Team members: Doug Shoup
Hometown: Sedro Woolley, WA, USA
Race vessel: Sailing Angus Row Cruiser
LOA: 19′
Human propulsion: Pedal Hobie Mirage Drive
Connect: facebook, instagram
Next to the Race Boss’s desk sits a broken daggerboard.
It came from one of Doug Shoup’s earlier Race to Alaska attempts. Somewhere along the race course, it snapped clean off and eventually made its way into the office. In the deep heart of winter, when the race feels very far away, it occasionally gets picked up and fondled for a moment.
Doug builds his own boats—iterations of Colin Angus’s Row Cruiser—which means each race attempt is also the culmination of a long R&D session. The boat evolves. Systems get reworked. The compost of the last race blooms into the new.
One year, the boat launched for the first time about thirty minutes before the start. Another race lasted ten days before a deeply unforgiving seat convinced Doug that perseverance might have its limits, particularly where the human tailbone is concerned.
The current boat is, apparently, the best one yet. The sails have been redesigned for better performance into the wind. Steering continues to evolve. Rowing has been replaced with a pedal drive so Doug can face forward and rely on stronger muscle groups.
Team Perseverance may be the most apt team name in R2AK history.
The daggerboard already made it to the office. Doug is hoping the rest of the boat makes it to Alaska.
The Race to Alaska Podcast
Episode 9: Teams Bangarang & Perseverance, Team Tips Up, Team Laughing Roomba
→ Listen on Spotify
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→ Listen on Apple Podcasts
What’s the one piece of advice you’re absolutely going to ignore?
There’s two of them. Reduce weight on the boat by not carrying excess weight. I can almost guarantee I’ll have to much stuff on the boat. Second is don’t travel at night. Not much chance I’ll pass on a good weather window.
What’s your team’s origin story?
My history prior to getting involved in the R2AK was Kayak sailing and fishing. I first learned of the race through the owner of the company I work for. After some research and a lot of consideration, this was an adventure I wanted to experience. I literally dropped what I was doing and started preps for the race and a few days later submitted my application. A week or so later they said NO!!!! My experience, weight, and capacity of the boat (Hobie AI) weren’t a suitable combination. I didn’t take NO for an answer and continued preparing for the race. I got a slightly bigger boat (Hobie TI), lost a few pounds (86), and got a little more experience on the water (wish I had video of a bad weather training day going through Deception Pass at 7 knots going against a 7-knot outbound current. Per a conversation with the Race Boss when I was told NO, I submitted an updated application in April. About a week later I received notice that I was in!!! This is a short version of how it all started. A lot of experiences since and many more to come…
Night-Before Sleep (hh:mm)
04:30
Duct Tape Fixes (Linear Feet)
0