BIG RACES COMING UP! –on 3/1
The WaterTribe people have been splashing along since the beginning of the adventure-racing scene. They’re mellow and all about community. Sure, the best finishers get a coveted shark tooth, but it’s an “all for one” scene.
They include various classes of small boats, from paddle kayaks to various kinds of sail-paddle kayaks, to multihull trailerable minicats up to small, trailerable sailboats. I believe that all boats have to be portageable by hand.
I like the rationale behind these events: it’s hard to get months or years away from obligations to do a big expedition—so a WaterTribe Challenge gives you the feel of a big trip in about a week of nonstop adventure. They’re also quite safe for such big action—they’re coastal—in a storm one can skidaddle back to shore in most cases.
The WaterTribe gang hosts several events, mostly centered on Florida. Their first big events of the season both start on March 1!
The 300-mile Everglade Challenge takes 2-7 days.
The 1200-mile Ultimate Florida Challenge circumnavigates the peninsula and takes 2-3 weeks.
[UPDATE: It’s a bit hard to find the “live feed” info on the WT website. There are 2 ways that I now know about. I think they both relate to the Discussion link (in left menubar). Here’s a link to a constant stream of text reports: www.watertribe.com/Default.aspx?ucPtr=Discussion/DiscReadMsg.ascx&strThread=4243&strNumReplies=50. But in the Discussion you can also click on the LOG of the day, in the left column of the Discussion area and you’ll see a MAP showing where the different boats are. Mouse-over the symbols for the boat names. There IS info on this site! Ya just gotta dig.]
If you’re going to follow any sporting events, why not follow sane, friendly yet still gungho and skilled events like these? Don’t they make the most sense? They’re regular folks doing big things which are still on a human scale. There’s little motive to cheat, much reason to cooperate, and many amazing things happen along the way. Also, you can learn from them—many nifty small, cheap, homemade boat designs are tested here. There’s already been a lot of improvement in what makes a good, fun, small coastal sail rig, thanks to the WaterTribe.
And enjoy the cheap seats! It’s easy to follow events like these, thanks to the Net.
At the WT homepage you can learn about the racers then follow their real-time progress on a map. Supercool! Maybe there will even be text updates from the racers as to how they’re doing.
After all, who can relate to the America’s Cup? Who can relate to ANY of today’s pro sports? All you can say is Wow, look at the millionaires go nuts! Let’s take back the boats! (And everything else.)
[BUMP from 8/11/05]
https://www.watertribe.com/
