Photo by Heather J.. Teams Scott Baste and Freedom.
Golf balls have dimples, WA360 has teams
Update from the Race Boss
June 15 2021
While we were flipping through our old school Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition™ waiting for Team Fingers Crossed to short tack their way down the coast of Whidbey Island—because the only thing that takes more patience than sailing is waiting for a sailboat—we found ourselves reflecting on the immortal question, “How many dimples does an average golf ball have?”
Race Marshal, Jesse, pointed out that it’s about as many as there were blips on our tracker when we fired the start gun, but, for us, each dimple represents an effort not often found in day-to-day life. Speed, tactic, competence, plan, humor, will, patience, breaking point; all of these are different for each one of the WA360 teams, but winning in anything starts the same way: You show up, you try.
Now those tracker blips are fewer, and Monday saw 11 teams spread out over 100 miles engaged in arguably the cruelest part of the race. Cruel because the mind finally has enough days to figure out what you’re putting the body through and is in full tilt, apocalyptic, unbridled revolt. Every mile has the chance to break your confidence, every unyielding minute of sun-blistering calm, each rivulet of water tunneling through the layers of foulies has the single opportunity to break your inner everything.
Five teams finished on Monday (in order): Fingers Crossed, Three Times the Dunn, Scott Baste, Freedom, and Monkey Fist. Not a single boat over 25 feet, and 2 Stand Up Paddleboards.
Is now time to start handing out some more awards? Can everyone get one? Naw, this ain’t little league, but we at HQ might do this…
Train on Time – For Team Barely Heumann, because we have no idea when that train is arriving, but we know it will, and when it gets here, it’ll be right on time.
I Did It My Way – Lillian of Team Interstice. For opening the door to future boat bushwhackers and also being willing to make up for it by putting in an 11.5-hour rowing session Monday.
Brothers in Arms – Teams Freedom and Scott Baste for completing the unimaginable by paddling their boards 360 miles together and becoming the first SUP competitors to complete the WA360.
Unasked-for Legacy – Team Three Times the Dunn, for having further cemented the legacy of the unlikely Montgomery 17 in adventure racing. Who, really, who, would have guessed?
You’re Still Asshats – to the WA360 race officials for not yet recognizing the incredible race put on by Team Two Peas in a Tripod (will fix that soon). There are likely a few things this award could be applied to.
So, you can count golf ball dimples as a sadistic pastime, and each one has its unique position on the 360 x-y axes, but brother and sister, that ball don’t fly without every one of those dimples. Golf balls have dimples, WA360 has teams. Like the ball, WA360 is more than awards and finishes. What heights of storytelling will WA360 reach? What adventure? What calamity? What inspiration? We just won’t know until that last team comes home.
24 Hour Fact Sheet
- 6 Items lost at sea
- 17 Teams dropped out of the race from broken will, broken boat, engine saves, or inability to muster (whatever)
- 33 Teams who have crossed the finish line
- 3d 12h 51m Total time that teams dropped out numbered higher than teams finished
- 32 Mentions of food when asking a team, “How’s it going?”
- 4 Empty bladders of wine used as pillows