At exactly 7:00 Saturday morning, March 2, off the coast of Tampa Bay, Florida, 88
participants crossed the starting line of the Everglades Challenge. The event – a 300+-mile unsupported, expedition style adventure race for kayaks, canoes, and small boats – can most accurately be described as grueling.
Five days, nine hours, 26 minutes, 330 miles and 62 participants later, Jim Czarnowski, Hobie’s director of engineering, crossed the finish line in Key Largo. His boat was the Hobie Mirage Adventure Island. His result was first place in his class and, perhaps even more impressive, he posted the fastest overall time of any competitor in the most difficult route, the famed Everglades National Park Wilderness Waterway. Jim was also on the first Hobie to ever make the remote and challenging passage. Many thought the water would be too shallow and too narrow for an outrigger-equipped Hobie powered with their patented MirageDrive® pedal system. Jim proved them wrong.
As one of the most versatile watercraft on the market in all kinds of conditions, the Adventure Island lived up to its reputation as the ultimate boat for this sort of event. The sail enables the boat to fly in wider bodies of water between islands. The akas and amas can be folded inward making it narrow when maneuvering mangrove swamps. Hobie’s iconic MirageDrive pedal system can go flush against the bottom of the boat in grassy, muddy shallows.
“Being on the boat for that long without any human contact was frightening and lonely at times but totally exhilarating,” commented Jim, AKA Penguinman. “For two days of the trip, I didn’t see a single person. The open ocean section was definitely challenging, but my boat held steady as I furled my sail in 30+ knots of wind and five- to six foot seas. Hitting eight to 10 knots for extended periods of time on a 16-foot open cockpit boat is nothing short of awesome!”
The Challenge is one of several events run by the Watertribe Organization. Their mantra 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 such as sea kayaks, canoes and small sailboats.
The event draws from hobbyists and professionals alike. It runs the gamut of a fun vacation week for some to a serious product testing session for others. In fact, the concept of Hobie’s Mirage Tandem Island was born in one of the earlier challenges. Jim competed with his wife, Elena, in a prototype, returned home and subsequently made a series of improvements that resulted in one of Hobie’s biggest success stories. The company has sold so many, in fact, that they actually have launched the Hobie® Island Club to get owners together to join in outings like the Everglade Challenge…and many others that are a lot less challenging.
Competing “unsupported” means that there are no safety boats or support crews to help competitors during the race. Support crews cannot follow, give routing information, help with repairs or provide any kind of advice during the race. “Expedition style” means that participants must be self-sufficient and carry the same type of equipment and supplies that would be part of a four week or longer expedition including camping equipment, food, water, safety and communication devices.
“I ended the week on a total high, both personally and professionally. It was just great to confirm all the work that our team has done in creating the Islands,” ended Jim. “And after the race, I was hoping to bask in the glory just a bit, but all anyone kept asking me was why my fun-loving wife, Elena, AKA “Ocean Diva,” wasn’t there and if she is coming next year!”
Courtesy of www.sailingscuttlebutt.com
I would love to hear more about the race. I bought an Island Adventure last year and have sailed it in very heavy weather (40 knotts gusting to 60) on big water; it was a wet and wild ride. A very fast and stable craft though. I only felt insecure in those conditions once. I’m not surprised it won the race. I’ve owned five sail boats and the Island Adventure is my favorite – the most fun I’ve ever had sailing. My next boat will be the tandem model.
Really wish they offered a variety of sails though – because the sail furls, they should really look at more sail area for use in very light winds – safety first I guess.
Great boat, great design – they’ve thought of everything. Mirage drive is amazing, unless you’re trying to navigate a busy narrow channel against heavy wind – serious workout in that situation. Going to upgrade to the longer fins this year and try those out. Loved the story.
It looks as though you fitted the sail from a Tandem Island onto the smaller single seat version to enhance performance. Am I right? I’ve always wondered how the single would perform with the larger sail area. I’ve have my TI out solo in 30 kts of wind on the Chesapeak Bay but the highest reading I saw on the GPS was 9.7 MPH (which felt like 19.7 sitting that close to the water), but I was only able to sustain 7-8 MPH for any length of time. So I’m guessing that 8-10 kt readings you saw on your voyage answers my question. Just as I would have suspected, the smaller, lighter craft goes faster with the bigger sail. We LOVE our TI. It is the most well thought out, well designed, well engineered, coolest looking, most functional, most capable, most versatile, most enjoyable piece of recreational equipment we own. We use it all the time. Thanks for posting this article. Really enjoyed it.
~Matt