound 17 Mark3 in the EC-2016. (workshop photo by Alan Stewart) |
