Bad Kitty and the first leg Race to Alaska 2016

The Race to Alaska starts in Port Townsend, Wa. Entries started arriving a couple of days early, including Bad Kitty, the 35 ft racing catamaran that I was to be racing, together with owner Bob, long term crew Alec and Phil, who, as Team Mau, raced a 17ft beach cat last year. At 6am on June 23rd over 60 boats, ranging from a standup paddleboard to a kayak, a 44ft monohull and a wide variety of fast multihulls, started the 40 mile first leg to Victoria BC in a good SE wind. The multihulls charged off, Mad Dog leading, but we were heading the chasing pack. As we neared Victoria, about 3 hours later, the wind, as predicted, began to die and we had to start "motoring". No sailing is allowed in Victoria harbour. It is, after all, a busy cruise ship and ferry port, never mind a floatplane runway. Broderna was close behind as we rang the finishing bell at 10.45 to be second boat home, Mad Dog had finished an easy first. The last boat finished at dawn the next day. Every finisher qualified for the next leg. See more at r2ak.com