I don't think you would know Neb Ryle from Indian River, Florida. To me he was the greatest Florida Shark racer I have ever raced against. I would like to get his name into the record books here at ASA lest we forget the greatest and I mean the greatest Shark racer of all time. That's one of my stories that I have included herein for others to know of him and not get lost to just old timers memories. Post it if you find these stories acceptable and interesting or not but remember Neb Ryle, the best Shark sailor in Florida ...... maybe the nation. Some stories are a little wordy. I just had to tell it to someone since this experience is something special to me and a sail boat that gave me the most pleasure in my competitive youth. I will treasure it always. I believe anyone having a boat like the Shark and racing it will have many great memories for a lifetime meeting friends, winning and losing races, the camaraderie and the exchange of words, the excitement and fun of the sport that they will treasure and look back at the good old days someday just like I do right now.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Al Nikolaiev (Al Niko, once owned Shark 101 and Shark 125, currently still have Shark 234)
That was a race from Tampa to Sarasota The first boat there in Tampa (the day before the race) gets to dock ahead of the others that followed in that manor to tie on to one long dock, boat after boat on one single side of the dock, the day before the race starts. The race rules that year stated it's a sail down race for the first 300 feet of the race and you need to paddle, swim the boat, kedge or puch it to the starting line, anyway but motor it to the starting line, then you can raise your sails and begin your race journey. Some boats were equipped with six oars and six oarsmen that bail out of the boat reaching the sail up post and swim back to the dock. No limit on the amount of crew you carry on board or those that jump or get pushed off the boat. Another funny rule is, propel your boat with most anything including a swimmer or swimmers. All you got to do to finish the race is to get anything attached to your boat to touch the finish line. You can I suppose get a very long line attached to your boats bow parked at the starting line and walk it about 50 miles to the finish line in Sarasota. I happen to get there last with about 65 boats ahead of me, all in a row parked on one side of this long dock. Boats of all sizes and shapes but all ahead of me including the first boat in line a huge Hellcat that's feather light. You paddle or kedge an anchor to get to the starting line about 300 feet away, we brought only our hands, arms and a kedging anchor. The anchor we brought was on a 50 foot line,. Unfortunately, the depth of the water I think was greater than 100 feet. With everyone in front of us already gone along with the monster Hellcat (my nemeses), and one other Shark, there was little likelihood of a big win for us that far back in line. We almost quit since we were paddling the furthest with our arms since kedging didn't work and were so tired we couldn't go much further. A quick "OK" from the RC boat "put up your sails he said" and we were off some 20 minutes behind the Hellcat's sails up time. I think the RC boat gave us a brake and didn't want us to do the entire 300 feet. Up two feet back one foot and so on.
We started the race after several canal course changes were added to faster boats to even the race a little with other boats of smaller size. We now find we are in a small thunder and gale storm with 4-6 foot swells in Tampa bay, with winds gusting 35-40 mph. The boats in front of you disappear in the swells with just the mast viewable. Lost most of our food for the trip in the first ten minutes into the race (washed overboard) after completing the canal runs. With tons of water coming over the Sharks bow going from 20 knots forward speed with sails mostly luffing else we go vertical, then almost stand still momentarily when crashing through these humongous waves, we wondered if the hulls will stay together since they looked like they were deflecting drastically, like 6 or more inches below one another as the boat shuttered crashing one wave after the other. There was a monstrous 1000 sq. ft 30 or 40 foot "A" Scow with crew of 6 that we passed shortly after sailing the crazy canal course. One guy (the skipper) on the A Scow was sailing the rest, yuk, yuk ...... 5 guys, his crew, were bailing to stay afloat. The A Scow would have sunk in these huge waves except as saved by these able body bailers. That was funny to us when they waived us bye bye as we broke through each wave on a vertical incline most of the time. Sharks never have to bail but it sure was tippy up then tippy down then fast forward then a crashing stop and do it again for the nest wave with the wind trying to tip us over. We were running like a locomotive train crashing each and every wave barrier and surviving that to do it again and again. Best Shark ride I ever had but honestly did think one had our name on it and it would end our race. It's very hard or next to impossible to unturtle a Shark and keep racing with tons of water in the hull. So we knew it was very important to keep the boat upright else we had big, big problems. That's why I like sailing Sharks in lakes 10 foot deep. No way to turtle it. We survived numerous recoverable knock downs as the hull almost went 90 with my crew in his trapeze bending like a pretzel to keep the boat from going over. My crew finally got bloody shins on one of those wave crashes when we went vertical and I was lucky enough to grab my crew before he dragged us over. Blood everywhere, moaning crew and going bat out of hell and one hell of a thrill ride. When we got to the first bridge about 8 mile from the start of the race, we noticed we were in second place already with the tiny viewable Hellcat far, far ahead of us on the horizon. We had a choice of going the long route by navigating to the Gulf or go the short route thru many channels. Since the Hellcat chose the canals, so did we. Risking the Gulf would not have been the wise choice since it could have been ruff sailing and never see the competition since most all knew that was too risky. No telling what to expect in the Gulf of Mexico and if in trouble we would not get immediate help. It might mean we crash waves all the way to Sarasota. That would have tested the Sharks hull integrity too much. Hardly no wind in the canals we chose to go to and mostly tacking in 40 - 80 wide canals upwind, little wind. One power boat guy behind me trying to pass me said he was going to report me to the Cost Guard since I blocked him from passing me. I said sail boats have no brakes, no reverse and in this small space I MUST tack my 20X10 boat often or rack it against the canal side walls. Besides I said sail boats have the right away, I was in a race, please wait for the canal to get wider then pass when it's safe to do so. Boy was he mad but complied with my request else I thought, sail through fast and take your chances.. You must know at this point of this story, the Hellcat was from Sarasota so picking the inland course vs. the Gulf made sence to me to follow him even though he was a spec on the horizon.. I had an A Scow skipper crewing for me name of Bill Miller that sailed this race many times. This was my first time in this yearly race. I trusted his advice as a navigator and a seasoned racer and boat skipper. He won this race once in his A Scow many years before cats were the top dog in racing.
Many hours into the race I forgot how long it took to do this race. Going in one canal and out another we found our way to some large body of water many miles from the finish line. The wind died to a dead drift, enough wind to keep sail shape but little forward movement. Ironic in a way that the race started in a squall setting and now half way to the finish line we drift in a calm with little forward movement. It was now time to take a flyer since we knew we were in 2nd place, the Hellcat most likely has finished and guzzling down a couple of juice and here we sit, drifting hot and hungry.. Taking a water survey, I notice a water color change way out in the middle of this bay. Wonder if we can get there to take a flyer. Staying in this calm was not a good idea, so we too the flyer and sailed toward the water color change. Wahoo, we were right the color change was because the water was adjutated by the wind. We now had 4 knots of speed power. Hey that's a lot faster then zero knots per hour. Got inside of this wind pusher and turned South for Sarasota, kind of like a beat to a close reach but headed our way. . Time to relax now, get a drink and enjoy this leg of the race, heading for the finish line some many miles to go. I was now estimating we were about 3 - 6 miles from the last bridge in sight far away, then one dog leg after the bridge and less then a half mile to the finish line. Not so fast mate, my crew Bill spots the Hellcat hugging the shoreline at less then 1 knot. They elected not to take the flyer. We now set up in racing posture with huge smiles on our faces ... ... we now have a race with the Hellcat to the finish line. Yahooo, so far they didn't spot us galloping at four knots to there less then one. Getting closer and closer to the bridge getting closer and closer to broadside the Hellcat, still hoping he doesn't see us since why not they are the king of the hill so why take the flyer. Then as luck would turn, all hell brakes loose on the Hellcat. I can almost hear the screams of panic coming from the Hellcat. They spotted my Shark running like a slow train but many times faster then they were so they tack immediately to cover me and try to get some of the wind I have enjoyed for many miles that now closed the gap on my foe. They quickly realized they made a big mistake staying near the shoreline and tacked over loosing some distance because of the tack angle to beat windward but hoping to get the same air that was driving my Shark before I get to there next covering tack. That view will never leave me ever, a smaller boat, my Shark, charging to the last bridge that must open to allow the mast to get through and spotting the bigger, faster Hellcat with a 20 minute start advantage and he has to cover me or lose the race if he stays on the shoreline and not pick up the wind that I had. The Hellcat is now maybe less then 200 feet in front after he tacks in front of me with wind going down to 1-2 knot boat speed as we both approach the bridge. Both us and the Hellcat blowing our air horns to signal the bridge operator to open the bridge, hopefully as fast as possible so we don't lose boat speed navigating under the wide bridge. The wind dies there most of the time and you have to cost through by boat speed alone. You also need to raise both rudders to wiggle the rudders for extra boat power. Illegal in most boat races but not this one. The bridge raises, leaving a gap between the two bridge sections of about 6 - 10 feet to navigate the Hellcats mast through but quickly lowers back down to block me the same access. 100 feet from the opening that's now closing on me crawling to the opening. Sarasota boat goes thru, the competitor is blocked. Maybe they knew a Shark can beat a nervous Hellcat skipper who made a big boo boo earlier. Their went my dreams of first place and best of all maybe beating the highly acclaimed Hellcat but this time I could have beat him boat for boat with uncompensated time for our size.
I had to settle for second place but had my crews red shirt tied on the side stay in case we wanted to protest the bridge closing when I was within that close to the boat ahead of me and may have won had the bridge stayed open for one more minute. The bridge operator opened the bridge for him to sail through and closed it on me less the 90 seconds behind him although the bridge open gap to fit the mast through worried me a little if not a lot. I sure would have given the Hellcat a run to the finish line less then a half mile to go but that was not to be this time. The best thing after docking the Shark was the Hellcat's skipper did praise my efforts but was embarrassed and rather red faced to hear I started 20 minutes after he did. Then came the bad news for me. This race for us was all for naught because I failed to register the night before the race start date even though the invite I received did not apprise me of that requirement. When asking an RC official of the race "WHY" they just smiled and said "this is the Gasperrella, it's up to you to find out details, posted or not. It's only a fun race with some given rules the night before the race".
That was one bloody and most exciting race that I'll never forget. I bought my first Shark because of the One Design Yachting magazine race about catamaran one design racing the article sold me. When it said "boat for boat" the best one design out there was a Shark and it beats anything out there that sail even the famous Hellcat when compensated with time for being smaller. But they went on to say, because of a rig malfunction in one of the races THE SHARK ALMOST TOOK IT ALL BOAT FOR BOAT. By the way, did you know Jim Lecain one of your ASA Shark National winners bought this boat that almost TOOK IT ALL. Jim needs to carry some bricks with him when he races (ha ha) since the hulls are extremely thin. The boat was supper light. Jim and I raced against each other often at our club in Orlando and we about split our wins 50/50. He had a light boat along with his light son as a crew. Big winds he loses to me having an experienced crew, light winds he wins.
After reading that Yachting story not having sailed anything other then a 14 ft Flying Dutchman Junior, I contacted the Sharks in Miami having a Shark mid winter race in a few weeks so I went there and bought my first Shark, I think it was in 1961 or 1962. That Shark Mid Winter that I bought my first Shark, was the year Jack Schuh made the trophy, a huge Sharks jaw with teeth (smelled awful) and I found the greatest one design race boat in the world .......... the Shark. I think it was that year or the next mid winter at Miami that Neb Ryle rose to be, in my opinion, the greatest Shark sailor I ever raced against and maybe the nation. But that's another story. I bought Neb's boat when he retired early from racing, my second Shark and I thought I would now win them all since Neb did it in this boat. Wrong .... it was not the boat, it was Neb. I did buy a third Shark when I wanted to race again after I retired the first time.
My only claim to fame is that my Shark and I won the 45 mile MUG Race in
about 3 hours in a thunder storm mostly a beating and close reach run.. I was
being clocked by the RC leader chase boat at over 25 knots. They know this cause
I at times was leaving the power boat behind which could only go 25 knots wide
open. They caught up during the upwind tacks. My time record for this MUG race
stood for 15 years before being broken I think in the late 90's by another cat
(unknown type). The Shark is a classic boat that forgives skipper mistakes,
especially a sailor like me that makes this average sailor look good sometimes.
Hell ..... the boat almost sails itself. Cough, cough.
Al Nikolaiev (Al Niko)
*Mr.Kim Powell of Titusville, Florida was the designer and I remember him well. -Peter Stan
Good to find your web site. I purchased a dry rotted old fiberglass/wood deck
boat from Dick McGilvery here in Charleston in October of 1978. I think it was
hull number 128. Originally built in 1965/66. Dick ordered three or four as kits
I believe, from England with some Navy folks. I think he told me there was as
many as five here at one time. He said there used to be a fleet that raced here
regularly. Though by 1978 he had the last one.
I grew up in Hampton Roads and sailed at the Norfolk Naval Sailing Center. I watched Herman Smith and Red Taylor duke it out for years at all the regattas in the lower Bay and eastern N.C. Red was always excitable. You could hear him over any voice at the regatta. Heize Kamitschnig would always mix it up also. Fell in love with the boat watching them race. They always finished hours ahead of the fleet, even after two laps. The hottest ticket was a guy who had a 1967 yellow convertible Vette pulling a yellow hulled w/wooden decked Shark to each race in 1968. I have never forgotten that site!
Got out of the Navy down here in 1978 and found the boat. Spent a year restoring it. I made a special cover and did my work between two apartment buildings. Spent money we didn't have and probably too much time. It was beautiful!!! Re-christened it and had the best time for one summer. One regret, I can't remember who coached me (someone in Portsmouth Va.) but they never warned me about the bridge deck needing reinforcement if the boat was old. (Please warn others should they restore one). It cracked horizontally on the starboard side, while flying the starboard hull. So did my heart! All that work! needless to say I was broken hearted. I was without the means or a shop to rebuild it one more time. I sold it to a gentleman in 1980. I will try to locate it and pass the information on to you.
Kind Regards,
Dennis
E-mail: charledj@bp.com
Four Sharks participated in the Moth Regatta held in Elizabeth City September
21. Jerry Pattenaude and Elizabeth Hund placed first, Tim Hund and Jim Wiexel
placed second, John Cobb and Trey Cobb placed third, Joe Lieberman and Jim Shook
placed fourth.
When I read that the Shark Catamaran Association were hosting their 40th National Championships at Lake Canandaigua, NY I remembered that back in 1964 I attended the 2nd Shark Nationals. I thought it would be great to race a Shark again, and meet some old friends and see how the new boats performed. After making a few calls, I found that Bryan Perrin, president of the Shark Association, had managed to locate a good boat that was available for the regatta.
Since it has been 17 years since I helmed a Shark in national competition, I realized my chances of finishing in the top of the fleet were slim, but just competing in this regatta had me all pumped up. My success in racing on my Stiletto 30 the past few years has been due to the fact that I had experienced crews that took care of such racing demands as timing starts, sail trim, tactics and strategy so that I could just concentrate on boat speed. My crew for this regatta was a young man, full of enthusiasm, strong, alert, and very cooperative. But unfortunately, he had never before been in a sailboat race. As the races wore on my crew quickly picked up on his duties and he seemed to be having a great time. He was a fast learner and by the last race he was familar with the boat and what it took to get the boat around the race course. Our best finish in this 18 boat fleet that was packed with past National Champions and long time Shark sailors was an 8th place. However, I never enjoyed myself more while finishing in the back of the fleet. Seeing my young cerw in his first regatta and sharing his enthusiastic spirit and excitment was indeed something to behold. All he spoke about was learning more about racing and planning to crew again in upcomming races. Owining a Shark cat was surely in his near future plans. So as one old timer fades away, perhaps a new star will emerge to carry on this great sport of sailboat racing. That thought was my trophy for that memorable Nationals Championship regatta.