Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 • C 1
Race 2 Alaska THE RACERS - THE ROUTE - THE RUCKUS - OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Dare to the world: Come Ruckus with us JAKE BEATTIE R2AK CENTRAL COMMAND
I
t started as the best beer-infused bad idea we’ve ever had: a $10K double dare designed to challenge every maritime wing nut, armchair dreamer and hardcore adventurer to hurl themselves to Alaska on any boat they could find.
The rules were intentionally dead simple: • Get a boat without an engine • Start in Port Townsend • Race unsupported up the Inside Passage • Finish in Ketchikan • If you’re first, we’ll give you $10,000. If you come in second, you get steak knives. We launched the challenge on the Internet and waited to see if anyone would pick up the gauntlet. In total, 53 teams toed the line in 2015’s inaugural Race to Alaska. All told, 35 tried to get all the way to Alaska. If you were part of the crowd that came out to celebrate their bold spirits and last-minute preparations at the Pre-Race Ruckus, or were part of the traffic jam that sent them off at dawn, you saw the same menagerie of racing sailboats, outrigger canoes, tiny dinghies, rowboats, home-built wonders, all piloted by the high hopes of world champions and amateurs alike. There were the boats, a bonfire, alleged skinny dipping and a couple of guys serving oatmeal from a paddleboard. Then the gun went off and
Team Discovery – Roger Mann – was the first solo finisher in R2AK 2015, and 11th overall. Among other travails, Mann spent 20 hours a day on his trimaran, stitched up his own thumb twice and was washed off his boat at night in Seymour Narrows; he’s been lauded as an R2AK hero. Mann is registered to compete in 2016. Courtesy photo by Dieter Loibner
the fleet rocketed into the first Race to Alaska the world has ever seen. The stories from the race were epic – masts broke, boats sunk, people got cold and gave up when they got fed up with the misery. But 15 teams “won” the race to Alaska by crossing the Ketchikan line, and the rest successfully failed
Race starts June 23
Brave or crazy? C2
along the way. Human triumph, worldwide enthusiasm, we didn’t go broke, and nobody died. There was simply too
much good that came out of the first race not to do it again. This year the race, which starts June 23, has attracted some of the fastest boats on the West Coast, Olympians, fast women, a robot, a guy on a paddleboard and every kind of cocksure theory in between. Even if Larry Ellison never re-
turned our calls, this is going to be totally badass. Welcome to this year’s R2AK, Port Townsend’s dare to the world: Will you be ready? (Jake Beattie is executive director of the Northwest Maritime Center)
Race to Alaska draws speed demon PATRICK J. SULLIVAN THE LEADER
Join the pre-race Ruckus on Wednesday, June 22
T
he Race to Alaska motorless boat challenge, born on the Port Townsend waterfront and back triumphantly for a second year, has drawn one of the fastest sailboats to ever grace the Salish Sea. Team Tritium Racing sailed its 73-foot custom trimaran the 2,225 miles from California to Hawaii faster than last year’s R2AK winner covered the 750 miles from Port Townsend to Ketchikan. “The speed, technology and skill aboard is rarely seen outside of a major race,” said Jake Beattie, executive director of the Northwest Maritime Center and R2AK brainchild, describing Team Tritium Racing. “I can’t think of any time when a boat of that caliber has been in our region.” Could Tritium Racing swamp the competition? Certainly, being its trimaran is easily capable of 30-knot speeds. Could the high-tech yet fragile craft break down in rough seas or from a driftwood strike? Certainly. After all, big boat or small, that is the challenge of this adventure race. John Sangmeister of Long Beach, California, owner of Tritium Racing, said that while his team aims to win every race entered with this boat, which was built to set records, he appreciates everyone willing to take on R2AK. “I love the novelty of the race,” he said in a telephone interview from California. “I think [the Northwest Maritime Center has] done a great job in marketing sailing, and have made sailing interesting again. How
Team Tritium Racing’s vessel is a 73-foot trimaran designed and built in France to go fast and set records. In 2013, its owner came within a few hours of setting a record in racing from California to Hawaii. Now, the boat takes on the Race to Alaska challenge starting June 23 on Port Townsend Bay. Courtesy photo Tritium Racing
often do you have a starting line where at one end, you have a 73-foot trimaran and on the other end, a guy on a standup paddleboard?” RACE TO ALASKA The R2AK is a two-leg adventure race that launches at 6 a.m., Thursday, June 23 on Port Townsend Bay. The first leg covers 40 miles to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, from where the racers who choose to, head north another 710 miles to Ketchikan, Alaska. Last year, Team Elsie Piddock’s 32-foot F-25c trimaran, skippered by Al Hughes, won the R2AK after five days, four hours and 17 minutes on the water from the start in Port Townsend. Tritium Racing is centered on a trimaran (73 feet long, 60 feet wide, with a 100-foot mast) with a nineperson crew that in 2013 raced the
“I can’t think of any time when a boat of that caliber has been in our region.” Jake Beattie EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NORTHWEST MARITIME CENTER
2,225-mile Transpacific from Los Angeles to Honolulu in five days, two and a half hours short of a world record. The boat was designed in France by VPLP, built in 2002 to race with an offshore multihull racing association. The class of boats dissolved “because they were prohibitively expensive and too fragile,” Sang-
meister said. In 2011, Artemis Racing bought and reconfigured the boat as a way to test new foils and wing designs for an AC 72 America’s Cup yacht. The boat weighs about 15,000 pounds, yet cruises in the 30-knot area and has hit 40 knots. “It may be the fastest sailboat ever to be in these waters,” Beattie noted. Sangmeister, owner and skipper, describes himself as the crew’s “weak link.” Otherwise, crew members include veterans of the America’s Cup, Olympians, world champions, national champs, a runner-up for the Rolex Sailor of the Year Award, and R2AK veteran Tripp Burd, half of Team Freeburd, which finished fourth in the 2015 R2AK on board an Arc-22 beach cat. Beattie describes Team Tritium
All are invited to join the teams at the Race to Alaska Pre-Race Ruckus for excellent nosh, superb swill and loud music from 3 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22 at the Northwest Maritime Center and Pope Marine Park. It’s all free. More than 40 boats and watercraft are to be on display, many at Point Hudson, others on trailers along Water Street, near the plethora of food and beverage vendors, and the music of Seattle soul band Down North. And if that’s not enough for a party, a tattoo artist offers free R2AK tattoos. (Yes, permanent tattoos.) New to the Ruckus this year are Feats of Strength competitions, such as the Ocean Rodeo: Watch an R2AK competitor don a drysuit and submit to an 8-second blast from a fire hose. Also slated is the Tabasco challenge, involving the speedy consumption of shots of the spicy sauce. And Race Boss Daniel Evans and R2AK idea man Jake Beattie, NWMC executive director, also mentioned putting one racer into a bear suit and making him or her run on a treadmill, competing for endurance against another racer on a rowing machine. Does the bear catch the rower? Come to the Ruckus and see.
as a “Goliath” that could quickly outdistance the many smaller “David” competitors. “Everyone else could be racing for the steak knives,” said Beattie in reference to R2AK second prize of a set of steak knives. The first boat to finish wins $10,000. “Maybe we’ll just be the gentle giants instead of the Goliath,” countered Sangmeister. “Hopefully we can be a goodwill ambassador for this type of sailing, and I think that, speaking for our crew, we’ve all enjoyed some great adventures and success and built some friendships around the world through sailing, and if there are some kids out there who are interested by this race, then See TRITIUM, page 7▼
C 2 • Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Brave or crazy? Race to Alaska starts in PT Here they go again. The Race to Alaska starts at 6 a.m., Thursday, June 23, with 63 teams set to cross the starting line just off the Northwest Maritime Center (NWMC) dock in Port Townsend, beginning a 750-mile race to Ketchikan, Alaska. R2AK is an engineless race, challenging entrants with squalls, floating debris and tidal currents that run upward of 20 miles per hour. Forty-four teams are signed up for the full race to Alaska, while 19 teams race in the first leg to Victoria, British Columbia. The clear favorite among the full-race participants is Team Tritium Racing, with its 73-foot racing sailboat and hot-shot crew. The indomitable Roger Mann returns with his trimaran as Team Discovery. And this year’s
race includes two allwomen teams: Team Sistership and Team Kraken Up. There are more teams, and faster teams, this year. Keep an eye on the Spot Tracker to follow everyone’s progress at R2AK.com. STAGE 1 The Stage 1 participants include one robot: Team Navoacean, a 100-pound, 2-meter, solar-powered sailboat that collects weather data and conducts marinemammal research. Another team is made up of a bunch of former tall-ship sailors on a gaff cutter – watch out for Team Focsle Refugees in the Feats of Strength at the Pre-
Race Ruckus. Stage 1 ends in Victoria Harbour, where more partying is expected and visitors are welcome. Racers are likely to arrive on the afternoon of June 23; the cutoff time is 5 p.m., June 24. Fullrace participants must arrive by then to continue racing to Ketchikan. STAGE 2 The second stage of the race begins at noon on Sunday, June 26. Last year, 35 teams started for Alaska. This year, 44 teams are registered to go all the way, of which 15 are high-tech monohulls capable of double-digit speeds.
e c I a s R On! e h T
The NWMC reports that the race has a range of sailors who are smart and savvy, and some are returning with lessons from last year’s experience. Based on the most difficult level of simplicity, R2AK teams are entirely self-supported, with no supply drops and no safety net. A chase boat brings up the rear to tap out entrants who have not made Ketchikan in the allotted time. MORE EXPOSURE Last year, NWMC worked hard to get R2AK on the map. Along with more boats and professional sailors this year, the race is attracting more media coverage. Production crews representing CBS’s “Sunday Morning” program are expected in Port Townsend, intending to follow the race to the end.
The moon sets over the Olympic Mountains as boats head out from Port Townsend Bay June 4, 2015 on the 40-mile opening leg of the Race to Alaska. Team Elsie Piddock was one of the last across the R2AK starting line in Port Townsend, entered Victoria Harbour in third place, and ended up being the first to arrive in Ketchikan. Photo by Robin Dudley
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Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 • C 3
WelcomE to done : Ketchikan, Ak
A town that measures rainfall in feet, tourists by cruise ship loads, and parties by how many people dance. The R2AK finish line banner says it best: “Welcome to Done.” Teams have until July 20 to reach the finish. Last year the first team set the bar at five days, one hour, and 55 minutes, and the final winner reached the finish in 21 days. While there is no racespecific safety net, the race has a sweep boat (aka “The Grim Sweeper”) that serves as a rolling disqualification line. It travels roughly 75 miles a day and if it catches you, you’re out. No one got swept last year. The finish line itself is the Fish House, next to the dock, with a six-pack of beer waiting on the bench.
Everywhere : Driftwood & Debris
There is a veritable forest of wood in the water in and around the coast of British Columbia. All teams reaching Ketchikan shared stories of hitting driftwood hard, at least once, and often causing damage that forced them to make repairs. The boat speed of the top boats in this year’s race is in excess of 30 knots. The only way for us to feel better about how nervous we are is imagining how nervous those teams must be.
WayPoint 2 : Bella Bella, BC
The R2AK’s second mandatory waypoint is the waterfront in Bella Bella. Why Bella Bella? No idea, but it’s roughly the midpoint of the race and the last bit of civilization for a couple hundred miles. We almost financed the race by setting up a store here that sold nothing but trail mix, Top Ramen, and hot showers.
Mess You UP : Cape
Caution
Roger Mann set the bar for the first solo finish in 2015, and his triumph was one of clenched teeth determination. There were many dramatic moments in his voyage, like being swept off his boat during his midnight run through Seymour Narrows, but nothing more so than his pitchpole (when the sea throws your boat into an involuntary cartwheel) onto a beach at Cape Caution. Roger was trapped under his upended boat in surf, by himself, in the middle of nowhere, and his drysuit was filling up with seawater because the zipper was open. “I was pulling myself and my boat up the beach. I was absolutely pinned to the ground. I finally just had to cut the legs off the drysuit. It was the only way I could get out of the water.”
mother nature wins : Johnstone
Strait
A notorious blow hole, Johnstone Strait funnels wind against the flow of the tide and seas stack up in short, steep succession. In R2AK 2015 Johnny Strait was a barrier that only 18 teams made it through, leaving broken masts, broken rudders, and broken morale as the weather raged on for over a week of gales.
Narrows
A salt water river that changes direction every six hours, Seymour Narrows are the famed tidal rapids of the Inside Passage. On a good day, tidal currents here run 16 knots, twice the speed of Deception Pass, with whirlpools 30 feet across and six feet deep—strong enough to pull under rowboats, kayaks, and especially anyone who is unlucky enough to fall off. Seymour Narrows is the first mandatory waypoint of the race and racers must pass through these gates before continuing on.
Stage 2 Start : Victoria, BC
While the no rules ethos of the R2AK doesn’t care, it’s by order of the Queen that there is no sailing in Victoria’s harbor. By law the last 1.5 miles of Stage One must be navigated by human power alone. Great for the guy on the paddle board, not so great for the big ass trimaran. Stage Two starts on Sunday, June 26 at high noon. The flat calm of the Victoria restart of R2AK 2015 was quickly and literally blown away by a record week of northerly gales. The first 24 hours out of Victoria forced ten teams to exit the race. Blown sails, broken rigs, dismastings, newly built boats rushed through production couldn’t withstand, and crews that got caught in heaping seas. There were no injuries but Team Sea Wolf abandoned their small trimaran off Steveston at 0300. The seas were 15’ and in water so shallow that the crew reported their vessel slamming into the sea floor in the trough. The captain of the Canadian Coast Guard rescue hovercraft said it was the worst conditions he had ever driven in.
Stage 1 Start : Port Townsend, WA
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a nasty patch of water with big winds, plenty of tides, shipping lanes, notorious fog, and an international border. If you can make it from Port Townsend to Victoria in 36 hours without assistance, you earn the right to 710 more miles of hardship.
Welcome to YEAR Two of Race to Alaska! Still 750 miles, Still no support, Still no motors, all the way to alaska. r2ak.com @racetoalaska facebook.com/racetoalaska
NAUTICAL MILES
WayPoint 1 : Seymour
100
50
25 10 0
C 4 • Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Epic adventurers: Team Alula Mobility-impaired sailors hope to finish in top 10 ROBIN DUDLEY THE LEADER
T
he courage, strength and skill of the dreamers and daredevils willing to subject themselves to the rigors of Race to Alaska (R2AK) are simply awe-inspiring.
Spike Kane CAPTAIN TEAM ALULA
onto the nets between the hulls. We’ll probably strap ourselves into that to row from.”
Prepare to be more awed. All three members of Team Alula use wheelchairs. “I’m in a wheelchair because I was hit by a car that ran a red light when I was on a motorbike,” said Spike Kane, captain of Team Alula. That was 11 years ago. “Bruno [Hansan] was injured in South Africa when he was carjacked. Zach [Tapac] was injured in a diving accident.” Kane has been sailing his Corsair F-27 trimaran, Alula, singlehanded to the Gulf IsTeam Alula captain Spike Kane named his Corsair F-27 trimaran “Alula” after the feathers on small birds’ wings that act as a brake. “I’m a little bit lands for three years, going as of a bird nerd. I’ve always loved that word,” a three-syllable palindrome. “The boat’s a trimaran, and obviously boat people want to be clever with far north as Port Hardy and their name.” Courtesy photo Desolation Sound, and along about timing, reSeattle. It hit the bow, ally did try to ditch the name – Hansan won the gold medal, the outside of Vancouver ally. Some of the bounced under the [Spike], because it sounded he added, at that event in La Island as far north as Tofino. night sailing boat and bent too thuggish,” he said, notJolla, California. “He was in “I know just how stunningly I’m a bit nerthe propeller ing a famous sailor from Port the prone position. I was in an beautiful it is,” he said. shaft. “Lucki- Townsend, Spike Africa, assisted position and made it “I had been planning a solo vous about. Especially ly, it didn’t hit shares that name. “I met his to the semifinals,” said Kane. circumnavigation of Vancouwith this the rudder.” niece at a surfi ng competi“Me and Zach are pretty highver Island, and obviously that hot weather, Kane, tion,” Kane said. level injuries. Sometimes, detakes a lot of planning, and because it’s nicknamed pending on the conditions, we when this race came up last EPIC SURFERS been fl ushing Spike since need a swimmer in the water year I was pretty keen on doKane also met Tapac at a the rivers out age 6, “because helping us get on the wave.” ing it, but my sister was sick surfing competition, three or my hair stuck In early June, all three in the [United Kingdom], so I pretty well, so I four years ago in Hawaii, and think there’s going to up on one side,” is of them were headed to ended up doing it this year,” asked him last year if he’d be more debris in the waoriginally from Liverpool, California for another surfing Kane said. like to do R2AK on Alula. “We competition. ter than normal.” England; he’s lived in the He’s not all that nervous, both met Bruno at the firstKane hit a log once in Pacifi c Northwest since 1988, Then it’s time for R2AK. “I 0just excited. “Seymour Narever surfing championship for asked Bruno last year, and he broad daylight, while sailon Lopez and Orcas islands, rows is the one spot I’m a bit ing a mono-hull just outside and in Seattle since ’94. “I re- adaptive surfers,” Kane said wanted to do it [R2AK], and I nervous about, and that’s all needed two people that I trust to do such an epic adventure.” The boat has no modifications for this trip, Kane said. “There’s no special equipment, no real adaptive modifications,” he said. Auxiliary propulsion is – Serving Boaters since 2008 – sweep oars on each pontoon. He and Zach will have to figBOTTOMS UP MARINE SERVICES INC. ure out seating for when they At Your Dock Services - Haulout Services Located in the Port Townsend Boat Haven row. “We’ve got our arms and Factory Authorized Cummins, Westerbeke, Universal, & Perkins. Ph 360.301.4871 that’s it,” Kane said. “There We Service, Repair, and Install All Brands. On-Board Systems: 360-301-5921 Ph 360. 531.2270 Plumbing-Electrical-Heating-Steering-Running Gear. are soft fabric seats that strap www.bottomsupmarineservices.com www.galmukoffmarine.com
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“I honestly believe it could be anybody’s race, and there’s no reason it can’t be ours.”
‘ANYBODY’S RACE’ “There’s some really highperformance boats,” Kane said of his R2AK competition, but he’s not worried. North of Texada Island and south of Port Hardy, “it’s almost like a strainer, because the channels are really narrow; tides are going to be a big factor.” How teams do up to that point will determine where they’re going to finish, he predicted. “I think we have a good chance to be in the top 10.” Team Tritium Racing, “the huge high-performance trimaran is obviously the hot favorite,” but “they may come into trouble coming through the small channels ... that boat could just be stuck on anchor for a while.” He invoked Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare. “I honestly believe it could be anybody’s race, and there’s no reason it can’t be ours. That’s the attitude we’re going in with.” Kane said Team Alula plans to bring supplies enough for two weeks of selfsufficiency, including 3 liters of water per day, per person. “Clearly, it’s not going to be easy for us to get to shore in remote places,” he said. “I’d been preparing for a big solo trip anyway. The boat’s pretty well fitted out and supplied.” As far as safety gear, they’ll bring nothing special. “The boat’s not tricked out or modified in any special way,” he said. “We’re coming to this race the same as every other sailor. We’re just not going to be stepping on the boat from the dock. We’ll be sliding on, or crawling on, and giving everyone a good run for the money.”
Good luck racers!
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Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 • C 5
Race to Alaska participants pass stunning scenery – and a lot of cold water. Courtesy photo by Nick Reid
Race participants describe their R2AK 2015 experiences
Team Grin – Jeremy Lucke, Jullie Jackson and Hannah Viano – installed sliding-seat rowing stations on an Etchells 22, a 30-foot racing sailboat, and finished 10th in R2AK 2015. Courtesy photo by Nick Reid
Transiting Seymour Narrows is no easy matter in the race
According to a transcription of Roger Mann’s “fresh off the boat” interview as solo Team Discovery, he spent 20 hours a day on his trimaran, stitched up his own thumb twice, and got washed off his boat while traveling through Seymour Narrows at night. “I had my [surfboard] leash on, so I got back on, but I got completely knocked off the boat.”
Seymour Narrows is the narrow bottleneck 5 miles northwest of the Campbell River and the first required waypoint for the intrepid rowers, paddlers and sailors in the unmotorized R2AK race. It lies halfway between the northern and southern ends of Vancouver Island, so it gets tidal action from both directions. And during periods of extreme tides – around the time of the full moon and the new moon, when the tides are drawn by the combined gravitational forces of the sun and moon – the tidal currents commonly reach 16 knots, creating waves and whirlpools of biblical proportions, and white water. For the uninitiated, 16 knots is faster than many of the boats in the Port Townsend Boat Haven will move, even with 50 horsepower of Honda engine clamped to the stern.
“We ran into a rock, and that was a game changer,” Port Townsend’s Piper Dunlap said of his experience in 2015 aboard a Hobie 20 with Norton Smith as Team Hexagram 59. “We had to stop for 27 hours to fix that. Then we encountered a lot of wind. After a couple of days of that, we were really tired and cold.” In the inaugural R2AK, the San Juan 21 sailed by Team Super Friends “began to delaminate right at the bow, and they bravely called it a day before the boat peeled itself like a hollow banana.” Team Later Dudes entered as one person on a homebuilt “Tamanu sailing canoe seemingly built on the idea that you can walk into Home Depot and emerge with a canoe to take you to Alaska.” From Team Gold Rush’s description: “Fast forward to race day, and the echos of the starting gun were still ringing in their ears when the fleet discovered a wall of wind and standing waves at Point Wilson, and the sea discovered an unsecured hatch on Team Gold Rush’s boat, which then was swamped, flipped, and towed back to the dock by the Coast Guard Auxiliary.”
Team Barefoot Wooden Boats – Quill Goldman, Mitch Burns and Jesse Bartlett – finished 15th in R2AK 2015 in a boat built just for the race. Courtesy photo by Nick Reid
The tales of Team Excellent Adventure’s 2015 race lived up to its name: Team members “bashed their tiny ship through the jaws of the gales that destroyed and disheartened bigger and more expensive boats. They destroyed and repaired two rudders in the effort, sailed off of lee shores under jury-rigged gear, found friends and refuge among the B.C. locals, and thanks to Bill’s long and salty experience and Ted’s youthful enthusiasm, they crossed the finish line as the rear guard of mid-pack 12th, out of 15 ... ” From Team Big Broderna’s description: “In that moment, skill wasn’t rewarded as much as mistakes were punished: Boats that misread the line ended up in the current and were swept backwards for a half a mile before they could rectify. In the Inside Passage, the sea holds all the cards.” From Team Discovery’s description: Tales of his campaign fast became legend. The capsize, being swept from his boat in 8-foot waves in Seymour Narrows, cutting the legs off of his water-filled drysuit to free himself from the surf that pinned him under wave after near drowning wave, the other capsize, the sheer grit. “I was so cold every day, so cold that my eyes hurt.” Team Why Not’s answer to “Why?”: “‘Why not?’ has that sort of shrug-of-the-shoulder, inevitable optimism that Race to Alaska was made for. ‘Why not?’ gets you off of the couch, ‘Why not?’ gets you up Everest, or in this case, ‘Why not?’ gets you to overcome what seems like a foregone conclusion: that a 56-year-old sailboat with two guys in their 60s might not measure up to the raw speed of a hard-charging multihull in an engineless boat race to Alaska.” Team Turn Point Design’s 2015 R2AK was a short one: “Team members discovered teething issues of too much rudder strain in high winds and then ran to fight another day within 24 hours of the start of stage two and within sight of the geography that inspired the team name. They sailed home, regrouped and set their sights on 2016.”
Team Por Favor, pictured in Johnstone Strait, finished third in R2AK 2015 in a 33-foot boat (with a cabin). Courtesy photo by Nick Reid
C 6 • Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
The human element
Turn Point catamaran, Felix, tries again ROBIN DUDLEY THE LEADER
“The combination of sail and human power is really a nice thing.”
T
eam Turn Point Design returns for a second stab at the Race to Alaska this year. The team is named for the Port Townsend company that designs and fabricates, among other things, components for America’s Cup yachts.
Turn Point Design built a custom 24-foot catamaran just for R2AK last year, which was barely finished in time – electronics were still being installed after the race’s first leg ended in Victoria, and they turned back around in Nanaimo, British Columbia. “It just wasn’t ready,” said Turn Point owner Brandon Davis of the boat, which his wife and daughter named Felix, after black cat cartoon character. “It’s kind of a dark, ominous-looking boat,” so it’s good to have a name that means “happy,” Davis said. Felix is getting a few upgrades: a “better, faster and more efficient” pedaldrive system; a third reef in the mainsail; new curved and lifting daggerboards and daggerboard trunks; and new rudders and rudder mechanisms. The crew is different, too. Last year, Davis raced with Nige Oswald; this year, the crew will be Davis, Lucas Hurt and Piper Dunlap, who raced last year on a Hobie 20 with Norton Smith as Team Hexagram 59.
Brandon Davis TURN POINT DESIGN
racers like Team Tritium, and if fewer big-money, racing sailboats win this year, maybe next year’s race will see “more people’s boats as opposed to 1-percenter boats,” Dunlap said, noting that in 2015, “the order of finish of boats kind of follows the order of price tag. “In yacht racing, there are many races in the world for the big expensive boats,” while part of R2AK’s appeal is that it attracts a variety of boats. “The bigger the boat, the Brandon Davis (right), owner of Turn Point Design, stands beside a 24-foot catamaran of his own design in May 2015 with employees (from left) less important the humanWilliam Edge, Kai Lorenz and Michael Birch, who helped construct the vessel. Barely done in time to race in 2015, the boat, named Felix, is racing power element is.” again in the second R2AK, with several upgrades. Leader 2015 file photo by Nicholas Johnson Davis said he’d like to see “gates” in the “It was cold, race, such as and rained a a required lot of the beach time, and launch at windy.” the start, Felix and/or redoes best quired pason “a beam sage under a reach where low bridge, the apparsuch as the ent wind is one at Pender a little forward Harbour in British of the beam,” DunColumbia, about halfway lap said. Their ideal weather for the race would up Vancouver Island. Such be 8 knots from the south, requirements “would help eliminate the all-out crazy with some periods of calm big, expensive boats,” he weather, Davis added. said. “The combination of Team Turn Point Design is racing its custom 24-foot catamaran, Felix, to Ketchikan in the 2016 Race to Felix was built of sursail and human power is Alaska. Felix was built at Turn Point Design in Port Townsend for R2AK; this is the team’s second attempt at plus aerospace materials really a nice thing” about the race under captain Brandon Davis. Courtesy photo R2AK, he said. “I wouldn’t that Davis was able to buy cheaply because it was consider a motor on Felix. “We ran into a rock, and really lovely sail back” to past its use-by date. It was It’s so much fun to pedal“The order of that was a game-changer,” Port Townsend, for a total built in his shop, by his sail” – to pedal and sail at of eight days on the small Dunlap said of his experiemployees, on his dime. “A the same time. fi nish of boats open boat. ence in 2015. “We had to really bad business deci“Last year was an Dunlap, Hurt and Davis kind of follows stop for 27 hours to fix sion,” he said with a laugh. unusually windy year,” of Team Turn Point Design that. Then we encounBut it’s also brought him Dunlap said. “This year, the order of price tered a lot of wind. After a have taken Felix out for some business, including a lot of the fast sailboats several test sails, including tag.” couple of days of that, we making some parts for showed up in response to were really tired and cold.” rounding Whidbey Island other R2AK teams. that.” They stopped about a third over Memorial Day weekKeep an eye on Felix Dunlap and Davis reaPiper Dunlap end, which Davis described of the way into Johnstone the black cat in R2AK CREW MEMBER son that periods of less as having “realistic” Strait. 2016. For updates, visit wind would help smaller weather. He and Smith “had a boats keep up with the big R2AK.com.
Shine Micro donates ship-tracking device Port Ludlow’s Shine Micro Inc. has donated a long-range automatic identification system (AIS) receiver to the Northwest Maritime Center (NWMC) to augment and enrich the center’s suite of navigational instructional technology in the pilothouse simulator. AIS is an internationally utilized navigation and collision avoidance technology that uses radio waves and unique ship signatures to allow ships and other vessels to know each other’s location, speed, course and more. Also donated were several large-format monitors that display received information on large-scale maps, tracking the movements of ships in real time. “It’s pretty mesmerizing to watch all of the ships move through the region,” said Jake Beattie, NWMC executive director, in a press release. “You can look at a ship going by the window, and then run in to check the monitor to see what it is. It’s like the Race to Alaska tracker, but for commercial ships.” The NWMC plans on using the technology as part of its overall mission to educate and engage people in the
“It’s pretty mesmerizing to watch all of the ships move through the region.” Jake Beattie EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NORTHWEST MARITIME CENTER
maritime world. “We really depend on great community partners like Shine Micro,” Beattie said. “The technology is great for us to share, and it’s a nice opportunity for us to shout the virtues of a local company doing big things in the maritime world. It’s a win-win.” Monitors are on display in the Wooden Boat Chandlery, NWMC administrative offices, and other places around the NWMC building on the waterfront in downtown Port Townsend. Shine Micro is a global leader in AIS reception technology, pioneering longrange reception techniques that have earned the company recognition from commercial, recreational and military users alike.
In 2015, Team Blackfish finished the Race to Alaska in ninth place, also earning the designation “oldest participant to complete,” with team members ages 72, 54 and 26. Captain Al Lubkowski owns Blackfish Sailing and Trimaran Adventures, based in Victoria, British Columbia, offering charters aboard the F-27 trimaran Blackfish. Courtesy photo by Nick Reid
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 • C 7
Tritium: Team Tritium auctions seats to boost NWMC programs in Victoria, our mast is so tall and has such a massive wing, we will ďŹ ght it, and getting out of the harbor is going to be challenging.â€? Overall, why bring his boat to R2AK? “I like adventure challenge. I love Alaska. I love Victoria,â€? Sangmeister said. “I’ve spent a fair amount of time up there visiting the in-laws in Roche Harbor; cruising up there. I’m looking forward to seeing Port Townsend again. “Whatever happens, it’s going to be exciting.â€?
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maybe this is a chance to pique their interest.â€? The boat will be crewed by eight people for R2AK, instead of the nine typically used in offshore races. Sangmeister graciously is helping NWMC by auctioning two seats on the Port Townsend– Victoria leg as a fundraiser to support the center’s yearround maritime education program. The ďŹ rst seat, put up to bid on eBay, the online auction site, went for $1,500. A second seat auction was started June 6, opening at $1,500. Sangmeister, who grew up in a sailing family with connections to America’s Cup type racing on the East Coast, also knows that on the water, nothing is a sure thing. Success in the R2AK has a lot to do with wind, tides and the risk of disabling damage. OCEAN DEBRIS Every R2AK entrant needs to be alert for oating hazards such as driftwood (think big logs), none more so than a big, fast and fragile boat like that of Team Tritium Racing. “It’s a real problem at many different levels,â€? Sangmeister said of driftwood. “The problem with our boat is we had six signiďŹ cant impacts on Transpac and almost broke the boat.â€? The crew missed the 2013 TranspaciďŹ c race record by two and a half hours, yet had spent 17 hours during the race idled to make repairs. “It cost a lot of time, a lot of money. On the last strike I thought we broke the boat, 1,000 miles from nowhere.â€? Some oating hazards are man-made. “It was frustrating for me as a guy who has crossed the PaciďŹ c seven times to see the sad state of the PaciďŹ c Ocean,â€? Sangmeister said of the 2015 race to Hawaii. “We saw thousands of pieces of trash in the ocean, thousands. It was really, real-
LEFT: Weighing about 15,000 pounds and with a 100-foot mast, Team Tritium’s boat is not easy to handle on land, yet may hit 40 knots on the water. Courtesy photo Tritium Racing
ly discouraging. We passed a swamped 50-foot boat, doing 24 knots downwind and we missed it by about 150 feet and we didn’t see it until it was abeam of us.â€? Ocean debris “is a hazard, it is a hazard to mariners and a hazard to marine life and it’s a hazard to humans as well because we can’t let our oceans decay. In the Northwest we obviously have deadheads and we obviously need to be vigilant. A strike against a log, well, if you don’t ďŹ nish, you don’t win.â€? The boat was out of commission for much of 2015, and entered a prestigious race from Newport, California, to Ensenada, Mexico, in April 2016, intending to break the 125-mile ocean course record. “Instead, we broke the boat,â€? he said. “We were sailing with some new foils and we were sailing pretty aggres-
sively. We got 95 percent of boat out of the water fully ying, and then she broke, in a really, really, really loud bang.â€? GETTING HERE Sangmeister expects it would take about four days to sail the 2,000 miles from the San Pedro area of Los Angeles to the Salish Sea. The boat’s ďŹ rst stop is to be Roche Harbor in the San Juan Islands, where he intends to pull his boat’s small motor, in compliance with R2AK rules. “The French are hyper weight conscious, so it’s a 35-horsepower engine. The fact that we have to take the whole thing out is ridiculous because you literally can’t power upwind with this. I wish we could just take the prop off.â€? Rules are rules, Beattie noted, and the key part about R2AK is there are so few rules, including no motor, no resupply, no relief. Team Tritium might be slowed down by the rule that boats must get in and out of
Victoria Harbour under human power alone. His boat’s “secret weapon� when sails are not up? Long paddles, according to his team’s Facebook page. “We want no wind in Victoria,� Sangmeister said. “My biggest fear is we’ve got 58 minutes before slack tide. Maybe 150 minutes before adverse currents and if there is a strong breeze, prevailing
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