Sail and Endure Like a Girl

Michelle Boroski of Ventura has formed Team Sistership to sail an F-27 in June’s Race to Alaska. While visiting Port Townsend, WA, last March, Boroski saw the poster for the first R2AK, which started in Port Townsend and finished in Ketchikan, AK, last summer. "I thought it was crazy," she said. Then, as the race progressed, she thought, "I want to do this race."

After acquiring the fixer-upper trimaran, she watched a video of an F-27 sailing on San Francisco Bay and thought, "I need more experience on this type of boat." Members of SoCal’s ORCA and the Bay Area’s BAMA have served as mentors.

Human-powered propulsion is allowed in the R2AK — and is indispensable when the wind goes light. Auxiliary power on Sistership will be facilitated by sweep oars operated from sliding seats between ama and main hull. A pedaling device that would go where the outboard normally sits and/or a ‘yuloh’ sculling oar are other possibilities. Team Sistership’s mission is to "Sail, row, pedal and endure — like a girl!"

Boroski’s team is trying to raise funds to pay for upgrades to the boat and also to support scholarships for girls in Northwest Maritime Center’s programs in Port Townsend. Learn more about Team Sistership or make a donation at www.sistershipr2ak.com. We’ll also have more in the May issue of Latitude 38.

With no motors, no support and no supply drops allowed, the Race to Alaska is a 750-mile endurance challenge. The deadline to enter is April 15, and the race will start on June 23. For details, see www.r2ak.com.

Curious to learn more? Jake Beattie, Northwest Maritime Center’s executive director, will talk about the race in two seminars at Strictly Sail Pacific in Richmond this week. The first will be on Friday at 4:45 p.m.; the second on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. "We’re not sure if they know our race isn’t strictly sail. Other than no motors it’s not strict about much, really."