Team Name: Pure & Wild/Freeburd
Team Members: Tripp Burd, Chris Burd, Trevor Burd
Hometown: Marblehead, Massachusetts USA
Race vessel: Mama Tried, Custom 8.5M Pete Melvin Trimaran
LOA: 27′
Human propulsion: Pedal Drive
Connect: Facebook
Sponsors: Seashore
R2AK Cred: 2015 Full Race finisher
With flashing white smiles and strong jaws the three strapping members of Team Pure & Wild/FreeBurd – a name way too long and shortened from here on out – seemingly walked away from careers as male leads in animated Disney movies for two major purposes: to rise to elite status in the world of sailing and to dare the hard working folks who write these things not to make any “bird” references in their write up (and honestly we’re white-knuckled on that one, we could break at any second).
When you look at their resume as a whole it’s hard to swallow, like a big fat dog-choking resume of sailing feats and accomplishments. You can start with being the F-18 national champion, Newport-Bermudas, 1,000’s of offshore miles, a captains license, even they got so bored with their list of sailing accomplishments that their original application to the race just said, “a few beach cat national champs” which was true to the letter. It strains the Internet to find a photo of Tripp not standing in front of something smiling and wearing a medal. Not bad for animated heartthrobs; no one sails like Gaston…
Plus they are Eagle Scouts. (Nope, we’re not going to touch that one. Just going to leave that right there. Walking away, focusing on our breathing.)
Add to that they’ve collectively been in 100% of R2AK (Tripp-2, Chris- 1, Trevor-0) Year one had Tripp and Chris on a hate mission onboard a 22 foot/year-old racing cat with a fresh coat of paint and a 38? mast. No shelter but an endless supply of the adrenaline-filled moments the Burds seemed to feed on. They finished, set a world record for open boats and got a sweet Waterlust documentary courtesy of the good folks at Sperry.
Last year Tripp returned as a part of another team who dreamt big, broke their boat, then rallied only to bow out after Victoria. Sometimes all the right pieces fall apart leaving Tripp with unfinished business, and family members who didn’t look busy enough. Voila-2017.
Refuting cultural assumptions established by Lynyrd and friends, these Burds actually can change. Lesson learned from the unsheltered year one, Team FreeBurd grabbed the best looking boat from R2AK 2016 that was still up for grabs- Mama Tried, a physics bending three wheeler handed to the league of mortals by multihull legend Pete Melvin. Mama Tried rallied north in 2016 respectable time as Team Pure and Wild. Freeburd also grabbed their sponsor- Pure and Wild who are three years deep in to R2AK glory and slashed back to join forces with the Burds for a glory run in 2017.
Welcome back to the R2AK Team FreeBurd/Pure and Wild, with your track record of one hull per family member…you’re lucky you didn’t find more who wanted in on the action, they don’t make a four-maran.