Team members: Caitlin Kenney, Judi Kruller, Benjamin VanBlargan
Hometown: Olympia, WA, USA
Race vessel: Santa Cruz 27
LOA: 27′
Human propulsion: Pedal (Prop) and Row
Connect: facebook, instagram
The SC27 Spitting Kisses has had other names—Sundown Express, Lil’ Toonces, Galdabrok—the boat has outlived multiple identities and is probably not especially concerned about the next one. There was brief talk of renaming her again, which drew a threat of pre-race DQ from the Race Boss, who took a keen eye to the maroon-hulled beauty last time around. The name, for now, stays.
Olympia, Washington, is many things. A haven of summertime sailing breezes is not one of them. That said, Caitlin, Judy, and Ben have been sailing there anyway. They’ve become masters of harnessing what ephemeral winds conjure themselves in the many folds of the southern end of the Puget Sound, and have been out there playing in the oft-15-ft-plus tide swings that dominate that part of the sloshing bathtub. While teams from other waters may find themselves surprised to be sliding sideways or backwards in places like Johnstone Strait, this group will at least recognize the feeling.
Welcome to the race, little birdies.
The Race to Alaska Podcast
Episode 15: Team Pelagic Banana Slug, Team Let’s Wing It, Team Surf Scoters
→ Listen on Spotify
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First thing first, why Race to Alaska?
We like to sail, we like to race, and we might all be a little bit crazy. In truth, motivations range from challenging ourselves, self discovery, getting unplugged, seeing the natural beauty of the north coast, working as a team, and being part of something bigger than ourselves. We all agree that a bad day on the water still beats an average day on land.
What’s the story behind your boat?
We found the boat after looking at another R2AK boat candidate and not liking it, so while we discussed other options on the short list, we scanned the R2AK Racer Forum and found Chelsea Meyers’ ad for Spitting Kisses. The SC27 was one of our top choices and it was exciting to look at a boat that had done the race before.
While we were in the process of buying it, we chatted with another sailing friend who used to race on a SC27 out of Olympia in the 70s and it turned out that it was the same boat! So it has a long history of both South Sound and now R2AK, and we are racing it down in Olympia as part of the preparation for our R2AK bid. We’ve also heard from a little birdie that Race Boss thinks its a pretty sick ride, and to keep our good luck streak going, we ARE going to keep the boat name, at least until Ketchikan.
Duct Tape Fixes (Linear Feet)
54
Friendship Survival Rate
95%