redneck joe
Supreme Mariner
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- Mar 18, 2009
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Robert Youens
1h ·
Great Loop Jon Boat
Speed Record Attempt
A fellow on the Great Loop Facebook Group stated: "You don't have a chance of breaking the Great Loop Speed Record" set by 3 men in a 28' foot boat with a 400 hp V10 Mercury. I thought you might appreciate my response.
Here is a "cut and paste" copy of my response:
What do you base your assumption on?
I'm personally quiet certain that I'll break the Record Time of 19 days, 19 hours and 50 minutes set by Red Flowers and his 2 man crew last year in his charity run raising funds for Pediatric Cancer research. Here is what I base my assumption on. Start to finish.
1. They had a fixed start date too early in the year. Because of this they started in bad weather and spent entirely too much time running the ICW up the East Coast. I'm going to start later, when winds calm, weather systems subside, winds switch more southerly and I'm going to sit and wait for my start until there is an optimal weather window. I'll run much if not all the East Coast offshore.
2. Their range was limited to less than 400 miles with their max fuel capacity of approximately 160 gallons. With my boats range I'll take many fewer fuel stops. Likely half as many.
3. They had little experience in their new boat and ran out of fuel on the Erie Canal.
4. Due to the size and weight of their boat and it's wake size I'll be able to run much faster on the Erie Canal yellow zones. I'll gain a full day on them in the 340 mile stretch of the Erie Canal.
5. Again they were too early to the Great Lakes and dealt with weather systems they wouldn't have had to if they were there a month later.
6. They made a Pit Stop in Detroit to meet with the Sharrow Prop people and changed to a Sharrow Prop... they again stopped in Chicago to remove the Sharrow Prop and go back to their standard prop? What, huh?
7. They made a strategic error, in my opinion, starting their trek south on the East Side of Lake Michigan with seasonal winds out of the West Southwest. They ended up doing a full crossing of approximately 90 miles fighting head seas to get to the leaward, West Coast of the lake. I will cross under the Mackinac Bridge and run West to the lea of Beaver Island and follow the leaward West side of Lake Michigan to Chicago.
8. In the Illinois River and other places they stayed in hotels costing time. I thrive sleeping in my boat, having camped in it over 100 nights prior to this trip. I can set up and take down quickly providing ample opportunity for adequate sleep.
9. Where many boaters worry about fuel and range due to the lack of places to refuel... the stretch between the Illinois River and Mobile Bay, I can make that stretch only stopping once for fuel. Red's crew likely stopped 3 times to take on fuel.
10. I will be making a direct crossing from Pensacola, Florida to Ft Meyers. This crossing is approximately 420 miles. I will be doing the crossing in a weather window of my choice, as this is where I'll be starting. I'll make this crossing in 1 day. It took Red and his crew 3 days to cover the same distance due to a fund raising stop and the motor breaking down and going into limp mode. They had to limp into Ft Meyers for repairs at a dealership.
11. I'm taking the Okeechobee Waterway directly crossing central Florida cutting off 200 miles of Gulf and shallow water coming into Marathon. Many feel this is a slower route dealing with the canals, speed restricted zones and 5 locks, but after doing my research I feel it is the fastest route for my boat. They laid over at a friend's house in Marathon.
12. I'm not fundraising, staying at hotels, meeting with sponsors, running out of gas, doing twice the fuel stops or staying at a friend's house. I'll wake up and be running within minutes. I'll make coffee in the evening when preparing dinner and place it in a thermos to drink underway in the morning. I commend Red for raising funds for pediatric cancer, but it did cost him time. I've talked to Red multiple times and he admitted that he left at least 4 days on the table that he could improve on. His boat is much faster than mine if run at wide open throttle, but they rarely opened it up because the 400 hp Mercury would suck their 160 gallon fuel tank dry in no time. With my Tohatsu MFS60 on the 16' Weldbilt Jon Boat carrying 84 gallons of fuel I'm guessing my average speed will likely be faster than theirs because I won't be worrying about running out of fuel.
I'm going to apply every bit of my experience and knowledge, I've got a super strong Weldbilt 1656MV built specifically for the rigors of my trip and my new Tohatsu MFS60 is light weight, sips fuel and above all is super dependable!
I look forward to representing the Jon Yacht Community well, departing July 6th or shortly thereafter on the Great Loop Record Speed Run. A new record will be set!
Robert Youens
1h ·
Great Loop Jon Boat
Speed Record Attempt
A fellow on the Great Loop Facebook Group stated: "You don't have a chance of breaking the Great Loop Speed Record" set by 3 men in a 28' foot boat with a 400 hp V10 Mercury. I thought you might appreciate my response.
Here is a "cut and paste" copy of my response:
What do you base your assumption on?
I'm personally quiet certain that I'll break the Record Time of 19 days, 19 hours and 50 minutes set by Red Flowers and his 2 man crew last year in his charity run raising funds for Pediatric Cancer research. Here is what I base my assumption on. Start to finish.
1. They had a fixed start date too early in the year. Because of this they started in bad weather and spent entirely too much time running the ICW up the East Coast. I'm going to start later, when winds calm, weather systems subside, winds switch more southerly and I'm going to sit and wait for my start until there is an optimal weather window. I'll run much if not all the East Coast offshore.
2. Their range was limited to less than 400 miles with their max fuel capacity of approximately 160 gallons. With my boats range I'll take many fewer fuel stops. Likely half as many.
3. They had little experience in their new boat and ran out of fuel on the Erie Canal.
4. Due to the size and weight of their boat and it's wake size I'll be able to run much faster on the Erie Canal yellow zones. I'll gain a full day on them in the 340 mile stretch of the Erie Canal.
5. Again they were too early to the Great Lakes and dealt with weather systems they wouldn't have had to if they were there a month later.
6. They made a Pit Stop in Detroit to meet with the Sharrow Prop people and changed to a Sharrow Prop... they again stopped in Chicago to remove the Sharrow Prop and go back to their standard prop? What, huh?
7. They made a strategic error, in my opinion, starting their trek south on the East Side of Lake Michigan with seasonal winds out of the West Southwest. They ended up doing a full crossing of approximately 90 miles fighting head seas to get to the leaward, West Coast of the lake. I will cross under the Mackinac Bridge and run West to the lea of Beaver Island and follow the leaward West side of Lake Michigan to Chicago.
8. In the Illinois River and other places they stayed in hotels costing time. I thrive sleeping in my boat, having camped in it over 100 nights prior to this trip. I can set up and take down quickly providing ample opportunity for adequate sleep.
9. Where many boaters worry about fuel and range due to the lack of places to refuel... the stretch between the Illinois River and Mobile Bay, I can make that stretch only stopping once for fuel. Red's crew likely stopped 3 times to take on fuel.
10. I will be making a direct crossing from Pensacola, Florida to Ft Meyers. This crossing is approximately 420 miles. I will be doing the crossing in a weather window of my choice, as this is where I'll be starting. I'll make this crossing in 1 day. It took Red and his crew 3 days to cover the same distance due to a fund raising stop and the motor breaking down and going into limp mode. They had to limp into Ft Meyers for repairs at a dealership.
11. I'm taking the Okeechobee Waterway directly crossing central Florida cutting off 200 miles of Gulf and shallow water coming into Marathon. Many feel this is a slower route dealing with the canals, speed restricted zones and 5 locks, but after doing my research I feel it is the fastest route for my boat. They laid over at a friend's house in Marathon.
12. I'm not fundraising, staying at hotels, meeting with sponsors, running out of gas, doing twice the fuel stops or staying at a friend's house. I'll wake up and be running within minutes. I'll make coffee in the evening when preparing dinner and place it in a thermos to drink underway in the morning. I commend Red for raising funds for pediatric cancer, but it did cost him time. I've talked to Red multiple times and he admitted that he left at least 4 days on the table that he could improve on. His boat is much faster than mine if run at wide open throttle, but they rarely opened it up because the 400 hp Mercury would suck their 160 gallon fuel tank dry in no time. With my Tohatsu MFS60 on the 16' Weldbilt Jon Boat carrying 84 gallons of fuel I'm guessing my average speed will likely be faster than theirs because I won't be worrying about running out of fuel.
I'm going to apply every bit of my experience and knowledge, I've got a super strong Weldbilt 1656MV built specifically for the rigors of my trip and my new Tohatsu MFS60 is light weight, sips fuel and above all is super dependable!
I look forward to representing the Jon Yacht Community well, departing July 6th or shortly thereafter on the Great Loop Record Speed Run. A new record will be set!
