Four people plucked out of Juan de Fuca Strait after boats overturn during race

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

A photo of one of the catamaran sailing vessels that overturned in the Juan de Fuca Strait on Monday, June 13, 2022.

U.S. Coast Guard crews rescued four people from Juan de Fuca Strait near Port Townsend, Washington early Monday after their small sailing vessels were overturned in rough waters.

The sailors were participating in the opening leg of the Race 2 Alaska competition, where participants use non-motorized vessels in a 1,207-kilometre race.

The first stage is the 65-kilometre crossing from Port Townsend to Victoria, while the second stage, which is scheduled to start Thursday at noon from Victoria after competitors clear customs, runs 1,142 kilometres from Victoria to Ketchikan, Alaska.

A gale warning and small-craft advisory were in effect for the area when the boaters left about 5 a.m.

Canadian Coast Guard crews were also on their way to assist in rescues a few nautical miles north of Port Townsend.

U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier said the coast guard was notified around 7:30 a.m. that a few boaters had ended up in the water due to the rough conditions.

“We launched one of our helicopter crews and they were able to rescue two people and bring them back to medical personnel in Port Angeles,” Strohmaier told Glacier Media. “A rescue boat crew pulled another person out of the water and brought them back to shore.”

All of the boaters were showing signs of hypothermia.

Strohmaier said “good Samaritans” assisted the coast guard in recovering others from the water.

The Race 2 Alaska is considered North America’s longest human- and wind-powered race and offers $10,000 to the winner.

On its website, Race 2 Alaska organizers say competitors face “a chance of drowning, being run down by a freighter or eaten by a grizzly bear. There are squalls, killer whales, tidal currents that run upwards of 20 miles an hour, and some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.”

Any boat without an engine can enter the race, which includes “no supply drops and no safety net.”

In 2019, the last time the race was staged, 25 of 45 teams finished the race.

Strohmaier said while the coast guard issues marine-event permits for races and certain other activities on the water, race organizers are responsible for the overall safety of the event, including cancellation if weather conditions warrant it.

“A permit does not absolve an organizer and the individual operators of the overall responsibility for safety.”