In every human endeavor, there is an unspoken but understood threshold where things go from clenched-jaw “fine” to real. Yes, desperation-driven cannibalism, but also the WA360.
What do we mean?
May 1846, the Donners were a nice family heading west in a wagon. November 1846, snowbound and hungry in the Sierra Nevadas? Different story.
As dawn broke on WA360’s third day, as far as we know and thanks to onboard provisions and the race’s regular proximity to artisanal baked goods, teams have thus far staved off Donner Party platter inspired charcuterie.
“What actually happened?” you impatiently/justifiably ask.
Plenty.
The last 24 hours has seen its share of progress and self-imposed victualization. In the front, all business. At press time, Team Puget Sound Navigation Company was well past the halfway mark, eating up miles on the east side of Whidbey Island and had built a 15-mile lead on the chase pack of trimarans led by Team Narrows Minded. Who is TPSN? Other than “fast” and “first,” the next monosyllabic grunt in your mind should be “boat.”
If you’re like most people looking for sailing speed, you do some math, carry the one, and inevitably conclude “Uhh, trimaran?” Unlike the half dozen teams that trail them, Team Puget Sound Navigation Company came to a different conclusion, chose the catamaran path less traveled, and so far, that is making all the difference.
The Gougeon 32 is a weirdo mobile of epic proportions. Looking like the lovechild from a one-night stand between a cuttlefish and a stormtrooper, the trailerable catamaran was developed by the multihull legend Jan Gougeon and has set the R2AK solo record. It’s narrower beam* made it trailerable but more prone to tipping over—which means it also set the R2AK record for race ending capsizes. The solution? Water ballast that gets filled into the uphill hull and drained from the downhill one every time they tack. This makes the 32 fast, light, and complicated—HUGE advantage when the wind downshifts from light to “gnat’s fart” and pedaling is your only option.
Facing the business end of an opposing 7 knot current in Deception Pass, Team Puget Sound Navigation Company opted for the upwind hallway of the Swinomish Slough, effectively bumper bowling north up the narrow channel.
Further back, the great hope of the monohull community, Team Accidental Mullet’s Henderson 30 and two R2AK titles retired after their mainsail blew a few miles north of their Bainbridge Island home base—sound decision if the other option was drifting around until the food ran out and they had to start eating each other.
Furthest back, crowd favorite Team Murder Cats from Mars finally started the race. That’s not entirely accurate. They started at 11 AM Saturday with everyone else, then put their boat back on the trailer so they could finish building it, then got underway promptly at 5 PM Sunday—roughly half a race behind the leaders. The type of front-of-the-pack apocalypse that would need to occur for them to be contenders, let alone even see another team, would be as horrendous as it is unlikely, but we’re rooting for their finish regardless. You should, too.
Other than the predictable heavy winds in the Strait of Juan De Fuca, wind is looking light for the next 24 hours, which might put winning teams in as early as the dark hours of Tuesday morning, or they all eat each other. Only time will tell.
*boat talk for “width”
– Jake Beattie, Northwest Maritime CEO
Fresh Footage
Video by Taylor Amble, Header photo by Jim Meyers