Great Loop Challenge Launches August 8th with Expanded Route and $1 Million Fundraising Goal
- Scott Way
- Jul 22
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 23
The 2026 Great Loop Challenge powered by Honda Marine is set to launch August 8th from DeLand, Florida, with Captain Scott "Red" Flowers and his crew attempting a 7,300-nautical-mile endurance run to raise funds for pediatric cancer research.
Captain Flowers also ran 'The Loop' in record time in summer 2024 in a blistering 19 days, 19 hours, and 50 minutes.
His new adventure will depart at noon ET from Lake Beresford Yacht Club in DeLand, Florida, on Saturday, Aug. 8th. Unlike a traditional recreational Great Loop journey, which typically takes six months to a year to complete, Flowers and crew plan to operate nearly around the clock, stopping only as needed, with an expanded route that goes beyond their 2024 run.
Flowers, a cancer survivor himself, and his team will be raising funds to support the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF) The attempt will also be a real-world endurance test for Honda Marine's twin BF350 V8 outboards using Flowers' custom-built Portā DARK:30 Velocity.
Flowers will be joined by Scott Portā, founder and president of Portā Products, and Jim "Slim" Berns, chief operating officer of Sharrow Marine. Together, the crew will attempt to establish a new benchmark for 'The Loop' by taking a new route that is mainly inspired by the Great Loop, which cirumnaviates the eastern half of North America, but Flowers and tream will expand it even further.
In 2024, he and his crew completed the approximately 6,500 nautical miles in 19 days, 19 hours and 50 minutes while raising $450,000 for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. That run established the fastest documented completion of the The Loop at the time (the record was subsequently broken the following summer by Robert Youens). For 2026, the new course will stretch beyond 7,300 nautical miles and will increase both the logistical and endurance demands of Flowers and his team while also working toward a fundraising goal of $1 million USD.
"The 2026 Great Loop Challenge powered by Honda Marine combines performance boating, endurance, technology and philanthropy to support pediatric cancer research," said Honda Marine in a press release. They also added that the event will showcase the "efficiency, durability, quiet operation, low emissions and long-range reliability" of its BF350 V8 outboards under demanding freshwater, coastal and open-water conditions.
As for Flowers, the DeLand native had his own battle with Stage 4 melanoma and underwent treatment in 2017. During that process, he met children undergoing their own treatment at the facility, inspiring him to begin raising funds to support pediatric cancer research.
His vessel will be a custom Portā DARK:30 Velocity configured specifically for long-distance endurance. Designed around "a high-performance, military-style craft developed around a proven Velocity hull," the boat and its systems are built to support continuous running and crew safety, as well as communications and data collection as Flowers and team run almost continuously.
The team currently has stops planned in Tampa and Key West, Florida; Wrightsville Beach/Wilmington, North Carolina; Portland, Maine; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, with more U.S. and Canadian stops expected to be announced. Each stop will not only give Flowers and crew a chance to re-supply and perform maintenance, but also meet up with other fundraisers supporting the journey.
Honda Marine is serving as title sponsor with multiple marine companies supporting the effort through technology and equipment partnerships. The list already includes Portā Products, Sharrow Marine, Seakeeper RIDE, Velocity Powerboats, Raymarine, FLIR, Power-Pole, AmeraTrail, STORMR, Ullman Dynamics and several others.
Those wishing to following along with the 2026 Great Loop Challenge can be there August 8th at Lake Beresford Yacht Club in DeLand, Florida to see Flowers and his team depart. You can also follow along in realtime via live map courtesy of the America's Great Loop Cruisers Association, or on Facebook and Instagram.
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