Team Sail Like A Girl selling boat, not competing in R2AK this year

The 2006 Melges 32 sailboat named “Maks to the Moon” raced by Team Sail Like A Girl in the unsupported boat races Race to Alaska (R2AK) and Washington 360 (WA360) is listed for sale by Seattle yacht broker Sail Northwest.

Team captain Jeanne Goussev confirmed to Future Tides that Team Sail Like A Girl will not be racing in R2AK this year.

“I am grateful for the challenges that I chose to face in R2AK and feel it has proven my strength to me for challenges that I do not choose,” she said.

But their work as a team is not done: “Sail Like A Girl continues as we work to bring more women along in the sport of sailing. Education is a priority.”

Earlier this month, Goussev and fellow team member Aimee Fulwell spoke at a virtual event hosted by the Mystic Seaport Museum.

Goussev said future plans include more talks, an in-person visit to Mystic Seaport and partnerships to highlight women’s leadership in sailing around Puget Sound.

In the 2018 edition of R2AK, Team Sail Like A Girl made history as the first monohull to win the 750-mile race through the Inside Passage. The team of eight stepped off their boat in tandem to claim the $10,000 prize nailed to a tree in Ketchikan, Alaska.

In addition to their technical feat, the all-women crew made headlines and captured the minds of current and aspiring female sailors around the world.

Related: I’m still thinking about Team Sail Like a Girl

The team, with some returning and new crew members, placed 4th in the 2019 race and in 2021 participated in WA360, an alternative race planned to accommodate pandemic restrictions.

Goussev purchased the then-12-year-old Melges 32 in 2018, according to a profile by the team’s title sponsor First Fed. It met her criteria for a fast monohull that she was already familiar racing.

The Kitsap Sun reported the boat was purchased from California and underwent a major refit for R2AK, not uncommon for boats that enter. One significant addition were the pedal drives to propel the vessel in light winds during the non-motorized races.

“We converted a Ferrari to be a Hummer,” Goussev told the Seattle Times after the team’s 2018 victory.

Now the pedal drives appear to have been removed and the listing notes “many of the graphics will be removed at time of sale.” Depending on its next owner, Melges 32 Hull #127 may return to its Ferrari days.

On the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sail Like A Girl became a 501(c)4 with plans to not only continue competing but to expand upon its mission “to inspire women to push limits, challenge assumptions and, through teamwork, make the impossible, possible.”

This story has been updated with information about Team Sail Like A Girl’s future plans.