VICTORIA — The starting horn will blow at noon today for the 29 teams continuing the inaugural 750-mile Race to Alaska.
Of the 53 craft that started from Port Townsend — some traveling under sail, others with oars and sails, but none with motors —
40 finished the first leg, a 40-mile journey to Victoria.
They had left at 5:30 a.m. Thursday from the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend.
The initial journey across the strong currents and two heavily trafficked shipping lanes of the Strait was designed to weed out those that might have second thoughts about taking on the 710 miles to Ketchikan, said event organizer Jake Beattie, who directs the maritime center.
It did just that.
Eight of the first-leg-only competitors and five who had hoped to make the whole journey had dropped out as of the cutoff at
5:30 p.m. Friday.
The first to arrive was Golden Oldies, a six-member crew aboard a 38-foot multi-hull sailboat that made it to Canada in about four hours.
Second in was FreeBurd, followed by Elsie Piddock.
For a complete list of arrival times, a tracker of the boats and other information, see www.r2ak.com.
One of those who dropped out was a man whose vessel capsized at about 8:22 a.m. Thursday.
The skipper of the TriRaid 560 trimaran, Mark Dussell, was unhurt. He was rescued by the Coast Guard, and his boat was hauled to shore without incident.
Other vessels entered in the race ranged from 10-foot rowboats to sailing kayaks to a 38-foot catamaran, Beattie said.
The first to reach Ketchikan will take home $10,000.
Second place gets a set of steak knives.
Everyone who enters gets a T-shirt and bragging rights.
The race from Port Townsend to Ketchikan has drawn rowers, sailors, canoers and kayakers from across the country to compete in a contest that has a only few rules: no motors allowed and no help once you start.
“No motors!” reiterated Carrie Andrews, communications manager for the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend, in an email.
“Any of the boats that may have had motors had to remove them prior to the start.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter James Casey contributed to this report.
