BOATATHALON 2019

Boat Trivia, Navigation, and Murder Mystery

What does a murder mystery, intrigue, bribes, outright lies, boat trivia, navigation and boating skills all have in common? Boatathalon! Every year in September—for the past 20 or so years South Florida Sailing and Boating Clubs have come together for an amazing and adventurous day on the water. But for those of you who might be scratching your head saying, “what the heck is Boatathalon," well here’s your answer. Each year over 100 people come together to decorate their boats in a whimsical fashion. Participants dress up in costumes related to the event’s theme and then compete in a series of adventures on the water. There are serious prizes at stake too. Boats from as far north as West Palm Beach and south to Miami participated this year’s theme…"Murder on the Seas".

The suspense grows…a mega yacht named Horizon Flybridge (a make believe name even if there is a boat named that way) leaves Miami with a guest crew of eight and service crew of seven. They are making their way to West Palm Beach where they are heading to attend a gala affair a couple of doors north of Mar-a-Lago. What all of the crew doesn’t know is one person is trying to murder someone else aboard. Each stop presents a new opportunity for the murderer to make their move. Boatahalon’s theme is arranged to parallel the physical event and with that there are many twists along the way. One we thought to share was Boatathalon participants had to make breakfast/brunch foods in the shape of murder weapons. Participants brought everything from grenade-shaped pancakes to breakfast sausages wrapped to look like sticks of dynamite. Food was judged on taste and creativity and an award was given for “Best Murder-Shaped Food”. There were many other activities and skill sets…enough to make a very windy day challenging but super fun. North Sails loves to help people have fun on their sailboats, even in zany nontraditional ways like this, and was proud to be a sponsor of this annual floating party! A big thanks to Brian Brown for organizing a fun event that we all enjoyed!