PORT TOWNSEND — A non-motorized boat race of 750 miles from Port Townsend to Ketchikan, Alaska, planned to begin June 4, is drawing international attention.
“There are people all over who are very excited about this,” said Jake Beattie, executive director of the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend, which is producing the inaugural Race to Alaska.
“The word is getting out, with teams from France and Great Britain now showing interest.”
Of the 17 applicants either accepted or in the process of approval, Turn Point Design of Port Townsend is the only contestant from the North Olympic Peninsula
Contestants range from an 80-foot sloop with a full crew to a single person on a 19-foot paddleboard.
Turn Point Design is building a trimaran, a catamaran with a piece connecting the two sides at the rear, for the race.
It will be crewed by company owner Brandon Davis and Nige Oswald and will run under sail and pedal-drive power.
Employee Kai Lorenz, who is helping to build the craft, said he would love to be on the crew.
“This would be the adventure of a lifetime,” he said.
Beattie gave a presentation in Ketchikan earlier this month “where people were really excited” — although none from Alaska had signed up as of Wednesday — and plans another presentation in Seattle next week.
Beattie expects that the final total registration will be about 30 teams with crews of one to six people.
In addition, he said, three video crews have expressed interest in producing a documentary.
Each team is assessed a $650 entry fee.
The starting bell for the Race to Alaska will sound at 5 a.m. June 4 at the maritime center at 431 Water St., with the first stop in Victoria.
Racers must complete that 40-mile segment in 36 hours or less to qualify for the remainder of the race, which will be an additional 710 miles of 50-degree water.
Those who want to travel no farther can enjoy the day of sailing, but those who go the distance will set out for Ketchikan at noon June 7.
Beattie expects the winner to arrive at the finish line at Thomas Basin Boat Harbor in Ketchikan about 10 days after the race starts, and he plans to greet them there.
The deadline for all boats is the Fourth of July.
The crew of the boat that arrives first will win $10,000.
The second-place finisher will get a set of steak knives.
There will be no losers, Beattie said.
“You will have a feeling of cathartic elation if you can finish the course,” he said.
The only rule for the race is that vessels travel without any type of engine on board.
Any boat with any size crew can enter, and there is no specific route, though certain checkpoints are required.
From Victoria, the boats will travel on the Strait of Georgia to Seymour Narrows and then to Bella Bella. Other than those two required stops, participants can take any route they choose.
There is no handicapping, Beattie said, and only one racing class, as well as no accurate data about what the weather will be like during the race.
It will take a certain amount of physical preparation to participate, but Beattie feels that mental strategy is the most important.
“There are so many options and variables that will go into this,” he said. “Figuring it all out isn’t easy.”
The biggest decision is whether to use sails or human power, with sails favored for most teams.
“Can you imagine rowing for 750 miles? It sounds horrible,” he said.
Although the Coast Guard has been notified, “there’s no race-specific safety net,” Beattie said.
“Everyone will have radios and will be able to call for a rescue,” he said.
Beattie doesn’t expect the race to make a profit but hopes it will break even.
“We are thinking about this being a recurring event, but before we do that, we want to complete the first one and make sure we can pull it off well,” he said.
Beattie said sponsoring the race is “a big thing to bite off” for the small center and that he hopes another organization will take it over.
“The core of our mission is engaging and educating people about the waters of our world,” he said. “This is a way to start a new conversation about being on the water.”
Registration began in the fall. The application deadline hasn’t been finalized but will probably be in mid-April, Beattie said.
For more information or to enter the race, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Alaska.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
