The Around Admiralty “Spirit of Adventure” Race

An Alaska-Style Solstice Celebration

As Alaska celebrates her 50th Anniversary, the Juneau Yacht Club is proud to host the 25th Anniversary running of the annual “Spirit of Adventure Around Admiralty Race”, a 200 mile sailboat race around Admiralty Island National Monument. The Spirit of Adventure race is the longest inland water race on the west coast of North America. The race starts and ends in Juneau, Alaska each year on the last Saturday before the summer solstice.
Admiralty Race Photo Gallery

Variety is usually the hallmark of Admiralty races, ranging from exciting runs and power reaches up Stephens to chasing puffs in Fredrick Sound while you bask in the sun. This is an inshore race, but if you continued to head straight down Chatham Strait, the first thing you would hit is Antarctica, and the water is over 4,000 feet deep. The race is held over the summer solstice and while there is night racing, it is never really very dark. The experience of a spinnaker run down Chatham under a full moon, with the red of the sunset in the west and the glow of the dawn in the east, and the moons reflection on snow topped mountain peaks, all at the same time, is an experience that will stay with you the rest of your life.

For those interested in more of a cruising experience, a cruiser category – minimum of 3 participating boats – will run 6 (or 7) legs of daytime racing with overnight stops, allowing those with limited racing experience, small crews or concern for running at night to safely participate. Sailors without boats and skippers looking for extra crew can contact the Sail Squadron captain or the race committee.

The course starts off in Auke Bay, then snakes south down Stephens Passage and across Frederick Sound, rounding Yasha Island off the southern tip of Admiralty Island into Chatham Strait with a mandatory layover at Baranof Warm Springs, a small, amazingly beautiful harbor with natural hot springs above a major waterfall. After the restart, the boats head north up Chatham past Tenakee Inlet and Icy Strait to the Point Retreat rounding and back to Auke Bay.

Race spectators include rookeries of Stellar Sea Lions along the way, who comment loudly as the boats pass, and brown bears along the beaches of Admiralty Island. The islands Indian name means “Fortress of the Bears” and its still home to the highest concentrations of brown bears in the world. Pods of Orcas and Humpback whales are common sights during the race and whales have the right of way, even if your boat is on a starboard tack.

The Spirit of Adventure is a mixed fleet PHRF race. Very successful competitors in the past have ranged from a 55 foot custom racer with a professional captain and a crew of rock stars from San Francisco and Annapolis to a 26ft Folkboat with used sails and a crew of three. The Spirit of Adventure is designed to be a fun race, open to all mono hulled boats of 25 ft. or more that meet Category II Pacific International Yachting Association regulations governing minimum equipment and the Juneau Yacht Club general sailing rules.

For more information contact the Juneau Yacht Club Sail Squadron or call any of the JYC Officers listed on the website.

2009 “Spirit of Adventure” Around Admiralty Information

Juneau Yacht Club General Sailing Rules Spirit of Adventure, Specific Sailing Instructions 2009 Spirit of Adventure Entry Form 2009 Spirit of Adventure Flyer 2010 Admiralty Race SSI

Still not interested? Well, here are a couple of stories about the race that might wet your appetite.

• 2004 Sail Magazine Article
• 1991 Sailing World Article
• “BACK UNDER SAIL: Rediscovering the Spirit of Adventure” by Migael Scherer

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