I just wanted to say how sad I am to hear of Charlie's complete loss of Resolution.  As a true reporter Charlie reported the facts very professionally.  I know he has to be heart broken about this turn of events.  I share his pain.  My profoundest sympathies are with him and I wish him well.  So sorry for your loss Charley, but so glad you came out ok. 
Larry Whited
Stone Mountain, GA

Proud of you Chuck, for getting Charlie story out on Duckworks so quickly.

Mark Steele

Hi Sandra and Chuck, I've had a long chat to Charlie on the phone, he's in better shape than you'd expect, a few minor bruises and scrapes but physically fine. The phone is still running red hot, and emails are flooding in but he sends his regards and regrets that his mistake has wrecked the dream that so many freinds and supporters shared with him.

John Welsford

I was looking at the maps again this morning. The point I hit is the easternmost piece of land on the island. But for a few miles, I would have just continued on, adjusted my course for Tauranga, and made good the problems with the boat, then carried on. But that's not what happened.

Chuck, you as much as anyone have been a supporter from word go. There's a book to write about the Little Boat that almost Went Around the World. That will help get this sense of loss out of my system.

Charlie Whipple

We are all disappointed that we will not be able to follow Charlie around the world in Resolution but there is a 16 yr. old on a 36 ft. sailboat trying to be the youngest to do so. You can follow him on Google Earth. He has been out 11 days having left Marina Del Ray in California on June 17th. His home page is http://zacsunderland.com/

Gene L

Chuck,

just looking at your site and forum, looks live you have a great trip coming up. I'm impressed by the number and variety of boats.

I wish I could join you guys, but I'm short on time (not to mention money for fuel to get down to Texas). But I will be following your progress. On your forum one of your group mentioned Lydia Ann Channel and Mud Island near Port A. That brought back fond memories of waking up there one June morning in my old boat, waiting for the tide to rise to continue on my trip, watch small schools of redfish or trout working along the edge of the grass while a pod of dolphins swam out in the deeper water. Just beautiful!

I'm heading out on a five day trip along the western shore of Pamlico Sound this week. Won't cover any great distances, but will explore some shallow bays and small islands, maybe do a bit of fishing and read a book or two.

I'll be getting back just as you guys start your trip. Best wishes for the Texas200.

Steve Earley

Howdy again, Chuck...home safe and sound and hope you are too, as well as all other participants...can't tell you how much we enjoyed it...already planning to do a lot of tuning and practicing for next year...if we can ever figure out how to get the most out of Greg's boat ( the Venture-Newport 23 ) and how to avoid gettin' lost and running up on reefs and mudbanks and crashing into other peoples' boats we oughta be fairly competitive...yes, I know, it's not a race, but my hunch is it will sort of evolve in that direction....again, thanks to you and all your efforts to make it happen...if I can ever be of any assistance give me a holler...

Tyson McLeod
Galveston

Chuck - enjoyed seeing you at the Army Hole - fine buch of folk you had in the sail.

FYI - I sent this to the local chamber of commerce and mayor of the city of Seadrift and Victoria Advocate newspaper - the website for the YC is: www.ssandyc.com - you really might consider having Seadrift as a waypoint on the next Tx200 sail - not that far off the course and I think you would find the folks most helpful and really nice.

It isn't very often these days that one meets strangers that are really nice and accommodating right up front. Well, I and the group I sail with did just that last week. There were 5 sailboats of us that sailed into Seadrift, TX. late one afternoon, looking for a place to get a shower and hot meal. Within just a few minutes of tying up to the docks at the Marina, we were greeted by a gentleman by the name of Jack LaBarge who introduced himself as Commodore of the Seadrift Sail and Yacht Club, and shortly thereafter Wesley Hunt and a fine gent by the name of Kelley.

Jack let us know immediately that we were welcome at Seadrift and insisted that if there was anything we needed or somewhere we needed to go, that the Yacht Club would be at our disposal and they would consider it an honor to be of help to any of us. We were also invited to the weekend's festivities and were invited to return to Seadrift on our next cruise in the area. We dined at a local restaurant and stayed at a local motel and spent a few dollars at the Marina as well.

Upon leaving, there was also another turnout to see us off and ask us back again.....things that you just don't see happening any more, or at least rarely..... As we sailed off, we could see them in the distance, still talking to each other and waving at us.

Personally, my hat is off, to the guys at the Seadrift Sail and Yacht Club, their wives and friends....they made all of my group feel really good about returning to Seadrift. I think the City of Seadrift and the Mayor and Council should be really proud to have that group representing the town. We will very likely return next year and I wouldn't be surprised if the Texas 200 sailboat race picks Seadrift as one of it's many waypoints.....

Fair winds to you too Jack, Wesley and Kelly et al's........see you again soon!

Bill Tosh

I think the Texas 200 will mean a lot of reassessment about the PDRacers.  Andrew Linn reckons it was a stunt - a really hard thing to do with boats that were not quite suitable - but John Wright seemed to have a much easier trip in every way because his boat could go to windward reliably where the other two were struggling with their shoal keels.  I admire them even more in light of that!!!!

I think that stuntmeister Shorty has done very well and it has set the class up for other stunts as Andrew, Jason, and John showed, lots of different stunts.

Michael Storer

Hi Chuck,

Dave here from Ausy-land (Sydney) I hope you and your wife are well and business is doing great, anyway I was just looking over this months Duckworks news letter/ web site and noticed an article from Kellan Hatch from Salt Lake City UTAH, his inflatable sailing kayak looks great, do you know if he is thinking about going in to production to sell them or may be sell some kind of building plans for this great boating idea?

I also wish you and your friends a good and safe time and trip on the Texas 200 adventure, we don't have anything like that down here to go to I wish we did, it would be great, some one should start one up, may be I should have a go at trying to see who down here would be interested- including home made boats and small production ones, a real fun / family affair who knows what could happen. After watching and seeing your personal adventures over the past couple of years you have shown that any one can have a go, even if you don't have any boat building skills at all, I take my hat off to you and your followers from everywhere around the globe. I bet you get far more pleasure out of your comradeship then all the wealth that your business has given you and I reckon you and your family deserve both.

Any way I talk to much sorry for rambling on good luck have a good day- Dave

Dave - I have no idea whether Kellan intends to put his little inflatable trimaran into production or not but I can report that he completed the Texas 200 in it and that he did it in style. Afterward, he took his little boat apart, put it in a suitcase and flew back to Salt Lake City with it. Hats off to Kellan for an incredible trip.

Howdy Chuck,

I think a few people have found the hollow mast for the OZ PDR a bit scary. So there is a new mast for those who are time poor.

It is a solid mast which is about 35% heavier than the hollow one.

The hollow one will be better in most conditions because it will make the boat easier to hold up and get back upright after a capsize and will be faster in choppy water because of less pitching and less general weight.

However I have calculated the sizing of the solid mast to have the right bend characteristic to work well with the sails in the plan. The additional notes available below will work with both the standard sprit rig and the optional lug rig.

If a person already has the plan, this page explains what to do.

Best wishes
Michael Storer

I got my oz_pdracer plans printed out at the internet place, and thank god I did. I never dreamed there would be 95 pages. A fellow from Arizona talks about ordering the pdracer and the Goat Island Skiff, and be sure to top up the paper in yopur printer, but 95 pages! I didn't have that much paper in the house. Might I suggest that you say somewhere that there are that many pages, so buyers can be sufficiently prepared. I'm very happy with the plans and am waiting for the lug sail plan from Michael. Thanks so much for you time and help.

Luis G

Luis - you just said it. There is no question that Michael Storer's plans are complete.

Chuck,

Glad to see I'm not the only one proofing your copy. Obviously it should be "It is designed for the home builder who can even be cartopped." Maybe Mitt Romney can help us here. Didn't he do something like that with his dog?

Ross

For those who missed it, here is what I originally wrote:

Long time boat builder, designer and DIY writer Paul Butler has come up with a nifty little drift boat for up to three guys. It is designed for the home builder that can even be cartopped.

A CIRCUMNAVIGATION RACE IN TEN FOOT (3 meter) BOATS

• With 200 Days to the race start in the Bahamas, the support boat is about to be launched in Portugal and in preparation for the Trans Atlantic passage en route to the start line.

• Racers Kristofer J. “Harley” Harlson who has been unable to find Sponsorship and Matt Layden who is dropping out for family reasons were both founding racers. Gordon Brimhall who joined as a racer more recently is dropping out for health reasons.

• Dutch Architect Han Van Ardenne joins the race with his self design boat “Azzurro” (pictures attached.)

• Current list of racers is at  http://www.aroundinten.com/racers.htm

• The event does not have a main sponsor and it is certain to offer exceptional value with enormous media coverage for forward looking brands.

AroundInTen.com - the biggest challenge in the smallest boats.

Event Contact
Nick Dwyer.
nick@dwyer.ie