New Boat 4 Sled

[BobJ]

That looks like a blast if you chose your craft wisely. In a beach cat or strictly rowing boat, not so much.

WILDFLOWER would be a good candidate with an effective manual propulsion setup:

[BobJ]

Al Hughes (3x SHTP veteran) and his mates on ELSIE PIDDOCK are already through Seymour Narrows! No one else is even close. GO ELSIE PIDDOCK - She skips in her sleep!

Race to AK tracking page

[Wylieguy]

2145 our time. Looks like ELSIE's sleeping rather than skipping. Anchored? They have time for a dark night snooze.

I know someone who's addicted to TV "reality" shows - the ones where they cast several "goof-balls" "two left footers" "fat old guys" who "Think They Can Dance" or become an "Idol" or whatever. They're good for a few weeks, get laughed off, and usually someone with real talent wins. The writer-producers are already writing scripts for next season with different set of wanna be's scheduled. If I didn't know better - and suspiciously maybe I don't - I'd accuse the AK folks of the same. A paddle board for 750 miles? A klutzy row boat? A clobbered together thing with a pointy end and a sail? A proven production trimaran with a semi-pro team? Who would have guessed? Maybe the glib PR hype in the descriptions of the "teams" says it all? Can anyone see a potential reality TV show coming out of this race? Or am I just jaded?

[BobJ]

Lots of sleeping going on - not like the SHTP! But ELSIE was underway early and is moving on out. It looks like POR FAVOR, Hobie 33 and recent Pac Cupper will be the next boat to attempt Seymour Narrows:

Tides and Currents at Seymour Narrows, BC

Pat, yes jaded. (I've seen very little of the reality shows and what I saw was quite enough.) I really thought the PURE AND WILD proa was the purpose-built, semi-pro ringer in this race but they dropped out early and sailed home. I'd really like to hear the story.
_____________________________

Update on PURE AND WILD: I'm not sure who to credit but this is from 48 Degrees North Magazine/sponsorship by OCENS: "The only team that’s had to pull out that I’ve been able to talk to directly is Team Pure & Wild on the Bieker Proa. Dalton said, 'We’re mentally and physically ok. We just realized that we weren’t ready for the conditions that we were going to be facing going up there. This morning, it wasn’t even that windy, 10-12 knots and sea conditions of 2’-3’, and we couldn’t deal with it very well.' "

"I inquired as to whether the biggest problem was buoyancy in the symmetrical bows, which had sounded like a pretty big concern after some of their initial sail tests. Joe didn’t say that was necessarily it, but told me, 'There are a fair number of payload issues and comfort issues, and the combination made it obvious that we weren’t going to be able to get any rest. Therefore we wouldn’t be able to handle the conditions that we needed to be able to withstand in order to make a go of it. Neither of us slept last night. The open water was tough.' "

[Wylieguy]

Bob, I don't want to hijack Sled's Sagery (is that a word?). How how about moving our comments to a new thread? I'm doing just that. Pat

[BobJ]

This race has Sled written all over it and besides, he brought it up.

[sleddog]

So far, ELSIE PIDDOCK has sailed a near perfect race. Their stop last evening at Otter Cover, under the lee of Chatham Point, was a good call. Going upwind in Johnstone Straits on a pitch black night in 30 knots of wind would have been risky at best.

Traversing Johnstone Straits is rarely easy, and sometimes dangerous. Wind against tide in this section will challenge everyone who gets past Chatham Point. It's about 60 miles directly upwind to the beginning of Queen Charlotte Straits, where conditions will begin to moderate. It looks like ELSIE PIDDOCK is through the worst of it, where for a time this morning they were making only three knots into the teeth of near gale conditions.

I have no problem with anyone commenting here on the R2AK. I know JB and the crew behind the organization of the R2AK. They ain't gonna let it turn into reality TV.

[BobJ]

Here's a video made during ELSIE's race prep.

Hi Al!

[sleddog]

I did not know until RAGTIME! recently pointed it out that Al Hughes is ELSIE PIDDOCK's skipper. Good Grief, he's one of us. I met Al before and after the 2008 SHTP when he was sailing his all aluminum 60 footer DOGBARK and was first to finish. Al is a serious student of the game, and has great determination.
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/s....html?page=all

Meanwhile, one of the favorites in the R2AK, Team Golden Oldies, the powerful 38' Crowther Cat with a highly experienced 6 man crew, has apparently thrown in the towel and sailed back south through Seymour Narrows. Johnstone Straits is currently snitting, with gale warnings. POR FAVOR, the Hobie 33, is in second place, making 2 knots upwind into 35 knots Amazingly, PF is the only boat which has not stopped since the R2AK start.

[BobJ]

From R2AK Race HQ via Faceplant: "Okay, tracker junkies: Golden Oldies did in fact part a halyard and is headed back to Saturna to attempt a fix. Race Boss is in touch with the team. Stay tuned!"

Here are Al "Dogbark" Hughes, Mark "Alchera" Deppe, Bob "Ragtime!" Johnston and Rob "Tiger Beetle" MacFarlane after the 2006 SHTP (photo by LaDonna Bubak@Latitude 38)