Boaters compete in 750-mile race... with no engines

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Boaters compete in 750-mile race... with no engines For the "Race to Alaska," intrepid boaters compete in a 750-mile no-engine boat race from Washington state to Alaska. National Boaters compete in 750-mile race... with no engines June 23, 20266:13 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered FromKRBD By Hunter Morrison RACE TO ALASKA Listen &middot; 2:31 2:31 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5850711/nx-s1-9821954" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript For the "Race to Alaska," intrepid boaters compete in a 750-mile no-engine boat race from Washington state to Alaska. Sponsor Message JUANA SUMMERS, HOST: For over a week, teams and boats have been traversing the 750-mile span of water between Washington state and Alaska, and they've been doing it with no engines. It's part of a human- and wind-powered competition known as the Race to Alaska. The winning team crossed the finish line last night, and KRBD's Hunter Morrison was there to greet them.

+ (SOUNDBITE OF CLAPPING) UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Welcome to Ketchikan. (SOUNDBITE OF COWBELL RINGING) HUNTER MORRISON, BYLINE: It's a rare sunny evening at a boat harbor in the heart of downtown Ketchikan. A few dozen spectators cheer on the Northbound Nutters, a team of four men aboard a yellow multihull sailboat that's gliding toward the dock. Nigel Oswald steps off the vessel and rings a bell... UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: All right. (CHEERING) MORRISON: ...Marking his team's completion of the journey. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL RINGING) MORRISON: A bystander hands him a well-deserved beer. Oswald says the race started long before hitting the water. NIGEL OSWALD: It was a huge amount of boat work, prep and planning and logistics. And to know that we hadn't screwed it up and everything worked, and we got here, it was just a huge emotional relief, more than winning or not winning. MORRISON: The route from Washington to Alaska traces the inside passage, a network of waterways weaving through the islands of the Pacific Northwest Coast. (CHEERING) MORRISON: It can be an unpredictable and rough trip with rain, wind and heavy currents. (SOUNDBITE OF COWBELLS RINGING) MORRISON: If people need to be rescued, it can take hours or days. JEANNE GOUSSEV: Because it's so unpredictable, you just don't know where you're going to be next and how long it's going to take to get there. MORRISON: That's Jeanne Goussev with Northwest Maritime, a nonprofit devoted to educating and engaging people with nautical culture. They sponsor the race. Goussev is also a former race champion. GOUSSEV: It's a lot of reading the weather in motion and making calls as you're going through the course. (CHEERING) MORRISON: The first place winners get a $10,000 cash prize. Second place gets a set of steak knives. Oswald and his winning team wanted to take on the challenge of the race to see what they were made of. And they're proud they were able to finish in a boat built for much shorter journeys. OSWALD: Getting that boat that isn't designed for this kind of thing, with these guys, to here, just feels awesome. MORRISON: This year, over 60 teams entered the race. They're expected to trickle in or tap out over the next few weeks. For NPR News, I'm Hunter Morrison in Ketchikan, Alaska. (SOUNDBITE OF KOFFEE + KANDEE SONG, "LOTS OF FUN") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(81)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();