The Race to Alaska

750 miles. Icy water. No motors. No support. Described as “the Iditarod on a boat with a chance of drowning or being eaten by a Grizzly bear,” this epic endurance race attracts the intrepid and unhinged who find their edge along a coastline that is as punishing as it is beautiful.Zach Carver’s film documents the boating race that pushes its contestants to the edge of endurance. The titular competition, also known as R2AK, takes contestants from Port Townsend, Washington to Ketchikan, Alaska. Participants must traverse 750 miles of dangerous waters – the Inside Passage – without using motors of any kind, and without any outside support – that means no sponsors, no dockside repair teams, and nobody but the Coast Guard to offer help out there in the treacherous waters.