RACE TO ALASKA: Major weather front awaits pack of racers

Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 25, 2026

KETCHIKAN, Alaska — First, second and third have been decided in the Race To Alaska.

All that’s left to be decided is how many boats will finish with some serious weather moving in today with rain and winds gusting up to 30 miles an hour.

Fifty boats remain out of the 67 that took off from Victoria. A total of 69 started the race in Port Townsend.

Northbound Nutters, a boat out of Friday Harbor, won the race in decisive fashion, competing the 750-mile route from Victoria, B.C., to Ketchikan in 5 days, 8 hours and 4 minutes, arriving at 8 p.m. Monday. The Friday Harbor boat was crewed by Nigel Oswald of Friday Harbor, Gavin Brackett, Michael Holt and Rob Woelfel. It had a commanding lead for much of the race and after a couple of days, there was little doubt the Farrier F-32 Super Race Carbon trimaran would win and take home the $10,000 prize.

Oswald said he knew they probably had the fastest boat but that, in the Race to Alaska, a lot of things can happen and there are some other fast trimarans, so it was no guarantee they would win. He credited being able to get through some tough upwinds while other teams struggled for building up a big lead early in the race that no team could make up.

He said he and his crew were exhausted after the race.

“The boat takes a lot of manhandling. We were six hours on and two hours off and didn’t get much sleep,” he said.

He said he and his crew didn’t do it for the prize money.

“It’s more about the journey and the adventure. The prize money covers a small portion of the costs,” he said.

He said the brain cells were so exhausted that it’s hard to recall much of the race at the moment. “That’s why I video’d everything,” he said.

“The discomfort and fear fade from your memories, and in the end, you will have some good stories,” he said.

Battle for second

The big battle was for second place. Wet Leg, a monohull from Coupeville, had the lead for second, but their mast snapped in the middle of Hecate Strait and had to retire. Celerity, a Hobie 33 monohull from Kelowna, B.C., and Pas Si Vite, an Olson monohull out of Westport, Conn., then battled for more than a day for the second spot and the set of steak knives.

Celerity booked it through southern Alaska, putting a big gap between it and Pas Si Vite. Celerity finished at 8:48 a.m. Wednesday with a time of 6 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes, about 37½ hours behind Northbound Nutters. Pas Si Vite came in to Ketchikan at 11:42 a.m., roughly three hours behind.

The trailing boats will likely see some rough weather beginning today. Some may be forced to stop or find a harbor.

“Forecasts call for solid southerlies north of Vancouver Island filling in over the next 24 hours, with teams outside the shelter of Aristazabal, Banks, and neighboring islands potentially seeing gusts above 25 knots and seas over four feet,” stated the race report. “Sailors refer to this as ‘sporty’.”

The next closest boat is Much Ado about Muffin, which at 3 p.m. Wednesday had just entered Alaskan waters about 25 miles south of Ketchikan. About 2½ to 3 hours behind are Minnesorta Nice and Mistakes Were Made. All three boats appear to be going all out to get safely in harbor before the nasty weather arrives.

Boogie Barge, a pedal boat pedaled by Blake Hansen of Tacoma, continues to lead the human-powered vessels. Hansen went through the Bella Bella checkpoint halfway up the British Columbia coastline and is several miles north of that town at 3 p.m., going up a narrow channel to avoid the open water.

The top two kayakers continue to be Let’s Wing It, paddled by Martin Rother of North Vancouver, B.C., and Rainy, paddled by Yota Kano of Prince Rupert, which at 2 p.m. Wednesday were entering open water side-by-side just north of Port Hardy, Vancouver Island.

Finally, Port Angeles’ Lillian Kuehl, rowing a wherry, is still going. She is docked at Kelsey Bay about 35 miles east of Port McNeil on the northern part of Vancouver Island.

“The steak knives are gone, but that’s mostly an accounting detail. Forty-seven teams are still scattered across the BC coastline, making progress at wildly different speeds and collecting stories along the way,” stated the race report. “The interesting part is far from over.”