If you took the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance automobile race and tossed it in a mixing bowl with an Ironman triathlon, you’d end up with something that resembles the Skiff Challenge.
To win Le Mans, you need an overengineered supercar that can run at maximum revs for 24 hours straight. To finish an Ironman, athletes must overcome a grueling course that comprises a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon. The Ironman tests personal mettle; Le Mans pushes metal and man to their limits. The Skiff Challenge requires a bit of both.
There are no rain delays and no lay days during the Skiff Challenge, a 1,300-mile, body-pounding race around the Sunshine State to raise awareness of the state’s water issues and money for Everglades restoration. Once the boats leave the starting line at the Florida/Alabama state line, the race isn’t over until they reach Fernandina Beach, Florida, on the Georgia state line — unless a team puts the boat on a trailer and retires.
Standing at the Flora-Bama beach bar on the Gulf Coast on April 8, the four teams competing in the 2021 Skiff Challenge knew they were in for an arduous, wind-in-your face ride around the Florida peninsula. Winds blew out of the south at 25 knots for the start, driving in offshore swells and turning inland bays into a washing machine of 2-foot chop, miserable conditions for running a skiff.
“This is the Skiff Challenge — we wouldn’t have it any
