R2AK 2022

[SailingTips.Ca]

View attachment 524458

The appropriate bows for these waters were established decades ago!!!

 

[shebeen]

I think this misses the point of the race. There's plenty of races to enter where you can carry an auxiliary or where the auxillary is actually a requirement. On the other hand, the point of R2AK, as I see it, is to have an opportunity to test yourself in one of the rare instances of modern life where the safety net is incomplete. What do you do? How hard do you push when you know there's no reliable backup? The aren't that many opportunities to ask that of yourself.

Plus, for me there's a certain beauty to sailing without an engine. And sailing with the engine turned off doesn't come close. It's still heavy, and loud (for battery charging), and smelly and greasy. Yet I'm not sure that's it. Maybe it's just nostalgia for summer swimming camp. Not sure.

Totally respect your opinion on this. I'm a noob on the details of this race, and I guess if the outside route attracts large pure unmodified sailing boats with no human power logging into the top ten then it would take away from the authenticity and uniqueness of the race.
I wonder how much paddling P&W did after getting out of Victoria?

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

Perhaps you know (they mentioned it in one of the videos), Matt who's rebuilding Duracell was on the first winning team, Elsie Piddock. Graeme, teammate from that effort, also cruises an open 60. Now if one could convince both of them to bring their 60s to the R2AK...

That would be a match up!

 

[floater]

y'all might think twice about commenting on what you might be able to do on a Weta on a lake if it did not have 8'+standing waves.

lol.

I’ve been in huge standing waves in lots of places around here, which is why I’d never personally do this race in a Weta (or several other boats out there). I still think it’s a cool boat though.

it is a very cool boat. amazing really. but you have to experience it to really appreciate it. like I said earlier I figured the weta's weakness in this race would be light air. not heavy. and it's actually pretty astonishing what the boat can take - have poked the bow in many, many times. and it would always pop back out. well. almost always.. ;-)

 

[alctel]

I think this misses the point of the race. There's plenty of races to enter where you can carry an auxiliary or where the auxillary is actually a requirement. On the other hand, the point of R2AK, as I see it, is to have an opportunity to test yourself in one of the rare instances of modern life where the safety net is incomplete. What do you do? How hard do you push when you know there's no reliable backup? There aren't that many opportunities to ask that of yourself.

Plus, for me there's a certain beauty to sailing without an engine. And sailing with the engine turned off doesn't come close. It's still heavy, and loud (for battery charging), and smelly and greasy. Yet I'm not sure that's it. Maybe it's just nostalgia for summer sailing camp. Not sure.

Not to mention it'd shift most of the entries towards fully tricked out raceboats - removing the engine is a giant pain and keeps a lot of those boats out of the race (for the better imo)

 

[floater]

Not to mention it'd shift most of the entries towards fully tricked out raceboats - removing the engine is a giant pain and keeps a lot of those boats out of the race (for the better imo)

I think that's right. let's see. I do have that old sunfish kicking around..

 

[floater]

Maybe it's just nostalgia for summer sailing camp. Not sure.

I think that's right. let's see. I do have that old sunfish kicking around..

 

[alctel]

I think Ziska last race also approached from the north if I remember correctly? So there is precedent.

 

[cje]

steak knives race is great arm chair entertainment.

 

[Jud - s/v Sputnik]

steak knives race is great arm chair entertainment.

The battle for the steak knives has always been more interesting than watching the forgone conclusion of the rich guy winning the race

 

[david r]

steak knives race is great arm chair entertainment.

7 ppl on a dash34 vs 4 ppl on a soverell33. looks like a pretty close race. the 2 trimarans don't seem to be catching up, but we don't know the future.

 

[Stingray~]

7 ppl on a dash34 vs 4 ppl on a soverell33. looks like a pretty close race. the 2 trimarans don't seem to be catching up, but we don't know the future.

The 'real' adventures are still going on

 

[valis]

I asked the R2AK folks about the Bella Bella waypoint and here is their reply:

Hi Paul,

Glad you're enjoying the race! Tell your friend that any team from Friday Harbor is above the rules. I'm kidding!
Just like with Team Ziska, whichever crazy angle you choose, as long as you go all the way to the waypoint, you're good.

Enjoy the race for second place!

Verity

I believe the rules could be more clear on this point (the waypoint not being the transit of the Lama Passage, but some mark near Bella Bella), but I'm personally glad that this is the way it's being handled.

 

[12 metre]

Just took a look at Windy.com

Elsewhere is in a lifting light (3 kt) NE in the lee of Graham Island. While Fashionably is in moderate (9 kt) NW.

Elsewhere has a good jump on Fashionably who have clawed back 10 miles since Bella Bella.

But between those two whoever gets to the north end of Graham Island first is going to have a huge advantage where it is currently W at 16

The multi's can still catch them but are going to have to stick to the right at this moment.

 

[illan_voyager]

Ranger 20 vs Santana 20 battling it out.

 

[ProaSailor]

I asked the R2AK folks about the Bella Bella waypoint and here is their reply:

"any team from Friday Harbor is above the rules."​

I believe the rules could be more clear on this point (the waypoint not being the transit of the Lama Passage, but some mark near Bella Bella), but I'm personally glad that this is the way it's being handled.

Vague rules are unenforceable, except by whimsy. The "I'm kidding!" reply sounds close to the truth. "Their reply" as in 'they' ("R2AK folks") is more likely just one person, eh? Making it up as they go along. But who cares, it's more of a rally than a race anyway.

 

[Sidecar]

Read up on P&W’s win:

Day 5: Pure and Wild for the win, secret weapons, breakfast lasagna - Race to Alaska

Field Report | 24-Hr Fact Sheet photo: Team Pure and Wild by Thomas Hawthorne It’s been years since Ketchikan welcomed R2AK’s finishers to its shores, but by the early hour of Team Pure and Wild’s crossing of Dixon Entrance, you could tell that things were happening in welcomed and familiar...

r2ak.com

I have always been a fan of the 3 watch system. So I wondered how 3 man teams have fared overall on R2AK?

AFAIKT, 4 out of the six winning teams so far sailed three up, as have 9 out of 14 fastest finishers?

PS:

Also wondered how much the minimising of short tacking (with attendant ballast transfers) was a factor in choosing the outside route?

 

[JohnMB]

Vague rules are unenforceable, except by whimsy. The "I'm kidding!" reply sounds close to the truth. "Their reply" as in 'they' ("R2AK folks") is more likely just one person, eh? Making it up as they go along. But who cares, it's more of a rally than a race anyway.

Oh I think they make it very clear that one of the guiding principles is whimsy.
We all have a choice of where and how we race (or rally), and there's certainly room for whimsy in the calendar.

 

[Stingray~]

i have always been a fan of the 3 watch system. So I wondered how 3 man teams have fared overall on R2AK?

Not sure what I was expecting but in that video of P&W they cruised in, dropped the main, steered perfectly into the dock, and those guys looked fresh and clean and good-natured wearing clean clothes and everything. No sign of sleep-loss or anything else.

I bet we see a variety of arrivals...

 

[valis]

Vague rules are unenforceable, except by whimsy. The "I'm kidding!" reply sounds close to the truth. "Their reply" as in 'they' ("R2AK folks") is more likely just one person, eh? Making it up as they go along. But who cares, it's more of a rally than a race anyway.

I sent email to "[email protected]" and got a reply from a NW Maritime staff member. I will assume that this is an official interpretation, one they arrived at in 2019 when Team Ziska did something similar, or perhaps before that.

Yes those Bella Bella rules are vague. I wonder if any of the racers are privately surprised by the "official" interpretation. As I have said, I prefer this interpretation -- it seems in keeping with the spirit of the race. The Lama Passage and "either side of the island" should be worded as "more of a guideline than a rule".

Can anyone find Ziska's track? I'm striking out.