KETCHIKAN, Alaska — Team Ketch Me If U Can, which took fourth place in the 2017 Race to Alaska, has sold its boat to the Northwest Maritime Center for $10,000.
The maritime center is the proud owner of the team’s Nacra Inter 20, a small catamaran, after it crossed the finish line in Ketchikan, Alaska, on Monday, said Anika Colvin, communications manager for the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend.
The buyback program was offered to every team that crossed the finish line, and each team had five minutes to decide. According to the R2AK Facebook page, Team Ketch Me If U Can didn’t need five minutes to decide since it entered this year’s race with the idea of selling the boat.
Stephane Lesaffre and Jeremy Boyette of Team Ketch Me If U Can purchased the Nacra Inter 20 for $7,200.
The buyback offer was a new incentive added to the third annual race and made to each boat’s team as they arrived at the finish line in Ketchikan, Alaska, after the 750-mile race from Port Townsend.
The sale was for one boat only, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Team Ketch Me If U Can crossed the finish line from Victoria after 7 days and 15 hours. That was impressive for such a small boat that provides no shelter from weather or waves, organizers said.
Lesaffre and Boyette also broke two R2AK small vessel records this year. They can now claim to be the fastest-ever boat under 20 feet to complete the race, a record previously set by Team Mau in 2015 with a time of 11 days and 19 hours.
The team also broke the record for fastest double-handed boat and fastest beach catamaran, beating Team Freeburd’s 2015 time of 9 days and 7 hours.
As the first under-20-foot boat to complete this year’s race, Team Ketch Me If U Can won a $1,000 side bet from Small Craft Advisor magazine and will be on the magazine’s cover later this year, according to Colvin.
“We’re very happy with how we sailed and finished,” said Lesaffre on the team’s Facebook page Wednesday. “A great adventure through and through — some of the toughest but also the most rewarding sailing I’ve ever done.”
The catamaran now is for sale in Ketchikan for $6,000. If it doesn’t sell before race officials have to return to Port Townsend, the price will go up to $7,500. If it needs to be shipped from Ketchikan, that’s an additional $3,000 or, if it makes it back to Port Townsend, a trailer is available for towing.
The money from the sale will go toward programs at the Northwest Maritime Center, Colvin said.
Race to Alaska (R2AK) officials decided to implement the offer this year to motivate more types of crafts to attempt the race, done without motors and without support vessels.
“It’s just to get a variety and open up the playing field to other kinds of boats,” Colvin said.
“Whether that’s a homemade boat or one you bought and fixed up, we wanted to give them something to go for since those multi-hull race boats are just a whole other genre.”
The race was in two steps: from Port Townsend to Victoria and from Victoria to Ketchikan.
Of the roughly 40 teams that left Victoria over a week ago, 13 have completed this year’s R2AK. Fourteen teams still were making their way north Wednesday.
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Jefferson County Editor/
