RECREATION: BOATING : Hybrid Athlete? Here’s Your Boat : Once a week, look in Newport Bay for a Brea man’s hydrofoil pedal craft that is part kayak, part bicycle, part airplane.

When he was 6, Sidney Shutt built his first boat out of planks from the back-yard fence and an old table cloth. Now, at 64, Shutt is still building unusual boats.

Shutt’s latest design is a hydrofoil pedal boat that is part kayak, part bicycle, part airplane.

The boat uses a hull similar to an Olympic kayak, but instead of paddling this boat, you pedal it, using conventional bicycle pedals. And if you pedal fast enough, the boat will lift up out of the water and skim along on its hydrofoil--almost as if it is flying.

Viewed from a distance, the boat seems to be suspended a foot or so above the water on grasshopper legs. The sight is enough to cause heads to turn whenever Shutt and his son, Steve, go pedaling around Newport Bay, which they do about once a week.

“We do get some funny looks,” says Shutt, who builds the boats as a back-yard hobby at his Brea home.

Shutt, who holds several patents, including one on his hydrofoil apparatus, calls his pedal boat a Hydro-ped.

“It became apparent to me in the late 1970s that a human-powered boat could be made to operate on hydrofoils,” he says. (A hydrofoil is similar to an airfoil, but designed for use on water.)

Shutt began building his first one in 1983, based upon a design he sketched out three years earlier. In 1989, he set a speed record by pedaling 15.9 mph at the International Human Powered Speed Championships in Visalia, Calif. Since then, one of his boats has been pedaled from Dana Point to Catalina by Olympic cyclist John Howard of Encinitas.

Howard made the 33-mile trip in 6 1/2 hours.

“It was fun and there were no problems,” says Howard, who hopes to make other long-distance voyages, including a journey across the Bermuda Triangle.

“I was attracted to the sport because of the bicycle-type quality,” he says. “He (Shutt) has come up with something completely unique. I think there is a sport here. The idea of aqua-cycling could easily become a sport of the next decade. As a former athlete, I am excited about it.”

Shutt is working on a new boat that he plans to enter in a competition sponsored by Du Pont Co., offering a $25,000 prize for the first human-powered water vehicle to reach a speed of 20 knots.

“We have a good shot at it,” says Shutt, who recalls that in high school his ambition was to be a marine architect. Throughout his career as an engineer, he spent Sunday afternoons working on boats and has built everything from radio-controlled models to multihull sailboats.

“I’ve always been interested in boats,” he says, “but I was always more interested in design and building than in sailing.”

From the beginning, his designs were successful. Even that first boat he built out of an oilcloth and fence planks was seaworthy, he says with some pride. “We would take it to the beach and paddle it around.”

Shutt continued to improve on his designs toward producing a lighter, faster boat. His current hydrofoil pedal boat is 16 feet long, 19 inches wide and weighs less than 30 pounds. The one-person boat is pedaled by someone sitting in a recumbent position. Shutt says that nearly anyone who can ride a bicycle can operate one of his boats.

“It’s a hobby that appeals more to bicyclers than boaters,” says Shutt, who stays in shape by riding a stationary bike that is turned on its side to simulate the recumbent position he uses in pedaling.

In addition to Shutt’s weekly excursions in Newport Harbor, he frequently pedals in Long Beach Harbor where he often paces himself against an eight-man crew that works out there regularly. Shutt can keep up with the rowers.

At the urging of a friend, Shutt is building 10 displacement boats--kayak-type pedal boats minus the hydrofoils--for a possible commercial venture. “Without the hydrofoils the boats can still go 13 or 14 miles an hour at top speed,” he says. “Average speed is about 6 miles an hour--which is faster than you can go in some sailboats.

“And besides, it’s a marvelous exercise.”

(Information about the Human-Powered Vehicle Assn. is available by writing P.O. Box 51255, Indianapolis, Ind. 46251.)

Sailboat races: The 19th annual Dana Point Racing Series will get under way March 3 with the Ensenada Tune-Up Race. A skippers’ meeting will be held at 9 a.m. at the Dana Point Yacht Club, 24707 Dana Drive.

The series will consist of seven races and participants will be scored on the best five of the seven. Entry fee for the entire series is $30. Other races will be held on March 10, April 13, April 14, June 1 and June 22. For information, call Andrew Broughton at (714) 248-8393 or Ralph Cameron at (714) 770-7433.

Know your engine: For the boater with limited experience with diesel engines, Orange Coast College Sailing Center is offering a course in marine diesel maintenance.

The class will meet from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays from March 7 through May 2 at the OCC Sailing Center, 1801 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach.

Course instructor is Terry Brown, who runs a company specializing in the sales and service of marine engines. Students will learn how a diesel engine works and how to trouble-shoot common problems. Cost is $58. For information, call (714) 645-9412.

Boat show: Dana Point’s second annual in-the-water boat show will be held March 20 through 24 at the Youth and Group Facility, Dana Point Harbor Drive at Ensenada Place.

The show is co-sponsored by the Dana Point Harbor Assn. and Orange County. Boats on exhibit will range from small ones that can be towed on trailers to large yachts, according to Jody Tyson, president of the association.

Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children 6 to 12. Children under 6 are admitted free. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 20 through Sunday, March 24. For information, call (714) 496-6040.