PORT TOWNSEND, Wash. — Coast Guard crews and race officials pulled four “Race to Alaska” boaters from the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Monday morning while a gale warning and small craft advisory were in effect.
“Thankfully, the only thing injured today were some egos,” said Jake Beattie of the Northwest Maritime Center, which organizes the race.
The first leg of the race left from Port Townsend at 5 a.m. Monday. The race is for human and sail-powered craft only. Participants must make it to Victoria, British Columbia to qualify to continue to Ketchikan, Alaska.
Video posted on the Race to Alaska Facebook page showed how the seas kicked up as participants crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which is open to the ocean.
Race organizers say four teams needed assistance. One trimaran lost its mast and returned to Port Townsend. A race safety vessel pulled one person out of the water, and a Coast Guard boat pulled out a second.
Two more were saved by Petty Officer Tyler Gantt, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer who jumped out of a helicopter hovering 15 feet above the churning sea.
“Once I started swimming, we started getting hit by some pretty big waves,” Gantt told KIRO 7.
He was able to put one man, then the other, into a rescue basket to be hoisted to safety.
“It’s one of those great cases where you show up and nobody’s injured, they just need to get out of there,” Gantt said.
Coast Guard officials said some boaters took shelter at Protection Island, just west of Port Townsend, during the rough weather.
Because of the gale warning, race organizers gave everyone an extra 24 hours to get to Victoria.
Beattie said the extension was made “so people could make the choice that makes the most sense for them and their vessel; we try not to be prescriptive on that.”
Race organizers said Monday afternoon that six boats reached Victoria, and seven had dropped out.
About 20 vessels, including some paddlers, were expected to leave Port Townsend on Tuesday, when the weather was expected to be better.
#BreakingNews (1/2) Multiple #USCG crews and good samaritans are responding to reports of several people in the water in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Individuals were kayaking/sailing from Port Townsend to Victoria. So far, 4 people have been pulled from the water and taken to EMS pic.twitter.com/KXq11DblWw
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) June 13, 2022
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