Sunfish (Phantom) Races in Watertribe Ultra Marathon 2005
Article By Larry Melat
The Ultra Marathon and Everglades Challenge is put on every year by www.watertribe.com.
It is an endurance challenge for Kayak, Canoe and small Sail Boats that starts at Fort Desoto in St Pete and ends either in Grande Tours in Placida for the UM or Key Largo for the EC. I first learned about this when my sister Shari and her husband Ed Francavilla told me of their intention of Kayaking 68 miles! I thought "your crazy!" but it did not come as a complete shock because they are always doing adventurous things like: the 24 hours of Canaan, a mountain bike race in West Virginia, Hair Scrabble and Enduro motorcycle racing www.Floridatrailrider.org, Tampa Bay Watch’s three mile swim across Tampa Bay and for vacation hiking and camping five days in the rain forest of Belize just to name a few.
Did you say small sailboats? That gave me pause to think. I have this small sunfish on the side of the house that had not been used since it was given to me. So started the process of getting the boat ready for the race.
The sunfish is fitted with homemade fiberglass out riggers. The outriggers go out and up about 10 inches in each direction. On the top of each rigger glassed in is a 1/2 inch pipe, this is the bushing that the oar lock rides in. The oar locks are the type that bolt tightly to the oars, the oars are then bungee corded to the out rigger so even in a capsize the oar stay put. I should add that on the stern of the boat is a bungee that holds the blade end of the oars in place when sailing. The sail rig normally lays across the deck to the side, the rig dose not get in the way when rowing because the out rigger lifts the oars high enough for clean oar rotation. If the wind is light I can sail and row with one arm, while sitting forwards. This is not nearly as efficient when compared to rowing back wards, but works well. I used this method at the end of the ultra marathon when trying to find my way in the dark down the intercoastal waterway. When rowing the rudder is down this keeps me tracking in a straight line if I need to turn, rowing with just one oar will usually be enough to change direction, but if I need to turn sharp I can turn the rudder with my foot. A bungee is also attached to the end of the tiller handle and attaches to the center of the seat. This holds the rudder straight and then can be moved from the center to either side to help over come a current that may be pushing you to one side or the other.
Center boards: I use two, the normal sailing board and a smaller board just for rowing that fills the void and sticks out the bottom a few inches. The boat is a pleasure to row and can easily be rowed at 3 knots. If you work hard 4 knots is possible, and with some help like a small breeze at your stern and following seas 5. 5.5 knots! I started this project some time in January when the brother-in-law and sister informed me of their intention of kayaking 68 miles!
Now on March 5, 2005, at 7:00 am the race started: Some 15 hour and 30 minutes later that day I finished the race. The Race went really well. I rowed about the first 14 miles that's when the wind picked up and I started to sail at 4 knots. Later in the day around 2 PM the wind really picked up and the boat started to plain at 6 and 7 knots. My GPS recorded a top speed at 9.5 knots.
I made the Venice inlet at 4:30 PM and was thinking of going farther on the outside, but decided not to as the next inlet (stump pass) was 3 hours away with sunset approaching and a out going tide was at 6:30, so to be on the safe side I went in Venice pass and my speed was reduce dramatically. After dark my GPS lost the preprogram route that I had installed, so I had to use the lighted markers to find my way down the intercoastal waterway. I rowed into Grand Tours at 10:29 PM, sore from head to toe. I was so happy to finish that early, I was projecting that it would take 24 to 30 hours to complete. The fact that the wind direction was in my favor the entire day was my saving grace. Shari and Ed paddled the entire way in their sea kayaks. They took a break after going about 56 miles slept for four hours and finished about 8 am the next day. (Note from their journey) while paddling in the intercoastal waterway, both of their Kayaks were bumped hard during the night. Ed thinks it might have been a shark checking them out.
Larry Melat
P.S. aka Rowabrick, My boat is not really a sunfish it may be a phatom ?
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More Q&A
Question Have you ever tried any thing like this before and what kind of boating history do you have?
I have never attempted anything like the ultra marathon before. I am a native Floridian so boating and sailing has always been a part of my life. My parent [Martha and Leslie] moved to Florida in 1962 so they could be close to the water. It was then that my dad built his first boat a 35 foot wooden sloop (Completed in 1965). In 1973 he purchased a 24 ft San Juan for racing and sold the slower cruising sloop. In 1977 when I was thirteen years old I built my first boat with the help of my father. The design came out of a book of wooden boat plans {Glen L. Boat Building Plans} . The boat was a smaller version of a sunfish, the design was called a "buck board " 12 foot long, totally flat on top with a set of long teak rail that stretched down both sides. The design called for sold pine transom, sides, and a thin plywood skin, I then covered the entire hull with finishing cloth and resin. The boat was really heavy for it's size but was a lot of fun to sail. A few years later my dad took the plans for the buck board, modified them to raise the sides and created a deeper boat with bench seats that could be sailed or rowed. The entire boat was covered with west system epoxy, that was 1980 and I still have that boat today. I currently live in Bayshore Gardens which is right next to Sarasota Bay, we have access to community marina and are members of the yacht club. We usually have one or two races each month. Most of the boats our in 16' to 30' ft range, but we allow all sizes and types to race. I have a San Juan 24' ft that I race and occasional take on short trips.
buck board
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big buck board
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35 footer
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NOTE: Hurricane photo is in Maimi 1965? The 35 ft' boat was under construction and was blown over by a hurricane, boat was not damaged.
Question: Did you take any practice trips?
In preparation of the ultra marathon I raced the phantom in our Feb yacht club regatta. That was really the only time I sailed the phantom. All my other preparation for the marathon involved strictly rowing, usually three hours at a time. The first time out Shari, Ed and I rowed around Lido key "7 miles." The second time we rowed around Rattle Snake Island "11 miles." Another trip my son "Michael" and I did a 13 mile kayak race on the Weeki Wachee River in a two man Kayak. For night training we made two long paddles each time about ten miles. Also I got out a few times on my own in the evening on Sarasota Bay.
Question: Do you think you prepared enough for the race?
I would have liked to had more time to train but because I had such short notice and lots of work to do on the boat, my training time was limited. I really enjoyed sailing during the marathon but if I had more time to train I probably would have tried to row the entire way.
Question: How did make the out riggers? What was the core material?
The construction of the out riggers: Originally I was planing to make them out of aluminum but a neighbor of mine had some fiberglass square tubing that he gave me to use instead. To get an idea of the height and width that they needed to be I took the measurements off the row boat my dad built. Then I made a light weight wood frame that held the oar locks out and up this let me take the boat out for a trial row. After some experimentation the final plans were made. I would cut the ends of fiberglass tubing at an angle and use this angle to move the oar locks up 14" inches and out 10" inches on each side. The outer edge base is made out of larger square tubing angle cut' epoxy together and bolted to the hull.
Question: Would you configure the rowing portion of your phantom any differently?
The fiber glass out rigger ended up being very strong but also heavy. If I had it to do over I would make them out of aluminum and bolt them to the hull. The current out riggers are bolted to the hull on the outer edge and on the inside next to the cockpit. I then glassed over the top of the bolts and added heavy matt to the hull and over the entire structure. Had I made them out of aluminum they would have been much lighter and would have been easy to removed. Also to insure no hull flexing at point of attachment extra glass matte would still need to be added.
Question: What was your biggest surprise you had during the race?
I experienced muscle spasm during the race something I never experienced during training? I fasted for three days the week before the race and in hind sight was not the smartest thing to do. I must have thrown my electrolytes off and this caused the muscle spasm. The other thing to surprise me was how strong the kayakers and canoeist were. With the strong wind that was in my favor I would have thought it impossible for any one paddling to beat a sailboat! But a few did averaging around 5 knots over 68 miles! Also after the race I experienced an emotional let down. Between all the planning, rushing to get the boat done and finding time to train, when it was over their seemed to be an empty void for a couple of weeks.
Question: Are you planning to run next year?
I have not decided yet. I am really interested in doing the everglades challenge but the decision will probably depend on whether Shari and Ed race.
Larry Melat AKA Rowabrick.