First place, last place and very much everything in between. Check out the many versions of R2AK, all in one episode.

A rebuilt boat that once tried to unzip itself, a team powered by an automatic “yes,” and a couple trading fair-weather sailing for something far less forgiving.

It’s a dive into the specific gravity of bad decisions, covering everything from 15-foot oars and 3D-printed pedal hubs to the tactical abandonment of dental hygiene in the name of weight savings.

This week we check in with two returning soloists still chasing their first finish in Ketchikan, a multihull team and 2024’s recipients of the “Under 20 Award” who decided this year’s lineup would include Dad, and a rowing crew arriving with fresh confidence after landing on the SEVENTY48 podium.

A solo racer returns for a third shot at outrunning the Grim Sweeper, a four-person crew comes back looking for payback after the currents wrecked their last run, and a brand-new team joins the race from the doorstep of one of its nastiest features: Seymour Narrows.

A returning pair of brothers bring their dad and some unresolved history, a carbon weapon shows up with a crew that knows just how fast is too fast, and a team named after a classic rock song leaves the motor behind and leans all the way into suffering.

Three teams, three strategies: iterative mistakes, spreadsheeted muffins with contraband wine, and one soloist moisturizing for battle with his own brain.

A couple of hard hitting deeply salt-seasoned R2AK racers grill the new chum, and the Race Boss gets curious about hot dish.

Commune with nature, learn new skills, eat much peanut butter. All the way to Alaska.

De-wax your earbuds and tune in as R2AK vets grill three sailing duos on why they signed up De-wax your earbuds and tune in as R2AK vets grill three sailing duos on why they’re signing up, what they think is about to happen, and how wrong they might be.

A Melges, a Corsair, and a Rowcruiser walk into a bar.

Get to know Team Fly Girls and Team Apple Bottom Boy - ne'er were there two more dissimilar teams on one podcast.

Recorded March 8 & 9, 2025. She Tells Sea Tales is an annual event by Northwest Maritime that provides a welcoming and safe space for all women to share their connections to water. Proceeds from the event help support the Northwest Maritime’s women- and girls-centered educational maritime programs, including the Girls’ Boat Project. Join us in Port Townsend on March 7, 2026 for the next edition of this beloved event. Meegan Corcoran started her maritime career when she joined the US Navy in 2002. She served for 8 years and got out to pursue her dreams of being a marine biologist. That sort of happened when Meegan started working at Friday Harbor Labs as their Manager of Marine Operations where she oversaw their research vessel and science at sea. From there, Meegan was promoted to Port Captain for the University of Washington where she managed the global research vessel Thomas G Thompson and the R/V Rachel Carson. In that position, Meegan traveled to 13 countries and collected some harrowing experiences. Today, Meegan works for UNOLS as the Crewing Manager for the US Academic Research Fleet and helps oversee the operations of 18 research vessels nationwide. ABOUT NORTHWEST MARITIME Northwest Maritime (NWM) engages and educates people of all generations in traditional and contemporary maritime life, in a spirit of adventure and discovery.  Based in Port Townsend, WA, NWM serves the entire Puget Sound with a variety of maritime educational programs for individuals, groups, and schools; career and professional training; and flagship events like the Race to Alaska, Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, and others. Learn more and support our programs at www.nwmaritime.org. Thumbnail photo by Heather J.

Recorded March 8 & 9, 2025. She Tells Sea Tales is an annual event by Northwest Maritime that provides a welcoming and safe space for all women to share their connections to water. Proceeds from the event help support the Northwest Maritime’s women- and girls-centered educational maritime programs, including the Girls’ Boat Project. Join us in Port Townsend on March 7, 2026 for the next edition of this beloved event. Susan has lived on two continents, sailed on two oceans, and lived in two genders. They have spent their life working as a deckhand mate and captain on the schooners Pride of Baltimore, Charlotte Ann, Lady Maryland, Woodwind and Sultana, as well as many Chesapeake Bay traditional workboats. Susan was a shipwright, calker and rigger on the building of the Lady Maryland and the Pride of Baltimore II, and the Kalmar Nyckel, as well as the restoration of the Gazela Primeiro and the USS Constitution. In 2018 they began working for the schooner Adventuress in their office here in Port Townsend, and in 2021 they were the recipient of Tall Ships America’s - Lifetime Achievement award. Susan is now enjoying retirement in Port Townsend with her soulmate of 43 years Cindy. ABOUT NORTHWEST MARITIME Northwest Maritime (NWM) engages and educates people of all generations in traditional and contemporary maritime life, in a spirit of adventure and discovery.  Based in Port Townsend, WA, NWM serves the entire Puget Sound with a variety of maritime educational programs for individuals, groups, and schools; career and professional training; and flagship events like the Race to Alaska, Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, and others. Learn more and support our programs at www.nwmaritime.org. Thumbnail photo by Heather J.

Recorded March 8 & 9, 2025. She Tells Sea Tales is an annual event by Northwest Maritime that provides a welcoming and safe space for all women to share their connections to water. Proceeds from the event help support the Northwest Maritime’s women- and girls-centered educational maritime programs, including the Girls’ Boat Project. Join us in Port Townsend on March 7, 2026 for the next edition of this beloved event. Jean’s had lots of boat adventures over the last 20 years. She, her husband and daughter spend two weeks every summer on their beloved Sharpie in the San Juan and Gulf Islands. She’s also sailed in Baja, the Bahamas, and the Philippines, mostly on small boats held together with hope and duct tape. Jean has worked as a marina manager and lived on a variety of boats, including a 90-foot converted fishing tender (shag carpet and all), a 60-foot sailboat and a tiny 160 square foot houseboat. Jean and her husband were married on their little tugboat back in 2006. For her next adventure, Jean is planning to solo the WA360 in a small sailing and rowing boat, just to see if she can do it. ABOUT NORTHWEST MARITIME Northwest Maritime (NWM) engages and educates people of all generations in traditional and contemporary maritime life, in a spirit of adventure and discovery.  Based in Port Townsend, WA, NWM serves the entire Puget Sound with a variety of maritime educational programs for individuals, groups, and schools; career and professional training; and flagship events like the Race to Alaska, Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, and others. Learn more and support our programs at www.nwmaritime.org. Thumbnail photo by Heather J.

Recorded March 8 & 9, 2025. She Tells Sea Tales is an annual event by Northwest Maritime that provides a welcoming and safe space for all women to share their connections to water. Proceeds from the event help support the Northwest Maritime’s women- and girls-centered educational maritime programs, including the Girls’ Boat Project. Join us in Port Townsend on March 7, 2026 for the next edition of this beloved event. Mary Jane Gibson is a writer and performer who spent four of the best summers of her life as a deckhand and cook on the M/V Angie, a salmon tender operating out of Craig, AK. She is also the baby sister of the incredible marine conservationist Caroline Gibson. Mary Jane is the former culture editor of High Times magazine, and now writes for a number of outlets about all sorts of things. She also makes sandwiches for herself and talks about sexism in her My Sandwich, My Choice series on Instagram and Substack. ABOUT NORTHWEST MARITIME Northwest Maritime (NWM) engages and educates people of all generations in traditional and contemporary maritime life, in a spirit of adventure and discovery.  Based in Port Townsend, WA, NWM serves the entire Puget Sound with a variety of maritime educational programs for individuals, groups, and schools; career and professional training; and flagship events like the Race to Alaska, Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, and others. Learn more and support our programs at www.nwmaritime.org. Thumbnail photo by Heather J.

Recorded March 8 & 9, 2025. She Tells Sea Tales is an annual event by Northwest Maritime that provides a welcoming and safe space for all women to share their connections to water. Proceeds from the event help support the Northwest Maritime’s women- and girls-centered educational maritime programs, including the Girls’ Boat Project. Join us in Port Townsend on March 7, 2026 for the next edition of this beloved event. ABOUT NORTHWEST MARITIME Northwest Maritime (NWM) engages and educates people of all generations in traditional and contemporary maritime life, in a spirit of adventure and discovery.  Based in Port Townsend, WA, NWM serves the entire Puget Sound with a variety of maritime educational programs for individuals, groups, and schools; career and professional training; and flagship events like the Race to Alaska, Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, and others. Learn more and support our programs at www.nwmaritime.org. Thumbnail photo by Heather J.

Get out the charts, tighten the bolts on whatever you’re calling a boat, and start apologizing to your boss now—R2AK is coming back in 2026. On Sunday, June 14, at 5:00 AM, the starting gun fires in Port Townsend, and a mixed bag of dreamers, daredevils, and maybe you will set off on the 750-mile, engine-free, support-less sufferfest north to Ketchikan. Two stages, same deal as always: (it ain’t broke.) Applications open November 15, 2025, and slam shut April 15, 2026. Between now and then: build/repair/buy/remove-from-the-bushes your boat, make a blood oath with your team, and make a covenant with whatever sea deity you prefer. Should you do this? Absolutely not. Will that stop you? If you’re even considering it, take a long walk, think it over, and flip a coin. If it lands on heads: do it. If it lands on tails: also do it. r2ak.com 🎥: Garret Weintrob