RACE TO ALASKA: Friday Harbor’s Northbound Nutters wins going away

Published 4:45 pm Tuesday, June 23, 2026

KETCHIKAN — It’s over. It’s all over.

And it ended in a hurry.

The Northbound Nutters, a trimaran out of nearby Friday Harbor, won the 750-mile Race to Alaska in commanding fashion, hitting the finish line in Ketchikan, Alaska, at 7:04 p.m. Monday. The boat was projected to arrive at 10:30 p.m., then 9:30 p.m., but the crew decided to storm into port, beating that projection by hours.

“Captain Nigel Oswald, Michael Holt, Gavin Brackett, and Rob Woelfel finished in 5 days, 8 hours, and 4 minutes, putting together a race that was as smart as it was fast,” said the Race To Alaska Tuesday report.

“What stood out wasn’t just the speed. Nutters made two full stops along the way, one in Campbell River and another in Port Hardy,” the report stated. “Later, they spent time drifting roughly 40 miles offshore while making repairs before getting underway again. In a race that often rewards relentless forward motion, they showed that sometimes it pays to stop, regroup, and wait for the right moment. Then, when the time came, they unleashed the trimaran equivalent of a cheetah being fired from a T-shirt cannon.”

Northbound Nutters is a Farrier F-32 Super Race Carbon trimaran with a 51-foot sail to produce additional speed.

While the opening stage between Port Townsend and Victoria was very hot and flat, strong winds past Victoria buffeted some of the boats and tore sails or caused other damage.

“We’re starting to see a few more boats calling it quits,” said race boss Jesse Wiegel. “They’re starting to drop like flies.”

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, 13 out of the 67 boats that left Victoria have dropped out. One boat, French Connection out of Boston, literally caught fire due to an electrical problem. In addition, the boat’s main halyard failed and they were forced to retire.

While Northbound Nutters is safely in harbor, some of the boats could really be battered by some rainy weather forecast for northern British Columbia for Thursday.

“There is a system coming in Thursday. Some teams are going to have to hunker down,” Wiegel said.

While the winners are cooling their heels in Ketchikan Tuesday awaiting their $10,000 first-place prize, there continues to be a heated battle for second place. Second and the steak knives set prize may come down to the final few miles.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, Celerity, a Hobie 33 monohull from Kelowna, B.C., is in second place. Pas Si Vite, an Olson monohull out of Westport, Conn., is in third, with both boats a few south of Prince Rupert, B.C. The two boats have been battling for second for hundreds of miles now.

Pas Si Vite and Celerity took widely different tacks Tuesday afternoon as Pas Si Vite started off Tuesday morning in second place. Pas Si Vite is sticking close to the British Columbia mainland. Celerity headed out more to the middle of the wide Hecate Strait. Celerity’s tack worked as the boat zoomed past Pas Si Vite about noon, then built up about a two-mile lead by mid-afternoon.

These two boats are projected to arrive in Ketchikan between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday, about 45 hours behind Northbound Nutters. They have a big lead of about 50 miles over their closest pursuer, Much Ado About Muffin, a monohull out of Seattle.

Wet Leg, which held second place for much of the race, dismasted and has turned back to Bella Bella. The boat is now docked but has not officially retired.

According to the race report on Wet Leg:

“Details remain limited. The official summary, based on radio traffic and satellite messages, appears to be:

‘We broke some stuff.’

‘Do you need assistance?’

‘No.’

Followed shortly thereafter by:

‘We have created a highly questionable replacement rig and are proceeding heroically.’ ”

The top human-powered boat was Boogie Barge, a pedal boat from Tacoma pedaled by Blake Hansen, which is churning through the Fitz Hugh Sound between Hunter Island and the British Columbia mainland. Boogie Barge finished second in the recent SEVENTY48 race.

Let’s Wing it, a kayak from North Vancouver, B.C. paddled by Martin Rother, and Rainy, another Canadian kayak paddled by Yota Kano of Prince Rupert, are having their own battle for the top kayaker as they have passed each other several times. At 3 p.m. Tuesday, the two kayakers were side-by-side out 10 miles east of Port McNeil on the northern coast of Vancouver Island.

Wherry (a type of rowboat) Lillian Signed up to Suffer, rowed by Lillian Kuehl of Port Angeles, the only local vessel in the race, is still going in the Johnstone Strait about two-thirds of the way up Vancouver Island.

“This is her third time doing this. She is quite determined to finish this,” Wiegel said.