Congratulations to Team Imua for taking the win in the human-powered, self-supported Seventy48 race, an offshoot of R2AK. Greg Spooner and Thiago Silva took off from the Tacoma docks in their open water rowing double at 1700 hours on May 31, having never rowed together before, but that doesn’t mean they’re newbies to the boating scene.
They’ve both raced across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and logged thousands of open water rowing miles over the years. Not to mention, Spooner came in third place at the inaugural Seventy48 race last year.
With 30 minutes to cross the start line and 48 hours to finish the race, Team Imua rowed through Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway with their end goal, Port Townsend, 70 nautical miles away. Spooner and Silva crossed the finish line just under 11 hours at 0549 hours, securing their prize of $5,450 and the first Backward Facing Class finisher.
Spooner reports on his Seventy48 experience: “It was an 8-mile sprint to overtake them and put the nail in the coffin of the win,” he states. “We could see the quad the entire race, which really made it a dogfight. They would take a really wide course and catch a current shooting ahead, we’d catch up and take the lead.”
Team Blister in the Moon took second place, arriving at Port Townsend’s city docks at 0556 hours in their open water quadruple rowing scull with Team Wave Forager’s Ken Deem just two minutes behind in his Maas 24, the first solo finisher and placing third overall.
Well done to all participating teams, and we’re excited to see what’s in store for next year. Visit Seventy48 for more information.
