Team members: Eric Townsend, Brandon Eshelman
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Race vessel: 2019 Beneteau First 24 SE
LOA: 23′ 11″
Human propulsion: Pedal (prop)
Connect: instagram
These hombres have some serious backcountry adventure experience to go along with water-based type 2 adventure. Did you know that fewer people have soloed the Grand Canyon than have been to space? Neither did we. Don’t be fooled by the team’s Utah hometown; the San Juans are Eric’s home waters. They put their own chances of sinking at less than 32%.
We interviewed Team Jackalope over a bowl of 4% ABV beer to learn about their experiences with ice, shorts, and custom cantilever brackets.
What are the necessary components of a good adventure?
1 part skill / 1 part experience / 1 part uncertainty. Stir with ice. Strain. Serve neat.
What’s a lesson you learned the hard way?
Brandon: Don’t ride a motorcycle with shorts on.
Eric: When the doc says, “ice it over the weekend,” that doesn’t mean you put ice DIRECTLY ON IT for 72 hours. Bad things happen. Horrible things. In places you don’t want horrible things to happen.
What’s your favorite kind of bracket?
Right now it’s the heat-treated, powder-coated 6061 custom transom cantilever bracket for the recumbent seat of the boat’s pedal drive system. After R2AK, definitely the curly brace…it’s so purdy! But not as pretty as my heat-treated, powder-coated 6061 custom transom cantilever bracket {drool emoji goes here}.
It’s drizzling, freezing cold, and you’ve missed the tide. The cabin is leaky and the stove won’t light. How do you keep the good vibes going?
Brandon: Air saxophone
Eric: I plan to go full little brother-mode on Brandon and pester him to the point of tears. His tears, not mine. Really looking forward to it, actually; entertaining and therapeutic!
Forget the 10k or the steak knives. What does success look like for you and your team?
Do the race in style. Don’t get mauled. Ring the bell.
Defend your vessel. What makes it worthy?
[The boat has a] multi-disc CD changer. I mean…more than one disc…c’mon.
Blank space, baby. Share some things:
We’re just happy to be a part of this clusterf*&@%.
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With a fancy Beneteau, a multi-disc CD changer blasting the Belgian techno-anthem Pump Up The Jam, and a body-but-not-face that can still get Tinder right-swipes (according to team member Eric), Team Jackalope brings the saltiest of Utah-ian sailing know-how to the shores of the Inside Passage. Welcome, Team Jackalope.