Staying afloat real 'challenge'
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Kayla Persinger, left, and Lori Brobesong go down with their ship Leaky Pete, which lived up to its name for "The Plywood Cup Challenge" off Magic Island. The two represented Waikiki Yacht Club for the event.
By Kawehi Haug
Advertiser Staff Writer
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Art Mersereau squeezed caulking into the seams of a makeshift plywood boat he and his team of sailing buddies were hastily building at Ala Moana Beach Park yesterday.
Kristen Tamanaha, 9, a volunteer for United Cerebral Palsy, presents a "lei" made of construction tape to Will Carlson of Cool Man Cool 2, which won the "People's Choice" award at the biennial fund-raiser.
After a couple of hours, they hoisted their "sail" — a small white tarpaulin — on the newly christened SV Molly Lyman and the only thing left was to test the waters off Magic Island.
The Molly Lyman team was one of five that participated in United Cerebral Palsy's biennial fund-raising event, "The Plywood Cup Challenge."
The event challenged Transpac racers, local yacht clubs and businesses to build boxy boats out of plywood and race them around a 75-yard course off Magic Island.
"We don't know the first thing about building boats, but it doesn't matter — it's for a great cause," said Mersereau, a retiree from Manoa whose team was competing for the fourth time.
The 13th Plywood Cup — a takeoff on the prestigious Kenwood Cup yacht race — raised $4,000 for the group's programs to help people in Hawai'i with cerebral palsy, a brain disorder that impairs the ability to control muscles.
Teams are given two hours, two sheets of plywood, basic hand tools and caulking to build their boats. Each boat must carry two sailors, who alternately paddle and sail it around a triangle-shaped course, said event coordinator Lyle Holden.
If they stay afloat, that is.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Three of the five boats sank within seconds of setting sail, including those built by Transpac race teams Pegasus Sailing Team and Cool Man Cool 2. The Waikiki Yacht Club participants also went down with the ship.
The crew members of the SV Molly Lyman, Alan Dorflinger and Sarah Roloos, try to catch The Flaming Toro with crew members Mark Towill and Nick Cervantes. Towill and Cervantes won the race.
The Kane'ohe Yacht Club team won — and looked good doing it.
While other teams sawed and hammered double time to finish their boats, the Kane'ohe Yacht Club team built a sleek vessel conjuring a miniature yacht, and still had time to draw a snazzy flame motif on the sides in permanent red marker.
The Flaming Toro, crewed by Mark Towill and Nick Cervantes, sailed with ease.
"We came to raise money — and to win," said Jesse Andrews of the Kane'ohe team. "Last year we stayed afloat, but couldn't turn the course. This time we redesigned it to stay afloat and turn."
"This is just good fun," said Mersereau, whose team was the only other one to finish. "Nobody really expects to stay afloat for very long — I mean, look at what we have to work with."
