Okay, Officially it's the Eleventh Hour

With less than 10 days until the 2026 Everglades Challenge unsupported adventure race begins, Team TwoBeers is in high gear getting the new boat, Zygote, ready to launch.

The nascent creature has floated its way from OH Rodger's cozy boat-barn along the Fallopian Way—I mean highway—to the Davis Islands Yacht Club.

This is, by the way, a Yacht Club considerably more The Little Rascals than, say, someplace Thurston Howell the Third would frequent.

Photo credit Dave Clement

Has the boat been splashed? Yes, and the barky swims!  Whoo hoo! Confetti and fireworks! Hurrah!

Zygote keeps water out (mostly), and seems lively and willing on the briny main.

Has the boat been pedaled? Yes.

Photo credit Dave Clement.

The inflatable kayak seat is not entirely dialed in for maximum efficiency, but the pedal drive works like a charm. 

​3 mph, baby!

And how about sailing?  

Indeed she has! 

Her maiden voyage was accomplished with three sailors aboard: TwoBeers, Ninjee, and Moresailesaid, the original Spawnsters. The conditions were light but sailable, and on a reach, she reached 6.1Kts in a breeze of around 7. 

Female by nature as a boat and as a biological specimen (let me remind you that we were all female at the very start of our physical existence), Zygote is in possession of three sails: a main and roller-furling jib, and a Code X, which is a hybrid of screecher and Code Zero, which is to say a little like a spinnaker, only it too furls on a roll and should be a snap to deploy and douse.

The sails come hot off the presses from Doug Fisher Performance sails in Sarasota, and while yes, they are the same vivid FEMA blue that those of us in the hurricane splash zone recognize as tarps, the main and jib are in fact a very cutting edge blend of carbon fiber and dyneema.

And if that sounds like a foreign language, imagine if you will the ceramic tiles on the outside of the space shuttle. Those exotic tiles are as far from the cozy, homelike bathroom tiles  as far as these carbon fiber fabrics are from the soft, mildew-prone canvas of classic sailing yachts (oh, be still my Master and Commander heart).  

For those who are interested, the headboard and clew boards are also made of carbon fiber. Very sleek, very chic, light, and very tough.

Jeff and his team of friends, including Tony "Yarddog" Pocklington, David "DSea" Clement, Jahn "Moresailesaid" Tihansky, and of course OH "Ninjee" Rodgers will continue to refine and rejigger the rigging and set-up for the next few days between practice sails.  

​For instance, as some may remember, Spawn spent a memorable couple of hours upside down in the Gulf of Mexico in a past Everglades Challenge. (Here's the link if you like that sort of story: http://www.amysmithlinton.com/blog/spawn-race-recap-put-the-kettle-on-its-a-long-story).

Photo credit Dave Clement

As Hobie Cat sailors learned in the 1970's, a float (or bob) at the top of the mast can often keep a boat from flipping all the way over. It's called turning turtle when instead of reclining at 90 degrees, a boat goes all the way over, revealing a pale belly to the sky. 

During their misadventures in the Gulf, even the mighty Eye of Horus, as we called the bob at the top of Spawn's mast, was unable to defy gravity.  When brought back upright, the Eye had a squint, having been compressed by the 30-or-so feet of seawater. It's been a little on Ninjee's mind.

So for Zygote, OH cooked up what looks like a torpedo, or maybe a rogue weather-balloon, to affix to the top of the mast. It's made of flotation-filled carbon fiber; I've been irreverently referring to it as the Knob, but the name has yet to catch on with the rest of the team.

I mean, it's thematic, right? Zygote adjacent, one could say.  Oh well, I'll entertain suggestions if you have 'em—=particularly if the entertainment goes beyond my 12-year-old's humor.  

Now, we're off to help locate spare belts for the pedal drive. Wish us good luck!