What a day on the water
This is Dock Side Live Radio, and we had the privilege of being aboard the Porta DARK:30 Velocity as we piloted into Whitey’s Fish Camp on Doctor’s Lake, welcomed by a cheering crowd waiting for the 2026 Great Loop Challenge powered by Honda Marine team.
But as impressive as this boat and this journey are, the boat is really just the platform. Saving children is the mission.
Captain Scott “Red” Flowers and the 2026 Great Loop Challenge powered by Honda Marine team are attempting a 7,300 plus nautical mile endurance run around the Great Loop with a goal of raising $1 million for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.
And Dock Side Live Radio got an incredible firsthand look at the technology making this journey possible.
The DARK:30 Velocity, designed and built by Scott Porta, is powered by twin Honda Marine BF350 V8s, with Sharrow propellers, Raymarine electronics, Seakeeper RIDE, Ullman Dynamics seating, FLIR technology, Porta’s hydraulic transom system and other marine innovations working together on one extraordinary boat.
We spent time on the water with Red Flowers, Scott Porta, Jim “Slim” Berns of Sharrow Marine and others behind this effort. We heard their stories, experienced the DARK:30 underway and saw firsthand what happens when people and companies throughout the marine industry come together around something bigger than boating.
Now they have 7,300 plus nautical miles ahead of them.
Dock Side Live Radio will be following the 2026 Great Loop Challenge powered by Honda Marine and sharing updates from the team as they make their way around the Loop.
Every mile has a purpose. Every mile helps tell the story. And every mile brings more attention to the fight against pediatric cancer.
For The 2026 Great Loop Challenge powered by Honda Marine, this is Brian Burns with Dock Side Live Radio.
