Cheekee Monkee | F-45RC
Kim Alfreds
“Cheekee Monkee is a carbon fibre F-45RC. Built and completed in 2018, she hit BC waters in 2019. After plenty of adventures (and a few misadventures), we finally completed our first full racing season this year. At the 2025 SOAR Regatta, we got to experience Cheekee Monkee in her element, flying downwind in 40 knots of breeze and hitting 27 knots of boat speed!
During the 2024 PNW Offshore, we managed to snap our bowsprit off two hours into the race. Jury-rigged a fix, added a bucket for a sprit cover, and kept sailing on.
The break sidelined us for the rest of 2024/ early 2025 season. We are back and thrilled to join the 50th anniversary PNW Offshore. Ready for more miles and plenty of Monkee mischief!”
Free Bowl of Soup | Club Swan 42
Eric Hopper, Doug Schenk, Matt Hopper
“‘Oh, this is the worst-looking hat I ever saw. What, when you buy a hat like this, I bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh? Oh, it looks good on you though.’- Movie Caddyshack, Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield)
An obvious (at least to us) pick for a boat name... Team Soup is about having fun and sailing fast; we believe they go hand-in-hand and not forget to maintain good karma. Time is flying—this will be our fourth Offshore with the new-to-us, Club Swan 42 Free Bowl of Soup, and our thirteenth overall. We’re excited about the continued growth and use of ORC ratings and scoring, along with the great mix of long-time racers and newcomers joining us for this epic 50th edition!
P.S. Huge thanks to our Race Title sponsor, Schooner Creek Boat Works, for their support and for keeping us in racing shape, and to Platinum Sponsor, Goslings Rum, for...well making and sharing great rum! #FreeBowlofSoupRacing”
True Love | Spencer 1330
Steve Smolinske
“True Love was owned by my In-Laws in the late eighties and early 90s, she had two prior owners before my wife, and I purchased her in 2014. At that time the boat was on the hard, in extreme disrepair and being sent to auction by the bank. We purchased her and did a total refit, saving only the hull, a few winches and the pulpits.
She is a very capable go anywhere anytime blue water cruiser with some racing bones to her. A portion of our crew has been sailing together for 15 years two of which did their first Oregon Offshore Race (OOR) in the mid-eighties. I have competed in something like 6-7 OOR with True Love and my prior Catalina 38 Peregrine.
This year our crew consists of Dan Symonds, Randy Doull, Mark Ward, Dave Ferguson, Sheridan Ferguson and April Armstrong. We will be competing in Swiftsure and the Pacific Cup.”
Pathfinder | J/120
Jim Calnon
“J/120 hull number 47’s previous owners were racers based in Darien, Connecticut and completed the Newport-Bermuda in 2000. They went on to win first in the J/120 North Americans in 2004, but decided it was time to retire from racing in 2019 and sold her. Number 47 made her way from Mamaroneck, New York to Portland, Oregon on a truck that summer and was renamed Pathfinder.
After arriving in Portland, she spent the first three months of her new life at Schooner Creek Boat Works, getting new standing rigging, rudder bearings, engine mounts, bottom paint, and many other overdue maintenance projects. Now in Portland, she has completed five PNW Offshore races, four Swiftsure races, and two Anacortes Race Weeks. After an unfortunate incident on the course this summer, she is out of action for repairs but we expect to be ready for action around December 1. Pathfinder is planning on racing the remaining Sailing on Sunday races, then prepping and racing in the 2026 Offshore and Swiftsure.”
Presto | Chris White Voyager 48
Joe Dazey
“After 40 years, Joe and Sue Dazey retired from salmon trolling in 2014 and bought Presto, a Chris White Voyager 48 catamaran, in Stuart, FL in 2015. They sailed and raced in Chesapeake Bay winning the Cape Charles Cup in 2016 and 2017. They participated in the Salty Dawg Rally to the Caribbean in 2017 and 2018. More recently, Presto won the multihulls division in 2025 Foulweather Bluff Race.
After passing through the Panama Canal in 2019, they cruised the coasts of Panama, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Presto left Ensenada July 3rd and arrived in Sitka seventeen days later. They’ve since made numerous trips to SE Alaska, raced in three PNWO, three Round the County, a bunch of local Puget Sound races, and did the 2024 Pacific Cup winning the multihull division. Next up are 2025 Round the County, 2026 PNWO, and 2026 Pacific Cup.
In addition to Joe and Sue, the crew will consist of Dawn Fulton, Eric Hansen, and 10-year-old Fenris Hansen.”
Hana Mari | Wylie 43
Ged McLean
“Hana Mari was built by PNW Offshore Race title sponsor Schooner Creek Boat Works in 1999. Ged McLean bought the boat from Kevin Flanagan in 2012, moved it to Victoria BC Canada, and has been racing and cruising in the Pacific Northwest ever since.
With a cold molded hull skillfully crafted by Steve Rander and his team, Hana Mari is fairly light for its size, extremely stiff, and handles the gnarliest conditions with neither a creak nor a groan - just lots of acceleration and big smiles from the crew. In general, the windier it gets the better she does! Hana Mari has become a regular contender in the long distance racing scene on the Salish Sea having completed four Van Isle 360s, nine Swiftsures, and six Round the County races since the boat was moved to Canada. Of course, the PNW Offshore Race is a big part of this.
This will be Hana Mari's fourth PNW Offshore Race with Ged at the helm - Hana Mari has won her division twice and will once again be trying hard to get home to Victoria faster than anyone else. See you in Ilwaco!”
Soufflé | Cal 34 Mk1
Phil Lewis
“My boat, Soufflé, a 1969 Cal 34 Mk1, and I have been together since early 1997. I quickly erased the name she came with and then struggled to find a new one—until one evening, while my French wife cooked duck breast with blackberry sauce and I watched Julia Child with our young sons. Julia announced she was making a soufflé, explaining it came from the French word souffle, meaning “breath of air.” I ran to the kitchen and told my wife I’d found the boat’s name. It checked every box: French, playful, food-related, easy to say, a play on words, unique—and simple.
Soufflé’s first Offshore race was in 2013. That year Soufflé set the record for the slowest last-place finish (71 hours, 55 minutes), then in 2014 for the fastest last-place finish. Since then, Soufflé’s Offshore crew has stayed pretty steady over the years with most having raced on her for years.
We are not really racers, and my wife and I mostly cruise the river—anchoring, reading, swimming, and enjoying sunsets, cocktails, and dinners.
The 2026 race will be Soufflé’s twelfth—and likely my last. I've said this for years, but kept changing my mind after arriving in Victoria. I would have quit after the 2024 race, with its 30 knot headwinds, but I wanted to make it to the 50th running of the race. And, here we are!”