NORRIS COMER TEAM WRIGHT YACHTS
I’m sick of writing about this damned race! I want to live it, get mangled by it, and laugh when it spits me back out again. Just as mountains are meant to be climbed and not merely ogled, so too is R2AK. To feel the chill and the bite and the scale of it all will be a euphoric hallelujah! AGE: 28 OCCUPATION: NORTHWEST YACHTING MANAGING EDITOR EXPERIENCE: TELLER OF YARNS
port the crew with gear sponsorships. Unfortunately, none of us have “secret bored millionaire” as our schtick. “There’s so many ways to approach the human-powered element to this race,” says Sung, who plans to draw from his human-powered submarine, academic, and Navy experience to give the team an edge when peddle power can be the sixminute difference between ten grand and steak knives.
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R2AK 2017’s Team West Coast Wild Ones braving a rough Salish Sea (photo by John Buday)
Richwine, who is training for a marathon and regularly places on the state level as a triathlete, is eager to plot the course and get going. “I’ve spent literally years professionally mapping this region of the world and navigating through it,” she says. “It’s pretty funny how all of our backgrounds are coming together to make the team. I’m glad I don’t skip leg day.” Wallingford, who equips, maintains, and delivers boats for
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a living, has naturally embraced the logistics side of things. “There are so many factors at play, from what kind of food we should eat to what kind of electronics we want to have aboard,” says Wallingford. “I definitely have my work cut out for me, but a lot of it is what I do professionally.” One looming milestone is the commissioning of the boat, which is currently being constructed at the Corsair Marine International factory in Vietnam. The team is planning to go in person to check it out, and be able to say, “back in ‘Nam,” in casual conversation. “I’m looking forward to that final round of Q and A at the factory,” says Rob Wright, who is shepherding the racing machine from drawing board to Ketchikan. “The trip should be awesome!” Come June 14, I will once again hear the cannon of the Northwest Maritime Center of Port Townsend that marks the start of R2AK. Unlike last year, where the biggest question on my mind was whether or not coffee will be aboard the media yacht, I will be among the collection of misfit watercraft adrift in a classic Pacific Northwest gray-out. Yachting in the Northwest comes in many forms, I suppose. Stay tuned for updates, both of our team and others we interview along the way. As the Norwegians say, “ut på tur, aldri sur!” Norris Comer is the managing editor of Northwest Yachting magazine. Say hi on Facebook at Norris Nelson Comer or send an email at norris@nwyachting.com.