VICTORIA — With the pool of competitors already down by nearly a quarter after a challenging qualifying leg that eliminated more than a dozen entries, 29 sail and human-powered boats kicked off the second stretch of the inaugural 750-mile Race to Alaska on Sunday.
At noon Sunday, only 29 racers departed from Victoria of the 40 originally registered for the 710-mile section of the race from Canada to Ketchikan, Alaska.
The race Sunday began with a “Le Mans” style start, in which competitors must run to their boats before they can depart the docks, said Jake Beattie, executive director of the Port Townsend Maritime Center and organizer of the race.
For the start of the second leg, all participants, even those in sailboats, were required to make their departure using manpower, since Victoria Harbor doesn’t allow the use of sails inside the harbor, Beattie said.
The second leg is the real race, with the finish in Ketchikan, he said.
The competition 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.
Grand prize for the first entry to reach Ketchikan is $10,000.
Second place gets a set of steak knives.
All entrants receive a T-shirt and bragging rights.
Entries included multi-hulled sailboats, kayaks, canoes, and custom-built boats that defied typical categories.
To track the race and for other information, visit the race website at www.r2ak.com.
According to the tracking site, the muscle-working start allowed the Soggy Beavers team, in a six-person modified outrigger canoe with a sail, to lead the race out of the harbor, followed by Blackfish on a trimaran with a crew of three.
Team Coastal Express, Un-cruise and Puffin were just behind the leaders.
Brodern was the last out of the harbor, according to the website’s tracking map.
However, once out of the harbor and sailboats were able to unfurl their sails, most of the early leaders fell behind quickly.
By 5:30 p.m. the leaders Elsie Piddock, FreeBurd and Turn Point Design led the pack.
The next official stop for the racers is the first waypoint at Seymour Narrows.
No one was certain how long it would take the fastest competitors to reach Seymour Narrows, nor how many would reach the location, which is about 200 miles away off the coast of British Columbia by the most direct water routes.
There is no set route through the Inside Passage to Alaska, and competitors are expected to choose routes to take advantage of their individual boats’ strengths, so the trip may be longer.
Race organizers have also said the race would be affected by tides, currents, unpredictable winds and possible storms.
It has been estimated the entire race could take as long as two weeks.
Of the 75 craft that registered for the race, 53 started the race from Port Townsend last Thursday.
Only 40 successfully reached Victoria.
The 40-mile route from Port Townsend to Victoria took between 9 hours, 18 minutes for the fastest finisher, and 21 hours, 30 minutes for the slowest.
The Golden Oldies was the fastest finisher in the 40-mile first leg.
Not all signed on for the entire trip.
Of the 53 starters, 20 entered only the first leg of the race, and 12 reached Vancouver after the start at the Port Townsend Maritime Center.
The first-leg trip across the Strait of Juan de Fuca was designed to eliminate those who were not ready for the entire 750-mile race.
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 rescued by the Coast Guard, and his boat was returned to shore.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
PDN Reporter Chris McDaniel contributed to this report.
