Start of the North Carolina Challenge
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Today marks the start of the 2024 North Carolina Challenge just across the river from the B&B workshop. This year 16 sailors and paddlers “made it” to the start beach (often cited as the first part of the challenge) and they’re off in favorable downwind conditions for the first leg to Beaufort. This event started in 2009 and is organized by the WaterTribe, a US based adventure racing organization run by the Steve Isaac AKA the “Chief”. The NCC has the same class structure and required equipment as the more well know Everglades Challenge though it is hardly any less challenging.
The 2012 event had over 50 entrants but over the years Hurricanes took out much of the infrastructure on Cedar Island causing a few gap years though it’s well recovered today and the event has always managed a come back. Locals there look forward to seeing the racers each year. A longer 300 mile version called the Black Beard Challenge was also put on a number of times for those that wanted even more of a challenge though this year it was canceled due to low numbers.
You can follow the racers in real time using the tracking map here. Real time updates happen on the WaterTribe forum page and on the Facebook page. Some of the racers are even posting live updates. Alan and Graham couldn’t make it this year but we are following closely! More below.
The NCC or as it’s called now the “NC Ultra Marathon” course starts on the beach at Cedar Island and circumnavigates the eastern half of Carteret county. Racers sail past Oriental, up the Neuse River, down the Harlowe Canal connecting the Neuse to Beaufort and Morehead City, stop at a checkpoint in Beaufort to sign the log before sailing past Cape Lookout and finally up the Core Sound back to Cedar Island. The course is about 100 miles.
The waters on the course are extremely shallow, the course is navigationally challenging and a bit too long to complete in one sleep cycle for most people so racers must plan to be out at least one night. The Harlow Canal offers a filter for boats that are too large or deep and the circular course with some tidal but mostly wind driven currents offers a lot of tactical challenges. The Course also includes Core Sound, the namesake of so many of your favorite sailboat designs so it’s no surprise that Core Sounds are ideally suited to the race. Graham and Randy won the inaugural event in the EC-22 with a time of 1 day 7 hours and 55 min. Followed 10 minutes later by Alan and his Father Paul in their Core Sound 20.
Video below from the 2022 event where Alan and the Chief sailed together in his newly finished Core Sound 17 mark 3
Check out some of our videos from past NCC events on our playlist here.
Like this one from 2017 put together by Matt and Chris who sailed their CS-17 ‘Half Fast’ to second place overall in a year where the ONLY 2 boats who finished were both Core Sound 17 out of 11 entries who started. Alan and Taylor took first that year in CS-17 Southbound.
Or this one from the start of the 2012 event where we had particularly low water at the start.
Or this one from 2020 where Alan sailed his UFC sailing Canoe. (That year they switched it up and started the event in Oriental).
Reminder: The B&B Annual Messabout is just 1 month away! Don’t for get to sign up so we have a head count for friday and Saturday’s Lunch.
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Having cruised those waters many years ago in a 23-footer, it would be fun again in something smaller as we on the left coast are missing out on the protected waterways offered in North Carolina and the East Coast.