Tornado team shreds Watertribe race

[Chris Ostlind]

Apparently, Tornado sailors, Steve Lohmayer and Jamie Livingston, going under the team name of Lumpy and Bumpy, have won the annual Watertribe Everglades Challenge in a record time of just under 36 hours.

The Everglades Challenge is a 300+ mile adventure racing event that runs from Tampa Bay's Ft. DeSoto beach to Key Largo. The previous record for the event was set last year with a time of two days, 8 hours, 56 minutes by a 22 foot, double-handed skiff.

Lohmayer and Livingston passed fellow multihuller, Randy Smyth about two thirds of the way down the course, when Smyth's trimaran suffered an unknown breakage, forcing Smyth to retire. Randy then found transportation to the finish line to greet the Tornado team upon their victorious arrival.

The dudes simply shredded the course and it's going to take a real special set of conditions, the right boat and mostly... the right crew to beat this record.

[Tom Lathrop]

Congratulations to Steve and Jamie on a job well done. This is a tough course, made much tougher by the requirements of three inshore check points. By catching the good side of a weather front, the Tornado found conditions much to its liking and they were able to do the last leg from Flamingo to Key Largo in daylight. This leg would be a killer at high speed in the dark. This last means that it is unlikely that a monohull can do the course in less than two days.

[Hwyl]

Kudos to their boat too. It must be a 30 year old design.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Kudos to their boat too. It must be a 30 year old design.

40! (http://www.tornado.org/html/history.asp) its over 30 since Reg White and John Osborne took their Olypic gold.

[rbgarr]

http://www.watertribe.com/

The purpose of WaterTribe is to encourage the development of boats, equipment, skills, and human athletic performance for safe and efficient coastal cruising using minimal impact human and wind powered watercraft based on kayaks, canoes, and small sailboats.

Does anyone know what the assymetrical spinnaker launch tube on the Tornado looks like and how it is rigged?

[Hwyl]

Same as all the others I should think. Two sheets like a jib, continuous halyard, fall leads through the tube and up to the belly button. To hoist pull halyard one way, to drop do the opposite. The sprit on the Tornado is stuck to the tube.

[The Bigfella]

I posted a pic of that tube a couple of weeks back. I'll see if I can dig it up.

Here's another one though -

http://www.tornado.org/uploads/photos/177m.jpg

Randy Smyth eh? I raced against him at the Australian Nationals for the Tornados in Cairns back in iirc 1980 - or was it '81? '80 I think.

btw - the Aussies just won the world's in Tornados again last week. Bundock for the 6th time now I think.

Ian

[Wild Wassa]

They were racing in Class 4 so that means that they may not have won the Challenge but only taken line honours?

Or is corrected time not taken into account in this race?

Do the Classes only have Divisional winners?

There is still 5 days of racing to go for some boats so I'm presuming others can still win?

Is it the winner on corrected time that wins this race?

We are currently packing up the boat for the Marlay Classic being raced this coming weekend, we have 3 check sheets of safety gear and specific race requirements. Some races we carry Cat 7 safety gear, 5N (in the Marlay as per a Declaration of Compliance) at other times the onerous Cat 3. The Sydney to Hobart is Cat 2.

What are the requirements for safety gear in the Watertribe Everglades Challenge, I'm presuming it would be across the board and not Class specific?

What did the Tornado need to carry to cover their Cat safety requirements? ... How does a Tornado carry gear?

Warren.

[Tom Lathrop]

Warren,

You will find most of your answers here:

http://www.watertribe.com/EvergladesChallenge/EvergladesChallengeOverview.aspx?Expand=7

#0 or 40, makes no difference, the Tornado is still one on the best cats to be found anywhere.

[Wild Wassa]

Tom, I do know Tornados. They do 10 minute boat races when the rest of us have 3 hour boat races, when we are Club racing. There are not many Tornados here in Canberra, only 2. Lake Barely Sailable is too small for them. There are not many serious Tornado sailors here in Aus either, the last Nationals only had 16 starters.

Most of the fast off the beach cats where I sail are Taipans, F-16s, Mozzies, Hobie Tigers, Hobie 17s and 16s and there are many. They all play bumper boats. We had an excellent collision with a Hobie 20 a month ago that put a serious dent in the pulpit ... he was high on speed and not keeping watch, which is just typical for a cat sailor here.

Tom, I couldn't find the official 'Notice of Race'. I'm guessing it was only sent to the competitors, so apart from the safety requirements, which says, "include a roll of quarters" ... I'm non the wiser.

Warren.

[Steve Paskey]

They were racing in Class 4 so that means that they may not have won the Challenge but only taken line honours?

Or is corrected time not taken into account in this race?

Do the Classes only have Divisional winners?

There is still 5 days of racing to go for some boats so I'm presuming others can still win?

Is it the winner on corrected time that wins this race?

As far as I know, there's no handicapping or "corrected time" ... there's simply an overall winner (the first boat to the finish) and a winner for each Class (boat type) and division (single or double, male or female or mixed).

I can't imagine how they'd do a corrected time race ... one-of-a-kind boats aren't unusual, and many of the people don't compete in any other race. Plus, how would you handicap paddlers against sailors, especially when the conditions might favor one group one year, and the other the next? (Paddlers finished first in 2002 and 2004.)

That said, they really should put multi-hulls in a separate class, rather than grouping them with the monohull sailboats in class 4.

[Steve Paskey]

Warren: Don't know if you saw this, but here are the general rules :
http://www.watertribe.com/Default.aspx?Expand=5&ucPtr=Challenge/ChallengeRules.ascx

And if you click on the link to the left, you'll see the description of the classes, where they explain some of the philosophy behind why they don't use handicapping, ratings, etc.

[Wild Wassa]

Thanks Steve for your reply. A race like the WE Challenge, I don't think is held here in Aus. We have a race called the 3 Peaks in Tasmania, that breaks from the standard mould of boat racing but it is not like the WEC for an adventure. The guys in the Tornado were silly, they forwent several days of possible racing.

It was the grouping in Class 4 that had me puzzled about competing on a level playing field, that is why I asked the question about corrected time.

The WE Challenge sounds excellent. The freedom for the different craft to enter, I find very interesting. Competing in such a regulated sport as we do here, by having to be members of Yachting Australia and our Class Associations and having boats and sails measured has killed a lot of the potential for good racing outside of the class formulas.

I've been to several regattas this season and the best of this season's races and regattas are still to come ... but I've not ever been in such a race as that Challenge.

If a race like that was held here, I could almost guarantee that the guys I sail with would put at least 4 boats on the water, no matter how far we would have to travel ... or walk.

Warren.

[Wild Wassa]

Thankyou for your second post. Now the race makes sense.

That is a long way for small craft ... "with periods of possible portage" ... WHAT ???

The reason people take up sailing is so they don't have to walk except to launch and recover the boat ... the WEC conjures up shades of the African Queen with Humpty Bogart and the man-eating crocs. Knowing there were crocs or that smaller reptile dwelling over there, would make you haul a boat across the shallows more quickly than normally ... and I suppose there are deliverance style Rednecks living in the swamps? Maybe sailing a Tornado does make sense.

Warren.

[The Bigfella]

I'm not sure if it is still sailed - but there used to be a 1000 mile race in the US - starting or finishing in Florida called the Worrell Classic. I remember a few Aussies going over to take it on about 25 years back - Mitch Booth won it IIRC. I think it was sailed in Hobie 16s or possibly 18s.

The longest wet-bum race I ever did was the Bridge-to-Bridge sailed from Harwood to Grafton up the Clarence River in northern NSW. The wife and I won it in 1981 - strewth - 27 years ago. It is only about 50 km or so - but upriver in light winds.....

[The Bigfella]

Ahh - it was the Worrell 1000 - still around (at least a few years ago) Randy Smyth is a past winner too.

http://www.seasailsurf.com/seasailsurf/actu/spip.php?article1460

and - the website:

http://www.worrell1000.com/index.html



It began as a bar room bet over a couple of beers in Worrell Bros., the Virginia Beach resort restaurant that was owned by Michael and his brother Chris. The bet; that one could not sail a 16-foot catamaran from Virginia Beach to Florida.
On October 1, 1974, Michael and crew Steve McGarrett shoved off from the beach in front of the restaurant bound for Florida. After 20 days, two hurricanes, and numerous boat repairs, they made it as far as Fort Lauderdale before their catamaran succumbed to the rigors of the bet.


Intrigued by the challenge of the rugged trip, Worrell, who as a surfer, lifeguard, and later in business, had always been around the ocean, decided to raise the ante and create a radical, new type of sailboat race.


In May 1976, four other teams were also inspired by the challenge and entered the inaugural *Worrell Bros. Coastwise Race. For that first race, limited to 16-foot Hobie Cats, the rules were almost fewer than the sailors. Sail day and night, come ashore and phone the restaurant once every 24 hours. The first boat to the finish wins. To take advantage of the prevailing winds the course was reversed with the start in Fort Lauderdale and the finish in Virginia Beach.


At 3:10am of the 11th day, Worrell and crew Guerry Beatson, the only team to finish, came ashore on the beach across from the brothers' restaurant, where with a little imagination one could almost hear the original bet being placed.

[Hwyl]

Ian, I don't think they do the Worrell anymore, it has been replaced by a 500 miler.

Warren, you should organise something similar in your neck of the woods. It seems like the Ausies I know would love a race like that.

The three peaks race originated in the U.K., it used to be sail between and climb Snowdon, Scafell and Ben Nevis. I think it started in Barmouth, with stops being in Caernarfon, Whitehaven and Fort William.

I seriously considered entering once upon a time, there was a crew number requirement, so that you could not have a team of sailors and a team of runners, there was some overlap. There was a tidal gate in the Menai Straits, which I knew pretty well and therefore might have stood a chance.

[Wild Wassa]

Hwyl, I wrote a submission to the Canberra Yacht Club about our club racing lacking variety and the courses set being too predictable and far too short ... and the club has made changes following submissions from other sailors as well. More passage races are on this year's program but they are considered as one-off races and not included in Championship or point-score events. Including them would have made for a far more interesting race season. That is why so many Canberra sailors travel interstate to race ... to get away from the monotany of triangles and sausages.

The biggest change that we made at the Club this season was employing a professional race officer, Michael Vorbeck from Toronto in Canada. Employing Mike has worked well. He has come bringing a real difference.

Mike has set excellent long courses and he isn't looking forward to returning to Canada he told me a few days ago. He has basically given up the RO job for more racing.

He said last week, "You guys race extraordinary boats in impossible conditions. We only race J boats, Lasers and Tasars in good winds, I'm going to find it boring going home. I'm going to build a Sportsboat when I return to Canada." ... another 'Tokyo Trash Baby'? Good to see.

Hwyl, we have the boats we just don't have good inland waters to plan a race as different as the WEC, that I'm aware of. Paddlers have good races like the Murray River Dash, which is several hundred kilometres long ... but having water for long races for sailors, apart from the blue water is in short supply.

Warren.

[LeeG]

http://www.watertribe.com/Default.aspx?ucPtr=Discussion/Threads.ascx

it's a fun collection of info

[Wild Wassa]

Lee G, Cheers, from the link,

"Is it appropriate for Roo to send Tinker over the side to start pulling towards Key Largo? The lack of water should reduce the risk of attack by black tip sharks." - a post by SnoreBringGator.

Right, ... well that is good to know that you also have a lack of water.

Water.

[LeeG]

yep,,I like this one,

Your Mom Missing You
Monday, March 03, 2008, 9:44:00 PM
Category: Challenge Keyword:
Hi Jon,

I know you're a great sailor but the ocean is really big and DEEP, so be extra careful and remember there is a dog in a kennel in Palm Coast that is really going to be upset with you if you don't come back for him :)

Be safe and warm,

Love you,

Mom

[Chris Ostlind]

Well, the Watertribe event has been going on for some days now and still... no second place boat as of this post. The boat sitting in what could be the second place location was the winning entry last year.

The longer it takes for them to get to Key Largo, the more it emphasizes what an outrageous job of sailing and navigating has been done by the winning Tornado guys.

[switters]

those guys have been in the mud for a long time now, hope everything is okay.

[Wild Wassa]

The Sydney to Hobart is one of the World's great races. After spending time on the Watertribe site, I know of another equal in stature ... if not far more intrepid.

While I rest up for the Marlay which no longer seems like anything special, I've had a chance to have a good look at the WEC race archives, read the forum past and present, learnt the rules (what few rules there are) and I feel for the Skipper and crews wives' and mothers' anguish. I registered my Tribal name, which is 'CloudyAtTimes' and I've enjoyed the race tracker and read Chris O's articles on boat designs suitable for the race.

This is just the most awesome race.

"I slightly dislocated my toe when I was stuck in the mud" - Roo or Lugnut, it is hard to remember, so much goes on.

Anyway I have to go back and finish painting our race number for the pussy Marlay and continue to fair the rudder that was damaged last weekend, damaged by a novice crew, damaged one week before the race after I worked on the rudder to bring it up to speed, these things happen ... anyway GO ROO!!! Perhaps I should say GO THEREANDBACKAGAIN !!! ... who are tailed off dead last.

Supporting Thereandbackagain is very appropriate, as we are going to sail the Marlay in reverse before we do the race. I'm finding the WEC most inspirational.

CloudyAtTimes.