Team Elsie Piddock took first place in the first ever Race to Alaska last Friday afternoon (June12) and won the $10,000 prize by sweeping the race.

The team, made up of Al Hughes, Graeme Esarey and Matt Steverson, finished the race from Victoria to Ketchikan in five days and 55 minutes. The crew sailed a F-25c Trimaran – a 25-foot multihull sailboat.

The Race to Alaska is a 750-mile motorless boat race from Port Townsend, Wash. to Ketchikan, Alaska. It has very few rules except that racers cannot use an engine. That leaves human powered propulsion systems and wind to get them to Alaska.

One Ballard racers says that although there is a winner to the race, all the racers and the Northwest Maritime Center — producers of the race — came in first.

“The Northwest Maritime Center did a first class job and kept a great perspective on the race and introduced their version of sailboat racing to the world,” said Joe Bersch, co-captain of Team Pure and Wild.

Along with his co-captain, Dalton Bergan, the two raced a 24-foot Paul Bieker design proa built specifically for the race. Between the two of them, their racing credentials included being 49er National and North American Champion, Foiling Moth North American Champion, I-14 National Champion, along with Olympic sail boat racing Trials and being on an Olympic Sail Boat Racing Team.

The Ballard News-Tribune spoke with Bersch while he was in Ketchikan as he waited for other racers to cross the finish line. Bersch flew back to Seattle that night. His team endured big water conditions and made it just short of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island before they felt they needed to drop from the race.

“We had a really strong boat, but it was designed to go in light winds, and it was quite obvious with the bigger winds it was going to be too much for the two of us.”

With other racers further up the course reporting 40 to 45 knot winds and 10-foot waves, the team decided to pull out.

“The waves were the worst part. We were heavily loaded and pounding into them pretty good, and it made it very difficult to get rest and to get sleep.”

Though they dropped from the race, Bersch said that the experience alone was a worth it and that he’s very pleased with the money his team raised for SeaShare and BlueH2O. Bersch reported his team raised at least $20,000 for SeaShare, and that he plans to continue to raise money to protect wild fisheries.

“The race was fantastic in every aspect. We embarked on an aggressive program back in October trying to build a boat that represented our sponsors and charities, and in the end we just weren’t prepared for the conditions that were served up so it was best for us to pull out,” said Bersch. “That was unfortunate but we achieved a lot of things along the way and opened a discussion for boat design and raised money for our charities.”

Team Pure and Wild sponsors included: Aasgard Summit, Alyeska Seafoods, Bieker Boats, Cascade Designs, CSR, Employer’s Medical Network, Fisheries Supply, Golden Alaska Seafoods, HARKEN, North Pacific Seafoods, Outdoor Research, Peter Pan Seafoods, Rhymes with Orange, Westward Fishing Company, Westward Seafoods.

Bersch was so impressed with the race and the experience as a whole he plans to do it again if Northwest Maritime Center launches another race.

“If they do it next year or the year after I will do it for sure. It’s a fantastic race and very much to do it again.”