WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge 2022

First Hand Account Of TryBabyTri's Challenge

By Christian Patrick (aka TryBabyTri)

Chief asked me to write the story of my 2022 Ultimate Florida Challenge experience for his website, so here goes. I’m TryBabyTri, a 48-year-old sailor with about 12 years of offshore, shorthanded, and single-handed cruising experience. Well maybe I should back up a little bit. I should probably tell you first that when I get into something I tend to jump in all the way. Some of the subjects that have consumed me were acting in and producing roughly 10 regional theater pieces, worked in New York City as a Male fashion model, worked as an investment banker on Madison Avenue, directed and produced 30 or so independent films including my own feature length Narrative about a corrupt criminal attorney/serial killer. And if all of that wasn't varied enough, I really jumped off of the deep end when I founded my own nonprofit free bicycle program giving away over 1000 bicycles recovered from the garbage stream to anyone willing to help the cause of saving the planet. But somehow when I got my first boat, I swore to myself that I would never let it become my whole life. So, this is what happened. I was halfway around the peninsula of Florida, 600 Nautical miles around arguably the hardest half of the hardest race I've ever attempted alone on a rented, 21 foot long 8.5 feet wide, open bridge deck catamaran sailboat when I hit a 45-knot double squall that made me pitchpole and broke my forestay causing me to go full turtle at night nearly 20 miles offshore.

I was wisely advised by a loved one to not rent a boat for this race for liability reasons. But Andyman is like an arms dealer providing the best weapons to the country he wants to win if they pay his fee. Determining the fate of battles and wars and maybe even lives in the theater of the Florida coastal waters. I was running out of time in the proverbial "race to the race” and Andy had previously offered to rent me his 2020 Everglades Challenge finisher boat “Super Freak”. He either took pity on me or admired me for having completed the Everglades Challenge the year before in a “pool toy” (my Hobie Bravo a 12-foot plastic catamaran, but that’s another story altogether) and offered to rent me his boat "Super Freak", for roughly the same as I paid outright for my last boat.

Having sailed single handed up and down the entire east coast several times in various conditions I knew I needed an offshore boat for this race. But not just any offshore boat, I needed one with Deep "V" hulls, like "Ahine" the 34' pacific proa l sailed in my first race ever, the 2018 Race To Alaska. Ahine just cut through the waves like a Japanese sword straddling 5 waves at a time on occasion. Super Freak performed very similarly just on a smaller scale. Andy said it himself “She just eats up 2-to-3-foot chop.”

I, being the hand to mouth sailboat addict that I was, had no choice but to respectfully ask Andy if his boat was still available for rent for the EC. “Yes” was a step in the right direction. “So how would you feel about renting her to me for the Ultimate Florida Challenge?” I could tell that he wasn't too comfortable with that at first, but I think that many things must have crossed through his mind as he contemplated it. I would guess that Super Freak’s own spirit of adventure must have weighed heavy on this decision, because he said something like well it’s going to cost you more then what we discussed, and I know you're on a budget, so he named a price and I said “Yes, thank you so much!” Andy mentioned a few things he had to put aside to help prepare Freak and a few things I would need and told me to be at his house at 5pm when he got off work. I was in business! Woo-hoo! I had a real boat and a real technician with experience on my team. I suddenly had something to stand on besides my willingness to risk it all for my dream. 5pm couldn't come soon enough.

Super Freak

The first issue we had to address was reducing sail area so that l wasn't overpowered single handing this double handed boat. I happened to have a new Whirlwind sail with two reef points for my, new to me, previous EC finisher, boat “Dream On”. She was a comfy single hander with sofa like wings to lounge on, a Hobie 17, a very capable boat, that I could have used if I didn't have Andyman’s graces. The odds of my only new sail fitting perfectly all the way to the top of the mast, and perfectly on the boom but with roughly 25% less sail area in the roach were crazy. Actually, my whole Hobie 17 sail suit fit perfectly including my spinnaker and furling jib. Andy wisely advised me to not waste my time with a spinnaker but on my latest R2AK attempt l used my screecher sail at least I/3 of the time and the UFC race can last twice as long so I stubbornly insisted.

The other thing that I knew I needed was a heavy anchor, since I would be anchoring out a lot on my outside runs along the beaches of east Florida.

Andy had already spruced up the rudders and upgraded the boom to external rotating furling which I loved. It really kept my limited trampoline space clean and neat when reducing or dousing the sail. Like all GCat sailboats, Freak had a front trampoline which was essential for tightening the forestay, which was a Portuguese windlass, anchoring and storing gear out of my way. It was also useful to shift weight forward on upwind days to increase speed by getting my sterns out of the water. Andy provided a nifty righting pole that he made from a spinnaker pole with spring clamps and Dyneema line that could latch to anywhere on the tramp for unlimited possible righting needs. I also knew from my R2AK experience that beaching a boat on a rising tide can get messy and boat anchors don't work on land, so l fabricated 4, 3' stakes out of some old composite golf clubs with an angle grinder. I brought a small sledgehammer to drive them in, that could also act as catenary or a kellet in case needed to spruce up my anchor rode ever. From some offroad videos on You Tube I learned that Stakes as land anchors work better in a straight line with equal tension by the way. And of course, I made an anchor bridal, essential equipment on any cruising multihull.

Andy helped me to raise the mast and sails and make sure everything was there and showed me how it all worked at his beautiful boat warehouse/shop behind his house. Sadly, we had to derig everything to trailer her to the water which was at least 5 miles away. At least it was much easier to derig her then her initial rigging. So off I went, alone at last, with my new best friend and life support system "super Freak".

Even though I was a member of the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, they refused to give me space to rig her there. I've noticed that it’s a common problem with boat clubs, they were storing too many boats that never get used. I wish they would help to sell unused boats so they get better care and make room for more actively used sailboats. Or they could have a more affordable long term storage lot further away from the beach. My local spot at Bay Shore Gardens small boat beach area only allows mast up storage for up to 17’ long boats. That's too bad because they only charge $200/year and let you switch out boats if you need to. I tried networking, craigslist, sailing forums, Facebook and I just couldn't find any other possibilities after several days of looking. I couldn’t even find a place to park her on her trailer for a night without begging and pleading.

So I broadened my search area and was surprisingly welcomed at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center, where they even gave me their best spot right next to the beach. I couldn't believe the difference in their awesome attitude. Even the price was fair only $160/week up front and that included a key to their fenced in beach sailing pen with overnight parking and access to bathrooms it was perfect. I found several friendly beach cat sailors there of all levels of experience.

Needless to say, Freak was a lot of work for me to set up alone. But I got her in the water for her shakedown sail, and everything seemed fine. The only issue I had was the main sail was hard to get in the track and up. Andy warned me about that and sprayed SailKote on the bolt rope for me. And I had to learn how to make her go fast was my only other issue, but I had plenty of time for that on this sometimes 45-day long race. Good thing that I got more SailKote at The Tackle Shack ( I love that place by the way.) I used it about 3 more times on my main sail until she became more manageable to handle. Getting help to move her up the fluffy white sand beach over the 4x4 tracks back into the pen on beach wheels was no easy task. It wasn’t because I was alone out there, I was surrounded by girls in bikinis and guys in loud off-road trucks with neon and music blaring, none of them would give me the time of the day. So I waited and worked on stuff at the high water line until inevitably someone took an interest in my out of place vehicle. I answered all their questions and offered my only companion out here in a sea of people a ride on my boat if he helped me muscle her up the beach.

After a last-minute run to West Marine for nav lights I reconvened with my first mate. He had always wanted to sail and never had before and he was on a 4000-mile motorcycle trip from Mexico to Alaska so I knew he was a hard-working adventurer and could probably handle the challenges of sailing. I also knew I didn't have the energy to repeat that whole derigging procedure again to trailer her to the starting line like most racers do. So once I was certain that my virgin first mate wasn't going to get seasick and consented to his first sail being an outside 20 mile or so passage, we set off to sail her to the starting line around sunset the day before race check in. Since the rules specifically said that I couldn't beach her at the starting line until after I completed my safety inspection the next morning, I stopped at the Fort Desoto boat ramp instead a little after midnight. Also, my first mate and I needed to get an Uber back to Clearwater for our Cars and I had known that Ubers nor any vehicles were allowed in Fort Desoto after dark.

The next day is when I started to feel acquainted with Freak and I really liked her. At the crack of dawn, we (and I mean Freak and I by that) sailed the remaining 5 or so miles to the race start alone. We got there around 8:30am. One of the volunteers immediately ran up and reminded me that I couldn't even touch the beach with my boat until I got my safety inspection done. So l anchored in about 3 feet of water with my rudders locked in the up position with my oversized anchor. I was very confident she would hold and not cause trouble while I was away. But I still asked someone to keep an eye on her. The volunteers were all super helpful at registration, even though I printed the wrong forms, I got out of there quickly.

Back at the beach, I found a spot on the south end between my generous AndyMan and Natedog’s boat Moon Dancer and the new two-person team AlwaysPeratus and SemperReady in the super-fast new Nacra 17 with C boards, that came in second overall. And the 18th Camel setting up the complicated Russian inflatable Catamaran sailboat just abaft of me. I saved him some room by the way. I thought his mid 30’s very capable son would crew with him but that was not the case, he was like me off on his big adventure solo. I set out Andy’s 6 unique beach slides in a path up the beach for her as per Andy’s instructions. I think I got a chuckle out of him as he informed me all six of them were both upside down and sideways.

Setting Up On Launch Beach

Well, if it wasn’t before it certainly was then that he earned his name with me. Andyman is definately the Handiest sailor I know. He made them from roughly 3-foot sections of heavy teel green plumbing pipe about 5” diameter cut in halves with 2” holes drilled along the sides to reduce weight. And boy did they work, we probably only needed 4 to slide her up easily, but Andy, rallied up a bunch of people to help. It happened so fast that I think we actually carried her past the high-water line to the highest part of the beach. I'm guessing that more competitive sailors like launching from this spot to get a few extra knots of speed out of the dramatic Le Mans type race start.

Having been exhausted from days and weeks of rushing and prepping up until the "first filter", as Chief likes to call the safety inspection, I took a secret nap under my boat for an hour or so. Feeling much better, I got to work on my spinnaker sail which ripped at one point but the team SemperReady and AlwaysPeratus offered me another one which happened to be the exact same one I just ripped. I insisted on paying them back for it even though they said just pay it forward. Later I found out that they broke a mast the day before and somehow got another one the night before race start. A commendable act on their first WaterTribe event. Most people would just quit after breaking a very expensive carbon fiber mast the day before the race. And good for them because they went on to finish 2nd overall!

Race day was quite windy for the smaller boats so Chief ordered everyone to have a reef or two in the mainsail in the skippers meeting. This having been the first time I was putting a reef in my main, I did it wrong. But I didn’t know it was wrong until I was committed and off of the beach. I decided to keep sailing until the other side of Tampa Bay before I corrected it. I basically put two reefs into the front of the sail and only one at the back It worked fine until I had to go tight hulled. At which point I was block-to-block on the main sheet and my sail was barely tight enough for a broad reach. Oops.

Launching At The Start - Fort Desoto

The rest of the race was pretty normal once I got my reefing and sleeping situation set. I spent a lot of nights sleeping on deck while the boat was anchored in my bivvy sack and 2 sleeping bags. This was mostly by choice but once I left key Largo it became the only choice because I was outside the whole time.

Even though I had my spinnaker fully rigged and ready when I left the Key Largo stage point thanks to the generous help from some of the beach cat sailors from the Upper keys Sailing Club, I never even needed it. Any sailor doing the UF Challenge would be missing out if they didn't stop at their beautiful club to socialize and enjoy their fully stocked bar and excellent restaurant.

Things that I should have done but didn’t were rig my jib furling line cleat to the rear beam which would have been better for single handing, and I would have had a proper cable forestay instead of the Portuguese windlass it came with. The Portuguese windlass needed daily tightening that would have been better off with a custom fit pig tail of braided stainless. Or a much longer Portuguese windlass could have worked maybe but I didn’t have the experience with them to know that. Andy said I needed a longer piece of Dyneema for my forestay, but I had so many other things to do to prepare that I didn’t get around to it.

I basically sailed fast and comfortably for 2 weeks until I got to Cape Canaveral when I should have gone into the inlet there because I saw thunderstorms in the distance ahead. I noticed they had anvil tops instead of cumulonimbus clouds so I felt that they would peter out soon and wouldn't be a factor like I have often seen before, but after sunset they gradually surrounded me and by 10 pm I got my first sprinkle and 10 minutes later it turned gradually into a 25 kt squall I just rode this off letting my main drape around the shrouds with a double reef and my jib fully reefed. That worked great and then the wind died to almost zero and I kept my sail configuration not knowing what to expect.

After 15 minutes of calm the squall came back starting at around 25kts and then 30kts, 35kts and maybe 40. I couldn't believe that I was able to keep her straight through this. I had my main draped over the shrouds again and still fully reefed and I felt like I might ride it out until I hit my first wave. The boat went up like a roller coaster on rails then drove off a cliff of a swell and the boat abruptly stopped as the bows dug in at the bottom and the sterns and I raised up in slow motion. I once again was surprised by how slow this was and how I was able to hang on and actually tried to hold on tight to the beam, but something gave way, and I was catapulted off of the boat at what felt like 30 feet forward. The splash wasn't that bad, I didn't have the wind blown out of me or anything. I floated around in my life preserver and dry suit with all of my survival gear strapped to me and saw that my boat was maybe 10 feet away, so I easily swam back to it and pulled myself aboard. Only this time I was sitting on the other side of my trampoline in about 3 inches of water with my upturned hulls on either side of me and all my life support gear tied to the wrong side of the trampolines.

Here’s where I made my biggest mistake. I should have just done what Chief said any racer should do before he quits the race. Something along the lines of “Sleep it off and get a good meal or two in before you quit”. But I guess I felt defeated since my forestay broke and I knew I couldn’t raise my mast again singlehanded on the water. Also, my dry suit was getting soggy after soaking in water constantly for half an hour or so. If I would have had a survival suit or some way to get warm and dry at this point, I would have been fine but that wasn't the case.

So I used my trusty inReach mini to call the coast guard and they got to me within 45 minutes. I thought it would take hours since I was 20 miles offshore in a thunderstorm, so I barely had time to secure my Garmin tracker to the boat and get my pelican case and dried food bag. I expected to do what team Holopuni did in the last Race To Alaska back in 2019, but I later learned that that was impossible this time. I couldn't rent a Jet ski, nor a power boat or even charter a fishing boat to take me out to where my tracker said to go, because it was blowing 25 knots for several days and the inlet was very difficult to negotiate. I even tried paddling out on my Hobie Tandem Oasis pedal kayak a couple of times. I also tried soliciting a ride from the few intrepid boaters leaving the inlet from my kayak one whole day and by vhf radio another day. Two business days after the incident I paid Andyman the full amount of Freak’s replacement value as per our contract. So, at that point I had only one option to take my Nacra 18 Square Meter out to run search patterns in the water where she might be since the tracker stopped working about 2 days after the incident and we were at around day 3. While I was in Sebastian, Fl about 2 hours drive away, I got a call from the park rangers at Apollo beach just north of the Cape. My boat washed up on his beach, still capsized but seemingly intact. They sent me pics of it and a GPS location. So I packed up as quickly as I could in Sebastian and got on the road back to the cape. I called Andyman and he said he would meet me there in the morning. By the time I got there it was dark, and the park was closed so I just slept it off and got to the beach the next morning. That was another big mistake because Freak left the shore for the last time that morning before we could find her, never to be seen again. I know this because Andyman identified several pieces of flotsam and jetsam as being her innards. I didn't want to give up hope but when he showed me one of her unmistakable supercat rudder blades broken in half I knew all hope was lost.

Since the accident I have talked with a few very good sailors, and they all agree that I should have rounded up instead of committing to an open sail straight downwind. When I say rounded up, I mean turning into the wind to depower the sail. At the time I didn’t expect it to be a very big squall, but I still should have rounded up until I knew how strong it was going to be. Also, if you’re rounded up even if you’re still overpowered the boat can sail backwards and if it capsizes or pitchpoles backwards it will be much gentler then while sailing forward.

Thanks for reading my story and please feel free to comment or ask questions. I'm glad to share my experience and what I know with anyone interested. I'm also glad to help any WaterTribers salvage a race boat or retrieve a lost boat. Pay it forward!!

Copyright ©2022 Christian Patrick (aka TryBabyTri)