Overview
This is the toughest small boat challenge you will find anywhere. If you
want to test yourself against everything Mother Nature has to throw at you and
see what you are really made of you have found the way.
This race circumnavigates Florida in five stages. The checkpoints are
shown above. The first stage starts at Fort Desoto in Tampa Bay, Florida
along with the Annual Everglades Challenge. At Key Largo you
turn north and head for Sebastian Inlet. From there you go to the
furthest NE corner of Florida at Fort Clinch. Then it's about 90 miles
upstream on the St. Marys River to St. George. At St. George you begin
the infamous 40-mile portage to the Suwannee River at Fargo. After about
220 miles down river you are back in the Gulf of Mexico - next stop Cedar
Key. The final sprint from Cedar Key finishes back at Fort
Desoto. It's hard to predict which stage will be the toughest since
weather will be a factor, but watch out for the 40-mile portage between the
St. Marys River and the Suwannee River - it's a heart breaker.
Although the deadlines allow just a bit more than 29 days to complete the
Ultimate Florida Challenge, hard chargers might be able to do this in 15 days
or so, but the weather would have to cooperate. A more reasonable target
is 20 days give a take a couple of days. Cruisers may take a more
leisurely pace and use every minute of the allowed time. Of course, this
challenge is so tough that it is possible that nobody can complete it in the
allowed time limits - we'll see.
Here's a rough outline. Note that the deadlines shown here apply to the
Ultimate Challenge. The regular Everglades Challenge participants will
have until Sunday at noon to finish.
| Stage |
Start |
Deadline |
Days |
| 1 |
Shark Tooth Challenge
Fort Desoto to Key Largo
Everglades Challenge Course |
3/1/2008
07:00 |
3/8/2008
07:00 |
7 |
| 2 |
Shark Tooth Challenge
Key Largo to Sebastian Inlet |
3/8/2008
07:00 |
3/15/2008
07:00 |
7 |
| 3 |
Shark Tooth Challenge
Sebastian Inlet to Fort Clinch |
3/15/2008
07:00 |
3/22/2008
07:00 |
7 |
| 4 |
Alligator Tooth Challenge
Fort Clinch to Cedar Key
Okefenokee Challenge Course |
3/22/2008
07:00 |
3/28/2008
07:00 |
6 |
| 5 |
Shark Tooth Sprint
Cedar Key to Fort Desoto |
3/28/2008
07:00 |
3/30/2008
12:00 |
2+ |
The price for the Ultimate Challenge is $1,995 per challenger.
Stages cannot be entered indvidually (expception Everglades Challenge).
All stages except 4 earn a shark tooth. Stage 4 earns an alligator tooth.
Note that missing deadlines (grace periods), clearance to leave, and other
rules are covered in detail in other pages of this web site.
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