R2AK 2023: My Thoughts as Leg 2 Begins
I've done this dammed thing twice under two very different conditions. Also, Yev is the Amal Clooney of R2AK.
I write this two homemade mojitos down in my terrycloth on the eve before Leg 2 of R2AK 2023—truly a blissful state. There’s a bloom (?) of wild mint outside my place, and if ever there was an excuse to get into muddling up killer mojitos at home, it’s this. I free associate with Hades, the Greek god of the underworld whose concubine Minthe is the origin of the word mint. The poor nymph was turned into a plant by Hades’ jealous wife, Persephone. What does Minthe mythology have to do with R2AK 2023? Insert something about the racers entering the underworld of Hades. I dunno, I’m two mojitos down.
I image the racers experiencing their last night in Victoria as I write this. The awkward, poorly thought out living arrangements (“**** hotels are expensive here! It’s fine, I’ll sleep in the berth with you, dude.”). The desire to have a run of the town versus the wisdom of getting as much deep sleep as possible. The reflective solo walks and last phone call with so-and-so. Maybe a surprise, one-before-the-war hook up—they happen, folks!
I’m happy to say that SAIL magazine reprinted my award-winning article about my R2AK experience last year for this month’s issue. Give it a read! Reading it will help frame my thoughts for this piece and I’ll reference events from 2022.
Slow and Sunny Leg 1. Look to 2018?
I’ve done R2AK twice, in 2018 and last year (10th with team Wright Yachts and 4th with team Vegemite Vigilantes respectively). I did not plan the weather this way, but those two years both stand out in the R2AK chronicles as perhaps the sunniest, least windy year (2018) and perhaps the nastiest, stormiest year (2022). Race fans can debate this. Yes, the first year was legendarily gnarly too, blowing teams all over the Salish Sea. But did the race committee extend Leg 1 to 60 hours like last year? Nope. Last year made the mainstream news with an epic de-mast, another team flipping, and more chaos. Just saying.
Regardless, Leg 1 of 2023 was high sun and low wind. The only team to not make it was team Flow State Wingfoil, the “wingfoil guy”, who just didn’t have enough wind to work with. This delightful poem published by the R2AK organizers says it all:
I relived a bit of personal trauma after seeing this image of team Unsalted Nuts whipping up improvised rowing stations in Victoria. Indeed, we of team Wright Yachts infamously pulled in at Campbell River after biffing our first Seymour Narrows attempt in order do the same thing. We just didn’t have enough peddle power to move our big trimaran in literally zero wind.
I wrote about the 2018 experience too. This quote captures my mental state pretty well as Leg 2, 2018 was getting underway:
“..Thanks to the no-wind conditions, we suffered this surreal fate for literally days on end. Barefoot, shirtless, and increasingly sunburnt, we realized that we brought a shiny new Ferrari to a dirt bike rally. Team Wright Yachts in those two days, eyes increasingly wild and far gazing, resembled what a budget, straight-to-video, Werner Herzog directed attempt at Castaway 2 would look like. Fortunately, our mental state didn’t devolve to the point where Wilson, the blood covered volleyball, manifested but we came close.”
Our rowing monstrosity, basically cobbled together lumber courtesy of kindly local Canadians who took mercy on us, did come in handy, eeking out that extra half knot or so that we desperately needed.
To me, watching this year’s Leg 1 gives me 2018 vibes. I never thought pond-like conditions on a hot summer’s day could ever be hell on a boat in the PNW. Such conditions are usually a recipe for a fantastic day on the water. But not to an R2AK racer. Even the fastest racers will take an extra 2+ days to reach Ketchikan on low wind years like 2018.
Notably, I’ve wondered if those lower wind conditions were part of the reason monohull teams Sail like a Girl, Lagopus, and Wild Card clinched the top three spots in 2018. Maybe it has something to do with pointing higher? They also were on the heavier side of crew from what I remember, and those bodies start earning their keep when hours of peddling are in the picture. Just a thought.
Offshore High Winds Challenge “The Outside is the Future” Narrative?
The elephant in the room with R2AK is that opening up the “Outside” route last year is still, and probably will always be, a raw and controversial topic. Everyone is so very nice and polite and eager to get along in public, but it’s just the truth. Last year, big oceangoing boats totally crushed us Insiders with relative ease, even bragging about making lasagna aboard their gorgeous yachts as they tacked effortlessly up the coast.
They did not endure the Strait of Georgia Log Massacre. There were no Seymour Narrows schemes for them to debate. Shivering to sleep is not for them. Whatever tales we Insiders had of dodging whirlpools in Johnstone would not be relatable. No sir, Outsiders tack north, throw in the gourmet lasagna, and win.
But things look a little different this year. I’ve heard of forecasts offshore in the 40-knot range coming, of course, from the north (d’oh). And 40 knots out there is a little more intimating than 40 knots on the Inside, to me and most humans I think. Those planning to go Outside are certainly having conversations reexamining their plan.
But perhaps not. 40 knots is a lot for adventurous normies, but dialed in crews on the right boats know how to handle that kind of thing. Higher winds also can translate to higher speeds in sailing (I, Captain Obvious, am so wise). These high winds could cement the Outside route as completely unfair as big boats fly while the Insiders row along at 2 knots. We shall see, eh?
My Money on We Brake for Whales
I think We Brake for Whales is going to win, and I think this largely because I know Jeanne, Evgeniy, and their boat Gray Wolf (Custom Lyman Morse 40’). They have even been so kind as to host me aboard for a Thursday night casual regatta. I got to drive, and Gray Wolf is just too cool.
The experience aboard is also ace. Jeanne was the skipper for team Sail Like a Girl that won during my year in no small part thanks to her skill—but also Evgeniy’s engineering! The team’s completely loaded, dual Pelaton-like pedal system was a Yev invention from what I’ve heard. Evgeniy, who works in the maritime industry, has been chomping at the bit to do this race, and I think the opening of the Outside was exactly the nudge he was waiting for. Nikki Henderson also has R2AK experience and an epic offshore regatta resume. These sailors know how to win and they have an extremely badass offshore racing monohull. ‘Nuff said.
And yeah, his name is Evgeniy Goussev, not “Jeanne’s hubby”. Didn’t we have this discussion when everyone kept calling Amal Clooney “George Clooney’s wife”? Wasn’t she an accomplished person too, and by calling her by her name we were affirming her autonomy as a human being, not just an extension of her spouse? Hmmm?
Well, let’s do the same for Yev. Evgeniy Goussev is now the Amal Clooney of R2AK. So sayeth me, two mojitos down.
The best of luck, sailors! Insiders and Outsiders, all. I’m not entirely sure what the moral is of the Minthe myth that I can intone to bring this article home. Don’t hook up with Hades because he’s married to a powerful goddess who’ll turn you into a plant? Yes, that’s the one. Remember it well, you scallywags!