Hobie Cat Forums

Super paddler ArdieO's wife, Sherry, has posted his weight breakdown for his Ultimate FL race. Here it is:

Cart 6.4 lbs
Food 10 lbs
Tent and related items 2.8 lbs
Clothes 4.4 lbs (extra)
Stove and cooking kit 10.5 oz
Pad and sleep system including hypothermia gear 4 lbs
Water 16 lbs
Flares 14 oz
Maps 3 lbs
VHF-spot plus extra batteries 4 lbs
Gps 8 oz
Phone 11 oz
Paddle 27 oz
Shoes 1lb 4 oz
Hiking shoes 2lb 2oz
Canoe paddle 9 oz
Paddling gear 3.8 lbs
Boat 44lbs
Tools 4 lbs
Duct tape 8 oz
Clothes on body 2.8 lbs
Ardie 168.2 lbs

Something to aim for.

Keith

_________________
I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades, 10,000 Islands, Cape Romano, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Sort of, but without the Mirage Drive. I think Jolly Roger got closer to a "Super AI" with his ketch contraption that used a Tandem AI mast forward and an AI mast aft. It also has a Mirage Drive. Unfortunately, he had a hull problem. His hull was wood, beams aluminum, and amas inflatable. I'm envisioning all of that stuff out of carbon fiber.

I would like to thank everyone that watched the race.

I did lose my camera off checkpoint off Chokoloski. I will give a $100 bucks to anyone that can find it. I just want the video data. I had a lot of great shots. I lost the camera within the first 10 minutes after I left the checkpoint. I had it in my life jacket pocket. When I threw the jacket into the boat to pull it through the mud The camera must've fell through the drive well. A metal detector might be able to pick her up at low tide.

I will post a race report after I return home. I will put up some pictures on my Blogger website while I'm here.

_________________
Paul
DogsLife
2011 Adventure Island (Little Dog)
2010 Tandem Island (Big Dog: "We keep a leg up on the competition")
2001 Wilderness Systems Woodsman Kayak 14.5 (Blue Dog)

http://dogslifeadventures.blogspot.com/

Another Hobie AI is coming in while I sit here on the pier with the rest of the Watertribe crew.

_________________
Paul
DogsLife
2011 Adventure Island (Little Dog)
2010 Tandem Island (Big Dog: "We keep a leg up on the competition")
2001 Wilderness Systems Woodsman Kayak 14.5 (Blue Dog)

http://dogslifeadventures.blogspot.com/

Dogs, when do the Awards ceremony & party start tomorrow?

That will be Brian aka AhMaChamee coming in. He spent all of yesterday mucking around in the FL Bay mud.

Keith

_________________
I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades, 10,000 Islands, Cape Romano, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Keith,

11-12 Award Ceremony;

Ahmachee just pulled in. Will post a picture.

_________________
Paul
DogsLife
2011 Adventure Island (Little Dog)
2010 Tandem Island (Big Dog: "We keep a leg up on the competition")
2001 Wilderness Systems Woodsman Kayak 14.5 (Blue Dog)

http://dogslifeadventures.blogspot.com/

With AhMaChamee's finish, I believe he will be the 9th boat. That means that 3 Hobies (AIs) will have finished in the top 10. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!

WHAT A GREAT DAY FOR THE HOBIES. I have to say when I saw the winds and the forecasts at the beginning, I predicted it. These results have really muted the unfriendly comments about Hobies on a S FL fishing forum. Hooray for the Hobies and their outstanding operators!

Keith

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I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades, 10,000 Islands, Cape Romano, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

And they finished first, second and fourth in the single crew division.

_________________

What? They were not impressed with our little toys?

By all means, they should get out there in serious boats and show up the toy fleet!

Well, I just got back from the Awards Ceremony in Key Largo. All our boys were there (except for those doing the Ultimate Florida--race around FL). Dogslife was there, Tidetraveller was there, AhMaChamee was there, Toby the long distance adventurer was there, SewSew was there, as was Bill Fite--they were all there. And, they were all in great spirits.

When I saw AhMaChamee aka Brian Tindell, he was standing intently over his boat--taking notes. Yes, he was preparing for next year's 300 mi Everglades Challenge. Brian has a lot of stories to tell about his EC, and I hope he posts a few here. He is an excellent storyteller, and stories would be of interest to all of us.

One thing I got from him was his breakdown of the percentages. When I got home, I realized his percentages do not include the boat. No boat contribution to the challenge?? In fact, we discussed "the boat" at length. We both concluded that, if you cannot do the EC by paddling, than the AI was close to the perfect boat. That is pretty much verified by 3 AIs being in the top 10 boats to finish. Or, as ChrisJ points out, Hobie AI's finished 1, 2, and 4 of the single-person boats. Quite an achievement.

Nevertheless, Brian's percentage breakdown is interesting:
30% Physical
30% Knowledge
35% Perseverance
5% Luck
100%

In Brian's opinion, you need 100% of these items to do the EC. Maybe he can gives us his idea of how much contribution the boat makes to the success of the EC.

The 5% luck is critical. SewSew's boat was knocked down 5 mi from the EC finish in Key Largo--and then was run over by a powerboat who came to help him causing irrepariable. Backwaterbob's tandem suffered a broken mast frame, which ended his race. Jarhead aka Bill Fite could not avoid a channel marker due to rough seas, strong winds, and strong current. The tear in his new sail put him out of the race. The 5% got these fellows.

Keith

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I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades, 10,000 Islands, Cape Romano, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

Allocating 0% to the boat seems a bit unrealistic. That implies you could win the EC paddling an innertube.
The performance of the AI's as single person boats is highly significant IMHO. Boats with 2 or more crew are at a tremendous advantage in such a long hard race, because of the crewmembers' opportunity to spell each other.
While the successful AI sailors clearly have lots of knowledge, endurance and persistence, you would have to assume that many of the other competitors also possess these qualities. Given the number of single person entrants, the odds against the AI's finishing 1st and 2nd by chance are over 1000 to 1.

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Shhh! Not so loud or the Wiz is probably going to do it in an inner tube.

No, no, AhMaChamee definitely was NOT allocating 0% to the boat. In talking to him, he told me the AI was close to the absolute best boat for the EC.

I think when I asked him for the percentages, He obvously thought % of the various personal attributes. I'm sure he will offer personal vs boat % if we can get him to look at this forum when his life gets back to normal.

Chief, who organizes the Watertribe and its races, has said that the Hobie AI/TI was the fastest growing group of boats. My guess is that with these results, we will see more next year. Then, if we have a large number of AI/TIs, (1) the AI/TIs may have their own 1-design class, and (2) it will be the person operating the boat that determines the outcome.

Keith

_________________
I sail: S FL, Key Largo, Everglades, 10,000 Islands, Cape Romano, Cedar Key

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

I've enjoyed reading these posts. Thanks Keith for keeping us informed.
Any idea as to what the failure of BB's TI's mast frame was?
In last years race, we were alerted to the V-Brace socket screw problem.
Could this be the same problem?

So today we'll have a nice wind from the east and I am thinking of doing the "Shell Creek Challenge." That's where you go from my place on Shell Creek down to Ponce Park in Punta Gorda. The course starts just off the edge of the inset portion of chart 11426. It's sort of related to the Everglades Challenge, but much easier.

For an AI, that is.

On a day like today, I doubt anyone in any other boat could beat an AI in the Shell Creek Challenge. The narrow, windless parts of the creek and the two low bridges would kill a boat like Sizzors and even with its speed out in the harbor, I doubt it could catch up. There is just not enough open water. The AI can sail in the parts of the creek where there is wind and power through the others with the Mirage Drive. Only the fastest paddling craft could keep up, but I think the AI could lose them once in the harbor in good wind.

No other Class 5 boat could do the Wilderness Waterway part of the EC very well at all, but it would not be a big problem for an AI. Thinking about it, none of the boats that have beaten an AI in the EC are boats that I would want to sail just for fun down in the creek, but I do that all the time with my AI.