Port Townsend sailors win WA360

PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend-based sailing team Puget Sound Navigation Company sailed victorious across the WA360 boat race finish line early Tuesday morning, breaking the course record by a half of a day.

“The winning has begun,” said Jesse Wiegel, Northwest Maritime’s Race Boss.

Sailing on a Gougeon 32 catamaran, Incognito, Molly Karas, Michael Karas and Anthony Boscolo set the new bar with a time of 2 days, 18 hours, and 24 minutes. The previous record was 3 days, 6 hours, 59 minutes.

“WA360 puts competitors on the water of Washington state between all the way north at Point Roberts and all the way south at Olympia, starting in Port Townsend,” Wiegel said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, five teams had finished — coming in second was Narrows Minded, third was JED Racing, fourth was Ruf Duck and fifth was Lost But Don’t Care.

Several other teams were south bound from Roberts Point, with team Dogsmile Adventures leading the pack in boats remaining on the water.

Boaters entered in one of two classes, the wind division and the muscle group, Wiegel said.

Team Boogie Barge was in the lead among the muscle group, which is fully human-powered, no sails. Boogie Barge was at Point Roberts mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

Second in the muscle group and first among rowboats was Toad’s Wild Ride, which was passing Guemes Island.

Zunderdog led the kayaks and was passing Shoreline.

WA360 has a browser page and a downloadable app where the race route can be seen and where each of the teams still on the water can be tracked live. To view the page, go to https://cf.yb.tl/wa360_2025.

Wiegel said many supporters are watching the map constantly throughout the race to see how their team is doing.

This year, 84 teams composed of about 240 people started the race at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Wiegel said. The crews range from one to six people per boat, he added.

Vessels cannot use engines in the race.

“So, sailing vessels have to come equipped to propel themselves in some other way when there is no wind to push them around, which is especially prevalent conditions in the South (Puget) Sound at this time of year,” Wiegel said. “There are big patches of no wind. Just like in Race to Alaska, vessels have peddle drives mounted to them and rowing stations on boats that were never meant to have rowing stations.”

“The shortest, smallest sailboat in the race is what’s called a scamp,” Wiegel said. “It is an 11-foot pocket yacht, as they call it, or pocket cruiser. Team Angry Alien Racing is sailing a scamp in this race.”

Team Old Salts is sailing a beneteau 40.7, a 39-foot boat, the longest in the race.

The muscle group is composed of about 20 vessels with no sail power whatsoever; kayaks, peddle drives and rowing crafts.

The race will continue until July 12, giving racers a total of two weeks to finish, Wiegel said.

There’s a giant spread in competitors, he said. Teams are expected to use the bulk of the two weeks to finish, he added.

“It’s as much a race as it is a group expedition, for the teams that aren’t actually gunning for first place,” Wiegel said. “It’s not like the first finishers come in and everyone else calls it quits.”

Everyone races for their own reasons, Wiegel said, some to promote causes, some to bond with their friends and family.

“Over it all, it’s racing through our beautiful waterways of Washington state,” Wiegel said. “There’s probably 40 teams right now (on Monday) who are underneath Mount Rainier in South (Puget) Sound. They are passing under iconic places like the Tacoma Narrows bridge, the Deception Pass bridge. They’re passing through the San Juan Islands, between Lummi Island and the mainland. They’re going through so many places that you can only really see by the water.”

The participants are largely from Washington, coming from 14 counties around the state, but competitors have also traveled to join the race from California, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Idaho, British Columbia, Canada and England.

This year’s WA360 is the first since the inaugural race in 2021.

The race was organized in response to the inability to have a Race to Alaska with international borders closed for the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Race To Alaska had been happening annually since 2015, Wiegel said. In 2020, there were no races, he said.

“In 2021, we crossed our fingers we opened up registration for Race to Alaska, but the border remained closed,” Wiegel said. “The idea of Washington 360 manifested itself in the model of Race to Alaska, but in our local waters.”

In 2022, 2023 and 2024 Race to Alaska returned.

“People have consistently been asking when we’re going to do (WA360) again. There’s a hunger for it,” Wiegel said.

The race is more accessible than Race to Alaska, and sees about twice the participation.

While racers cannot use their engine, they are not required to remove it, as they are in Race to Alaska. More vessel types can participate. Participants do not need to take as much time off of work, Wiegel said.

Also, while there are always hazards associated with being on the water, Race to Alaska is much more hazardous and hence, more heavily vetted, Wiegel said.

“We switched to a model where we are going to be doing Race to Alaska only in the even years and Washington 360 only in the odd years,” Wiegel said.

Wiegel said he hopes WA360 inspires some who might not be ready for Race to Alaska to work towards it as a goal.

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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at Elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com