Race to Alaska 2016 in a home-built pedal+sail boat
Here is a Google album of Matt Johnson updating his V16R2AK pedal-boat in the lead up to the 2018 Race to Alaska (R2AK). Matt was able to lighten Rouleur by ~20 kg (60 pounds) by removing the wooden decks and amas and replacing them with a lighter material — divinycell foam sheets strengthened by fiberglass — and by fabricating new, lighter beams from a foam core and laminated cedar bottoms/tops. He also added a suite of features to make pedaling 18-hours per day more comfortable, including a sea-kayaking
In preparation for competing in the Sound Rower’s “Sausage Pull” race tomorrow, Matt, Tim, and Scott assembled Rouleur yesterday at Sail Sandpoint and tested out the alignment of the new beams Matt constructed. This was the first time since the 2016 Race to Alaska that the boat had been floated, and this race will be an interesting opportunity to get some speed data with the boat lightly loaded.