Riddle me this, sailor: What do you get when there’s a gale warning out of the west and a 13-year-ebb tide rushing out of the east? If you answered “a bad time” or “a washing machine,” you are correct. Such were the conditions on day 1 of the Race to Alaska (R2AK) that our half-Australian, half-American race team, Vegemite Vigilantes, faced on the start line. The new R2AK tattoos were still bloody on the arms of my fellow crewmates Scott Wallingford, Andrew (Andy) de Bruin, and Trevor (Zam) Bevan. As per R2AK tradition, the fresh ink was from a pop-up tattoo parlor that offers race participants free R2AK tats. My teammates’ ink sent a strong message: We’re getting to Alaska, hell or high water. Around 30% of racers do not make the finish line in a typical year, but we were not going to be among them.
The R2AK is a 750-mile engineless adventure race from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska. Sail- and human-power provide the propulsion, with platforms ranging from ultra-fast racing trimarans to stand up paddleboards. We, seeking a respectable podium finish, were aboard Scott’s new Corsair 760 trimaran, Toast. The Corsair 760 evolved from the popular Corsair Dash 750. With longer, more buoyant, wave-piercing amas, the design incoporates the company’s proprietary folding system to make it trailerable. Accommodations would be modest for our crew of four with limited standing headroom and supplies taking up most of the V-berth.
A mere 24 feet 3 inches on the waterline, would need to punch above her weight to win, since multiple teams were racing trimarans and monohulls a full 10 feet longer than her. With the help of friends at
