Simon, Gerry, and Micky want to have a race with handmade miniature rafts. Simon's raft needs 36 sticks, Gerry's raft needs two-thirds of the number of sticks that Simon needs, and Micky's raft needs 9 sticks more than Simon and Gerry's rafts combined. How many sticks do the three boys need to collect in total? Let's answer step by step:
Gerry's raft needs (36 / 3) x 2 = 12 x 2 = 24 sticks. Simon and Gerry's rafts need 36 + 24 = 60 sticks. Micky's raft needs 60 + 9 = 69 sticks. The boys need to collect 60 + 69 = 129 sticks in total. The answer: 129.