Race to Alaska 2019

T

thataway

Active member
Well it is getting close to that time of year:

Race to Alaska 2019: Stage 1 Race start: 0500 June 3rd, Port Townsend, Washington
Stage 2 Race start: 1200 June 6th, Victoria, BC

Throw in the mix last years winner: Team Sail Like A Girl, on a Melges 32 is racing again--the first time a winner has come back to race a second year!

Here is the web site.

Today it looks as if there are 46 teams entered so far. Should be a great race!

Some of the best commentary is on Sailing Anarchy.. There are already 195 posts on this forum!

By the way: Sail Like A Girl has an on line store--great way to support Woman's sailing!!!
 
Good Morning Bob. And great news, I am looking for crew on SleepyC for the first stage, Port Townsend to Victoria. Come on up and enjoy the race from a different perspective.

Thanks for putting up the links.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Thanks for the post, Bob, and I envy you Harvey!

I've followed R2AK with great interest every year. I'm really bummed that I will have to miss the race this year. We will be off on a trip so I can't get up to Port Townsend to check out the boats. I may be without wifi or cell connection during some of the race, as well, but I will try to catch up with it when I can. At least I may get more sleep this year. I found myself checking on the progress of the boats and the predicted weather conditions at all hours of the day and night for the past races.

I'm really excited that Team Sail Like a Girl is back.

I would love to be able to take a close look at the human powered and solo boats, in particular, to see how entrants are adapting and evolving in their designs.

I'm counting on some fellow addicts to take some pictures of the boats in PT or Victoria, at least, and to post and comment here as the race goes on, so I can get my annual fix when I'm back.
 
I meet the captain of the " team me" boat last night at a boat building class. saw pics of the build and his boat. He just tested it this last week on a lake. He is thinking 14 days to finish.

after looking at the web site I think Doug was funning me about his team name. its really Team Perseverance.
 
Every team that makes it will have to have "Team Perseverance". There is nothing easy about anything in this race.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Hoping not to hijack the thread in any way, but this coincidence seemed worth passing on. I went to our local Olympia Annual Wooden Boat Fair this morning, and among the classic wood boats was the "Winifred." It turns out that it has been owned since the year 2000 by a childhood friend of mine. The "Winifred" has many other interesting connections to places and people I know, but here is why I'm posting this: The boat won its class (40 to 60 foot power boats) in a 1928 predicted log race from Olympia to Juneau. For many years, the event was billed as the "Capitol to Capitol" race. Particularly noteworthy is that Charles Chapman (yes, That Chapman) was on the "Winifred" for the race.

Boat Name: Winifred
Year: 1926
Length: 47'
Breadth: 11’-6”
Builder: Lake Union Drydock
Designer: Otis Cutting
Owner: Greg Gilbert

Winifred sold for $7,125.00 new in 1926. She was built for Adolph and Winifred Schmidt of Olympia, Washington. Mr. Schmidt surprised his wife by naming the boat after her.
In 1928 Mr. Schmidt organized a predicted log race from Olympia to Juneau, Alaska. Winifred had a famous passenger on board for the race: Charles F. Chapman, then editor of Motor Boating Magazine and author of the boater’s bible: "Chapman’s Seamanship and Small Boat Handling". Winifred came in first in the 40-ft and larger class, with a margin of error of only 28-minutes for the entire 980-mile trip.
Winifred is planked with Alaskan Yellow Cedar below the waterline and vertical grain Douglas fir above the waterline. The pilothouse is solid Burmese Teak. A comfortable yacht in both calm and heavy weather, Winifred cruises at a little over 9 knots and is powered by a four-cylinder (453) Detroit Diesel.
 
That predicted log race is a whole different animal of racing. That takes a special kind of technical ability and knowledge. To make those 980 miles and be within an hour of prediction is incredibly accurate. And those were the days before GPS and auto pilot as we know today.

Thanks for the links Joe. Pretty cool.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Bump.

Will try and get some updates along the way.

Sail Like a Girl is up there, in top 10, and a long way to go. First boat is just South of Seymore Narrows, and on other N of Campbell River.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Even though I am traveling, I am trying to get my RTA fix as often as ;possible. The lead group made thru Seymour Narrows with the 21:50 slack last night, and are working their way up Johnstone straits in vey light winds. Angry Beaver is not showing on the tracker, but is right up near the front. "Given' the Horns" (F-31) is ahead of the early leader (Pear Shaped Racing--whose tracker is now several hours behind real time.

I believe that this is going to be a very close finish, and lots of drama ahead.
 
Sail Like a Girl is #3 tonight, (2350 6/8 ) but anything can happen. I will be away for a day so probably won't be able to follow tomorrow. They may be caught up with Andy by tomorrow night.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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A lot of lead changes. Sailing anarchy says that there was a rudder failure on given' Horns. No suggestion why Pair Shaped Racing was going so slow. There have been tracker issues.

Good for Sail like a Girl--she was doing 10 knots a few minutes ago--far faster than any other boat at the time. But the multihulls can hit up to 30 knots--if the wind is right--which it looks as it it can be in the next day or so...
 
UPDATE @ 4:07 pm:

Angry Beaver is on Dock and 100% complete in Ketchikan!

Where's the live video coverage?


Wow! At just short of 4 pm PST Monday, Angry Beaver is 99% complete, and looks to be about only 7-10 miles short of the finish at Ketchikan. Sail Like and Girl and Shut Up and Drive are out in the Dixon Entrance in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, at 86% and 87% complete. Angry Beaver was making 6.6 knots, so the first place finisher should arrive in Ketchikan within an hour or two, currents, wind, and luck, not withstanding. The other two will be battling it out for the 2nd place finisher's set of steak knives into the night!

Stay Tuned!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
It is still possible that Pear Shaped Racing may be second--for the second year in a row...Their tracker is not working apparently--for over a day.
 
thataway":u4ina9zs said:
It is still possible that Pear Shaped Racing may be second--for the second year in a row...Their tracker is not working apparently--for over a day.
Click to expand...

Hey Bob- You're as knowledgeable as anyone around here about electronic tracking and emergency devices, so I'll ask you:

Lots of problems this year in the R2A with tracking devices.

Legitimate problems, or just stealth gamesmanship?

Dirty pool? What are the rules?

Does make it more difficult to follow the race for followers, IMHO.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Hi Joe, (and all)
My understanding is that the trackers they use have to be "reset" every 24 hours by the crew aboard. It is only speculation if the tacker failed, or if the crew had some role in the. non tracking. I would hope it was the former. There have been no "rules" other than pass thru the two gates, use of man or sail power, and be safe. No protests, or handicaps!!

There are a lot of relatively inexpensive trackers--such as Spot or Garmin/DeLorme Inreach. The fee to enter the race is $700, even if you don't finish the first part "proving ground". It might be better to require a working Spot or InReach. The cost would be $about $250 each...but that is a small amount considering the total cost of a campaign, even for a stand up paddle board or kayak. It is a piece of safety gear with many more uses. (Most have messaging which allows at least minimal communication.). The advantage of the system used, is that it automatically shows on a chart, had tracks, and other information, so less work for the promoters of the race...
It appears that Pear Shaped racing did come in second. Here is why they were delayed; The result of hitting four logs!
image.thumb.png.49bfffb29641c2b6528fe83313ea6f4b.png

We don't know if there was water intrusion, or if they sailed with that Ama out of the water to prevent water intrusion. Also if there was other damage. Apparently Givin' The Horns hit some similar material which badly damaged the rudder.

This needs to be a lesson about the debris in the water in the inland passage. During our 5 trips, we hit several pieces of debris--all were in the Cal 46, which had at least a 1" laminate, and never had any hull damage, but these same logs (just under the surface) would have caused extensive damage in a lightly built boat or with appendages which were below the surface.

Also a small boat on auto pilot at high speed runs some risk of hitting one of these, unless spotted some time (If possible) ahead.
 
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