Team Hell ‘n’ Ready is ready to roar — and we’re setting sail for Alaska!
We are a crew of invincible women about to throw ourselves headfirst into one of the most demanding maritime races on the planet: the 2026 Race to Alaska — R2AK. Over 750 miles of unpredictable ocean from Port Townsend, WA, to Ketchikan, AK. No engines. No support. Just grit, guts, and each other.
Our paths to this moment are different, but the pull is the same. We met through women’s sailing programs at Half Moon Bay Yacht Club and Island Yacht Club in Alameda. Friends brought friends and we built trust sailing together on San Francisco Bay — working together, sharing laughs, and savoring that quiet feeling when the sails fill and everything else drops away. That kind of bond doesn’t come along every day. When it does, you follow it somewhere extraordinary.
We’re raising funds to equip our team. It is entrenched in our spirit that we help make these types of experiences available to more people, to support them in a sport that has broadened our horizons and strengthened our character, so we’re donating 5% of everything we raise to the Magenta Project — an incredible non-profit born from the hard-won experiences of all-female sailing teams, fighting for equal access in sailing worldwide.
Challenging times deserve a challenge. This is ours. But here's what we've learned out on the water: you are always stronger with people behind you. A crew is more than the hands on the boat — it's everyone who believed in the voyage before it began. If this story speaks to you, if you know what it means to chase something bigger than yourself, then come with us. Not on the boat (there's barely room for us and the oars), but as part of something that proves we go further together.
This is the kind of sailing that changes you. If you love the ocean, if you respect what it takes to point a boat into unknown water and commit, then you know why we’re doing this. Help us get Electra to the starting line and support this fundraiser. Every contribution moves us closer. Every share puts more wind at our back.
Kat Hartman, Sarah Kerley, Rea Inglesis, Anna Frick, Pat Heiss, Karen Madsen