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Miami Herald August 10, 1984
MIAMIAN TAKING DOUBLE AIM AT MIAMI-TO-NEW YORK MARK
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It's sort of the powerboating equivalent of Babe Ruth's 60 home-run season, or the four-minute mile. The problem with Bob Magoon's Miami-to-New York City speedboat record is that he did such a good job that no one has been able to break it in 10 years. Now comes Julio Devarona, a Miami firefighter who builds Scorpion boats and who figures his 32-footer has two shots at a Miami-to-New York record later this month. If the ocean is calm, he'll follow the green course on his charts far offshore and should have no trouble bettering Magoon's time of 22 hours 41 minutes 15 seconds for the 1,257- mile run, barring any mechanical problems, of course. If the sea kicks up a bit, he'll follow the yellow line on the charts closer to land and go for the outboard engine record of 58 hours -- less impressive, perhaps, but not a total loss. If he hits really bad weather, he'll follow the red course hugging the coastline and count it a victory just to get there in one piece. "I'm not doing this in any Mickey Mouse way," says Devarona, 34, whose deep-vee boat will be powered by three Mercury 2.4-liter EFI outboards. "We're going to do this. I'm really confident we can." Magoon, a Miami ophthalmologist and five-time national offshore powerboat racing champion, set his record in July 1974, averaging 55.25 miles per hour. The record has withstood every challenge, including two by Magoon last summer and one by Michael Reagan. Every challenger has been beaten by one of two hazards: mechanical failure or unexpected bad weather. "I figure we can average 60 miles per hour," says Devarona, who will start his run between 9 a.m. and noon on Aug. 16, 17 or 18, depending on when the weather looks best. "If we leave at noon, I figure we can make New York around eight or nine the next morning." Devarona will take his boat to the Mercury test center in Central Florida early next week to determine which propellers he will use. The boat tops out at about 74 mph, but Devarona may elect to prop for lower speeds to increase its range. Devarona is running a low-budget operation. His major sponsor is his firefigher's union, who worked overtime to give him 10 days off. His total investment in the boat is about $50,000, compared to the $500,000 efforts of Magoon and Reagan. Devarona has flown over the course twice and says that each time the water around such fabled rough spots as Diamond Shoals, off Cape Hatteras, N.C., was millpond smooth. But that can be deceptive. Magoon had a mechanical breakdown in his first attempt last summer, and for his second run got a weather forecast for near-perfect conditions. But during the night Magoon and his crew ran into an unpredicted storm that hammered the boat with 35- to 40-knot winds and seas up to 14 feet for six hours, putting him so far behind schedule that he gave up at his halfway fuel stop at Moorehead City, N.C. Devarona will be the throttleman on his boat, with well- known offshore racer Randy Sosa as his driver. He will carry two navigators, Bernie Gonzalez and Rene Rodriguez. The boat will carry the throttleman and driver in two front bolsters and the navigators behind. The boat has been modified to carry 580 gallons of gasoline, and Devarona's plan is to leave Miami and make a brief stop at Lake Worth, about 60 miles up the Florida coastline, to top off the fuel tanks. Then he will start trending offshore on a straight course toward Cape Romain, S.C., a course that will take him about 110 miles out into the Atlantic if the weather is good. A 44-foot shrimp boat will be waiting to refuel him off Cape Romain, and after taking on about 500 gallons he will head directly for the second stop and Cape Hatteras Inlet, where he figures another 500 gallons at a shore station just inside the inlet should be enough to get him to his destination. Reagan failed in his attempt last summer because he ran out of fuel 30 miles short of his planned stop at a shrimp boat about 60 miles off the South Carolina coastline. The shrimp boat only did eight knots, so Reagan lost four hours waiting for it to arrive and gave up the attempt. "We aren't going to do anything as crazy as
trying to find a fuel ship way offshore, especially at night,"
Devarona says. "Our fuel stop is going to be at the R6 buoy just
outside the Devarona also has arranged for aircraft to monitor the run, a move that greatly facilitates communications since line-of- sight contact between airplanes and boats is normally measured in hundreds of miles. Devarona's Scorpion is equipped with radar, VHF radio and twin Loran navigation units. He also is carrying several single sideband radios, including a couple of units that broadcast at the very low two-meter band to give him good contact with airplanes. "Once we get up off Atlantic City, then we're home free. I know that area real well from racing up there off Point Pleasant, and we'll just run right into New York," Devarona says. "I know I'm going to make it because I've had three dreams about this trip. The first two, I made it with about two hours to spare. The last one, I broke down under the Verazzano Narrows Bridge (in New York harbor), but I managed to get going again and break the record." |