Race to Alaska starts next week

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The Race to Alaska is back for year seven with 39 teams registered to depart from the Northwest Maritime Center on June 5.

No motors or support are allowed — organizers say the Race to Alaska (R2AK) is about the physical endurance, saltwater know-how, and bulldog tenacity that it takes to navigate the 750 cold-water miles from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska.

The first-place prize is $10,000; second place receives a set of steak knives.

Teams embark on Stage 1, “The Proving Ground,” from Port Townsend beginning at 5 a.m. Monday, June 5; racers have 36 hours to cross the Strait of Juan de Fuca and make it to Victoria, British Columbia.

Stage 2 begins at high noon Thursday, June 8, when the adventurers race “To the Bitter End,” on the 710-mile trek from Victoria to Alaska.

This year’s racers include recreational boaters to world-class professional ocean sailors, including a former Rolex Yachtsman of the Year; vessels range from home-built rowing boats to brand new, purpose-built racing sleds. Human-powered teams in kayaks and rowboats will be jockeying for position with go-fast boats, solo racers, and even those attempting to drag the equivalent of engineless houseboats up the Inside Passage. 

“For some, Race to Alaska is about getting the cash,” said Race Boss Jesse Wigel. “But for the majority, whether they end up with a broken boat on a beach or basking in the afterglow in Ketchikan — it’s all about what happens between the start and the end.” 

The 2022 removal of one of only two waypoints between Victoria and Ketchikan, Seymour Narrows, gives racers the choice of going up the inside of Vancouver Island or going out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca into the Pacific Ocean — opening up different possibilities as teams endeavor to solve the R2AK puzzle.

The public is invited to the Northwest Maritime Center on Sunday, June 4 to meet the teams and celebrate their impending adventure at the Ruckus — a free block party — and again for the race start at 5 a.m. June 5 to cheer on the teams as they embark on
Stage 1. 

Follow the teams’ progress on the 24-hour tracker, social media streams, and daily content from the media team at R2AK.com