The first Race to Alaska started at 5:30 a.m., June 4, with hundreds of spectators at Point Hudson seeing off the engineless racers. Winds were about 10-15 knots out of the west, and the boats took …
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The moon was setting over the Olympic Mountains as boats headed out from Port Townsend Bay June 4 on the 40-mile opening leg of the Race to Alaska. Photo by Robin Dudley
As a starting signal sounds, people crowding a pier at Port Townsend's Point Hudson snap photos while watching in anticipation as engineless boats of all shapes and sizes leap into the 40-mile, qualifying leg of the inaugural Race to Alaska (R2AK). Photo by Nicholas Johnson
Race to Alaska contestants move past the Point Hudson jetty off downtown Port Townsend, June 4. Photo by Nicholas Johnson
The Port Townsend Salmon Club launch ramp and the beach next to the Northwest Maritime Center on June 4, 2015, shortly before boats entered Port Townsend Bay to stage for the Race to Alaska. Photo by Nicholas Johnson
Team Golden Oldies was the first to arrive in Victoria, making the crossing from Port Townsend in 3 hours, 48 minutes on June 4, 2015. Stephen Marcoe captains the 38-foot Crowther super shockwave catamaran, which one of the six crew helped out of Point Hudson June 4 using one of two sliding-seat rowing stations. Photo by Robin Dudley
The first Race to Alaska started at 5:30 a.m., June 4, with hundreds of spectators at Point Hudson seeing off the engineless racers. Winds were about 10-15 knots out of the west, and the boats took off like a shot from Port Townsend Bay for the race's opening 40-mile leg to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
The first teams to arrive were Victoria wasGolden Oldies (9:18 a.m.) followed by, FreeBurd (9:23 a.m.) and Elsie Piddock (9:41 a.m.) MOB Mentalit (9:50 a.m.), Turn Point Design of Port Townsend (10:01 a.m.) followed by Mau, Hexagram 59, Blackfish, Y Triamoto, and Broderna, according to the Race to Alaska Facebook page and the vessel tracker on r2ak.com.
The next wave of finishers included Traffic, Por Favor, Real Thing, Kohara, Pure & Wild, OMG, Rumpus, Un-Cruise, Grin, Soggy Beavers, Discovery, Barfeoot, Windsurfer, Superfriends and Excellent Adventure.
The race resumes at noon, Sunday, June 7 when the boats bound for Ketchikan, Alaska – without motor power – begin that 710-mile adventure.
The first team to the finish wins $10,000 from the Northwest Maritime Center of Port Townsend, and the runner up gets a set of steak knives. Everyone else is rewarded with the self-satisfaction of surviving the trip.
(The Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader will be posting exclusive reports from Ross Anderson, a salty sea dog himself, who is motoring along for much of the race.)
