We’re team HULL YEAH, and we’re embarking on the journey of completing THE Race to Alaska @racetoalaska this summer 2026!!
Our names are Jason Hanford, Taylor Buschy, Joe Tregoning, and Charlie Steen. You may remember bits and pieces of us from past adventures - Jason sailed the Washington 360 with his team @team_out_on_a_limb in 2020, and Taylor, Joe, and Charlie attempted to race the WA360 last year on Team Dogfish Racing Club. Jason’s boat (our team boat this year), Magpie, sailed her team, Razzle Dazzle, to the finish in the R2AK in 2019!
All together, we’re a group of Taylor’s random friends who survive on hype for type 2 fun, the beauty and bliss of the outdoors, resiliency, teamwork, and laughing pretty much nonstop.
We’ll do our best to share our journey with ya’ll - but give us grace as we figure out how to be less awkward on camera and learn how to edit videos 😂
Sponsored by 180 Marine and others
A FEW DETAILS ABOUT THE RACE
R2AK is a 750-mile boat race from Washington to Alaska.
No ENGINES. no support. all guts.
First place gets $10,000, cash. Second place gets a set of steak knives. Everyone else gets to find out what they’re made of. Any vessel that’s human-or-wind-powered can enter. The only way to win is to cross open water, navigate through tidal rapids, hug a coastline carved by glaciers, and keep going until you reach Ketchikan.
But this isn’t just a race. It’s a throwdown with one of the most storied and unforgiving coastal passages on the continent. These are the ancestral waters of the Coast Salish, Tlingit, Haida, and many others—paddled by native canoes since time immemorial, sailed by traders and gold rush steamers, and still wild today. The route cuts through true wilderness, past logging towns and empty shorelines, through orca country, grizzly country, and currents that can run over 20 knots. Rescue is hours—sometimes days—away. Out here, self-reliance isn’t a virtue. It’s survival.
Corsair F27 Magpie / Corsairs trimarans give you the confidence to sail beyond the plan!
Jason’s Story: Skipper & Owner (Magpie Corsair F27) / Berthoud, Colorado
“I have always been drawn to the outdoors and adventure. There is something almost unexplainable about the deep connection I feel when I am away from the noise and civilization. This has always been where I am my best self. I spent much of my youth mountain biking, backpacking, skiing, kayaking, and just about anything that kept me outdoors.
As a child, I lost my leg to cancer. This experience provided me with a great appreciation for life, however living a full active life on one leg has begun to take its toll on the rest of my body.
In 2018 I heard about the @racetoalaska and the race captivated me. In 2020 I started to learn how to sail. Almost immediately I was hooked. I found the connection with nature that I loved so much in my youth. I bought a boat, put it on the lake near my home, and started sailing every chance I could so that I could do the R2AK. I took classes, joined the Carter Lake Sail Club, watched countless instructional videos, and learned everything I could about the sport. In 2021 I signed up for the R2AK, but it didn’t happen because of COVID. I instead built a team to do the COVID-proof Washington 360 - same rules no motor or support - but instead of going to Alaska it was 360 miles around the Puget Sound and San Juan Islands. We finished 18th out of 60 boats.
Since then, I have shifted my focus a little to sharing the sport with youth and others who may not have the means or opportunity to experience the joys of sailing. I’m now a U.S. Sailing instructor and have taught youth and people with disabilities how to sail. I am the owner of the Boat Barn where I work to restore boats and get them back on the water for future sailors.
This summer I will finally be competing in the Race to Alaska. While I am so excited to compete, it no longer represents a finish line for me. I am working on building a nonprofit that will use sailing to build resilience in youth and individuals struggling with mental health. I’m so grateful for all that sailing has given me, and I am so fortunate to be able to share it with others!
This is our story…
Tay’s Story: Positivity-enforcer & also a Captain / Fort Collins, Colorado
“WOW am I excited to be here. Hearing stories about adventures like the R2AK are what gets my heart rate going and gets me so incredibly stoked to be alive. What draws me to this race is that it pushes so many limits and breaks societal norms by getting you out of your comfort zone, and it’s freakin fun!
As a teen/young adult I ran the 400&800 in track at the D1 collegiate level, because I loved seeing how hard I could push my mental and physical strength and toughness all while being part of a team doing the same, for each other. After that, @skookum.joe and I and our partners at the time wanted an adventure bigger than what corporate America had to offer, so we quit our jobs, bought a sailboat of Craigslist (having never sailed before) and embarked on an almost 2 year journey learning to sail and eventually sailing from Seattle down to La Paz, Mexico.
Sailing is where I become my best self. For whatever reason, I feel more confident, grounded, lighter, and just honestly invigorated and stoked and jolly af whenever I’m out there! I love everything about it. I normally hate mornings, but the magic of first light after a night shift is my favorite time of day. I love whales. I love bioluminescence. I love knowing the boat so well you become in sync balancing through the waves. I love sailing fast. I love not sleeping for days and hallucinating things in the water. lol.
What I’m most excited for, though, is getting to do this with my team! Our strength is that we laugh harder than anyone through all the craziness, appreciate the wild, push through the challenges, and just know how to have a heck of a good time!!
If you can’t understand what we’re saying by the end, it’s because we accidentally evolved into speaking solely in inside jokes.
Thanks to anyone following along and supporting our journey!!!
Love y’all! (say it back)
Joe’s Story: Self taught sailor / Engineer and Instigator / Bend, Oregon
I’m a self taught sailor from Bend OR and I’m racing to Alaska this year as the ships engineer for Team Hull Yeah. I’m excited to get an escape from regular life to participate in a wild adventure, and I’m hoping this will solidify my resume for the day when treasure planet becomes a reality and we can sail the stars on galleons. I’m the blue collar member of the team and I’ve wanted to race to Alaska since 2019, so when Team Hull Yeah promised to fill an ama with energy drinks and beers for me, I knew I had found my people. Catch us at the finish line for tall tales and to help us break in our new steak knives.
Charlie’s Story: Deckhand and Comedic Relief / Loveland, Colorado
“I walked into a bar and ordered a “Juicy Haze IPA.” After a few rounds, a woman approached me through a haze of laughter and conversation. Tay asked if I “liked type two fun,” and before I knew it, I agreed to live on a boat for two weeks with her and her teammate Joe, who needed another crew member.
The day before the Washington 360 last year, I stepped onto a sailboat for the first time and thought, “What have I just gotten myself into?” What I discovered was the best adventure sport out there, surrounded by a community unmatched in hospitality, empathy, and, yes, a lot of beer. Comments like “this boat’s a piece of sh*t” surprisingly lifted our spirits and encouraged us to push on.
Before this experience, I had a natural inclination towards what many have shared: a desire to feel the rush of life in every moment—the sun glistening off the water, the breeze on my face, the silence of night, and the weight of decisions that could make or break our plans. As an avid backpacker, mountain biker, and fly fisherman, I hadn’t faced a challenge like this since my month-long backpacking trip in Talkeetna, Alaska, with NOLS as a teenager. So when Tay asked if I liked type two fun, I immediately thought of that trip. The answer to “What are you doing here, mate?” became clear—I thrive on leaning into that discomfort, to challenge myself in every way possible, and to learn and make lifelong friends in the mix.
I’m choosing to participate in R2AK because I love the thrill, the community, my team, and the challenge of the unknown. Plus, it’s a bit badass to say, “I sailed to Alaska from Washington… without a motor because I’m freaking insane.”
R2AK 2026: COLD, HARD NUMBERS
𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁: 13 feet. Team Forget Me Knot, sailing a Paradox. What’s a Paradox?
Google it.
𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁: Team Hell n’ Ready stretching it out at 35 feet on a Columbia 10.7.
Plenty of room for snacks
𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁-𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁: Team Casuals with 7 feet of rock-seeking on a Melges 32.
𝗕𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝘁: Team Northbound Nutters - R2AK 2026 bringing 20 feet of width
on a Farrier F-32R.
𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄: Two teams rolling deep with 7 humans aboard.
𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀: 14 antisocial people have decided to drop extra dead weight.
𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: 16 trimarans, 37 monohulls, 2 catamarans, 1 outrigger
sailing canoe. Metal.
𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼: 4 kayaks, 4 rowboats, 1 SUP, 1 pedal drive boat (The Barge is back)