The SEVENTY48 Gods are smiling.

The largest application pool in race history produced a field of 133 teams at the starting line in Tacoma. As the green flag was raised, the fleet exploded out of the Foss Waterway (with only 1.5 full-on collisions) and into Puget Sound, launching another seventy-mile experiment in endurance and cold-water judgment.

At the front of the fleet, defending champions TEAM TRITONS and TEAM BEASTS FROM THE EAST picked up right where they left the battle in 2025. The two identical triple surfskis stayed glued together through Commencement Bay and up Colvos Passage, with TEAM BEASTS FROM THE EAST drafting so closely they could probably have shared snacks without getting the Cheetos wet.

Eventually, TEAM BEASTS FROM THE EAST broke away and headed for Poulsbo, assembling a never-before-seen SEVENTY48 route involving roads, neighborhoods, police officers, and a multi-mile portage into Hood Canal. It was ambitious, creative, extremely SEVENTY48, and not faster. TEAM TRITONS stayed with the traditional route, improved their winning time from 2025 by fifteen minutes, and claimed First Overall honors once again.

Meanwhile, TEAM BOOGIE BARGE managed to create a completely different challenge by existing outside the known boundaries of the Class Award Filtering System. Being neither clearly "facing forward" nor "facing backward," they briefly threatened a classification crisis before Captain Blake Hansen resolved the matter with a text message: "Give it to real rowers."

With order restored, the remaining class awards fell into place. The By Yourself division was claimed by TEAM ONE BAD IDEA AFTER ANOTHER, a solo rower aboard a Maas 24. Facing Backward went to TEAM RACE BOSS (no relation to the actual Race Boss), while TEAM CZECH MATE claimed the Standing Up prize and hopefully found an opportunity to lie down shortly afterward.

The weather delivered a varied menu with some oft-seen main courses of the SEVENTY48 weekend. Friday night in Colvos Passage was cold and breezy from the north, while Saturday morning rewarded much of the fleet with calm water and straightforward travel. By afternoon, Port Townsend Bay resumed its annual role of reminding everyone that forecasts are not decorative reading material, as a Small Craft Advisory for Admiralty Inlet became the truth.

For the most part, eight years into SEVENTY48, the fleet arrived prepared. Teams showed up with plans, backup plans, and enough experience to know the difference between discomfort and trouble. Along the way, they were met by supporters lining shorelines, friends and family tracking dots through the night, and spectators appearing in unlikely places with encouragement and donuts.

By mid-day Saturday, Port Townsend took on what may have been the most festive atmosphere of all previous SEVENTY48’s. Cowbells rang. Banners flew. Every arrival, whether racing for a class win or racing the clock, received the same celebration.

Congratulations to every racer who started, every racer who finished, every volunteer who lost their voice, every supporter who watched a tracker late into the night, and everyone who helped make the 2026 SEVENTY48 possible.

Adios till next year.

Here are the 2026 SEVENTY48 winners:

First Overall: Team Tritons
By Yourself: Team One Bad Idea After Another
Facing Backwards: Team Race Boss
Standing Up: Team Czech Mate

Olympic Outdoor Center Random Hero Award: Team Unstoppable and Unsupervised
1/8th of the purse and a $250 gift certificate. We took all the names of the teams that finish and threw them in a hat and drew one lucky winner.

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