I am at Pt Hudson for the start of the Race To Alaska. The object of the race is to go from Port Townsend to Ketchikan without having motors. You can walk if you want to, but rational people choose sails or oars. Your’re given a month to get there.
The first to cross gets $10,000, which sounds good, but it’s a really a consolation prize. If you have a big fast boat, a world-class sailing crew, and a good day, you’ll have no stories (that anyone wants to hear) and have no fun. The winners are never remembered.
So it’s the other racers that have interesting stories already, and will generate many more over the next month. This weekend I’m parked about as close to the action while the boats get set up as possible. So I go down and look and talk to the racers, which makes following their progress a lot of fun.
The event has become a Port Townsend favorite over the years, attracting a lot of visitors to Pt Hudson, and the best spot to view the boats from land is my parking spot.
Likely the biggest part of R2AK is the narrative supplied by the organizers. Go to R2AK.com to reach the jumping off spot and start reading.