PORT TOWNSEND — Race to Alaska boss Daniel Evans will talk about past races and work up enthusiasm for the next one during a free presentation tonight.
The lecture — sponsored in part by the race’s founding agency, the Northwest Maritime Center — will be from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Carnegie Reading Room at the Port Townsend Library, 1220 Lawrence St.
“It’s a little bit of behind-the-scenes about how and why we started this race,” Evans said.
“We wanted to create an elite-level race that was accessible to as many people as possible, and we wanted it to celebrate the hero in all of the racers rather than just first place.”
Applications to participate in this summer’s race are due April 15. The gun will go off at 5 a.m. June 8 in Port Townsend for the first leg of the race to Victoria, a 40-mile journey. The second leg will begin from Victoria at noon June 11.
The 750-mile Race to Alaska was founded by Northwest Maritime Center Executive Director Jake Beattie in 2015.
It has only one rule: no motors.
The route from Port Townsend to Ketchikan, Alaska, isn’t easy. Sailors have to navigate areas known to have 30-foot whirlpools and tides running up to 15 knots, according to Evans.
“It’s the most rugged territory you can find in North America and still be able to access it,” Evans said.
The first-place prize is $10,000. Second place gets a set of steak knives. All others walk away with braggin’ rights — although a new incentive has been added to the 2017 race: an offer to buy the boat from a finisher for $10,000.
Evans said he wants to highlight racers, some new and some returning, who he thinks embody the spirit of the race.
He also will talk about such local participants as Ernie Baird of Port Townsend.
Baird, a boatbuilder who has worked in Port Townsend since 1979, plans to attempt the Race to Alaska in a boat he built himself called the Grace B.
A team called North2Alaska, which is made up of three Port Townsend teenagers and one adult, also plans to make its first attempt at the race.
Evans said he’ll also talk about some of the racers who have made race history, such as current Race to Alaska world record holder Roger Mann.
Mann, who is from South Carolina, set the world record for the fastest solo finish in 2015 — the race’s first year. So far, no one has been able to beat his solo time of 13 days, 10 hours and 7 minutes, Evans said.
Mann is returning this year to defend his title after his car broke down last year, keeping him from participating in the race.
“He’s the person that defines ‘epic’ for this race,” Evans said.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
Team MAD Dog sails out of Port Townsend at the beginning of last year’s Race to Alaska. Team MAD Dog won the 2016 race. (Northwest Maritime Center)
