30.0°

ANCHORAGE - A handful of adventurers will make a test run next week that could lead to another long-distance race for Alaska.

Unlike the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race or the Tesoro Iron Dog, the world's longest snowmobile race, this one would not be on snow.

The proposed Alaskan Wet Dog Race for personal watercraft is planned for a start at the Port of Anchorage. Racers would go nearly 2,000 miles down Cook Inlet and around parts of Kodiak before going to both sides of the Alaska Peninsula. The race would end in Anchorage about three weeks later.

A half-dozen racers will test the course, traveling between 23 towns and villages on Bombardier Sea-Doos. They'll pass through the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, Bristol Bay and Lake Iliamna. A 15-mile portage provided by Williams Transportation Co. will take them from Iliamna to Williamsport before they shoot back to Cook Inlet.

They'll skirt sensitive wildlife areas such as Izembek National Wildlife Refuge by going at least 3 miles offshore.

"We have this fantastic opportunity to go places and see things that primarily only commercial fishing boats get to experience," said race founder John Lang of Wasilla, who has planned the race for six years.

When racers on Tuesday leave Anchorage, a prominent long-distance racer will be on a personal watercraft.

Four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser will join five other drivers to test the course, the checkpoints, the equipment and the safety precautions.

"It's so cool," Buser said. "I'm sort of into adventure races."

Lang contacted him years ago when he had the idea, Buser said. "Of course, I thought he was nuts."

"There's always those dreamers out there, and you've got to sort them out. I really thought John had the organizational skills and foresight.

"And any time a race with a $2 million purse is mentioned, your ears perk up."

A multimillion-dollar purse is one of several big numbers organizers are talking about for the 2011 race. They also are contemplating a $25,000 entry fee and a goal of 500 race teams.

Buser will not make the entire trial run. Prior commitments will force him to fly home when the group reaches Kodiak.

A 35-foot support vessel, the Homer-based Sea Wolf with Memory Makers Charters, will meet racers at Anchor Point and accompany them. The Coast Guard will be paying attention to the event.

"We don't think there are any risks that are extraordinary beyond what typical mariners encounter," said Lt. John Backus, waterways management division chief in Anchorage.

Backus has been in discussions with Lang about the race for more than a year. He was satisfied that organizers had planned to keep racers near shore much of the way. They will wear dry suits and carry communication devices and extra fuel.

"I'm very excited about his passion for the race," Backus said of Lang.

To proceed in 2011, the race will need a marine event permit from the Coast Guard. Miserable weather is common in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, but the small, maneuverable personal watercraft offer some advantages, Backus said.

"Swamping is not going to happen, which is always possible with a big boat," he said. "Even if it flips over, it's going to say afloat.

"I think they're taking a lot of measures to limit risks."

Lang said people on personal watercraft take less of a beating and usually don't get seasick.

"You're more like a bobber in the ocean," he said.

Racer Gina Poths of Anchorage said her biggest concern is crossing Shelikof Strait - 35 miles of open water between the Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island.

"That's going to be the scary part," Poths said. "Honestly though, my fear is that it's going to be foggy. I feel much safer on my PWC than on a boat. On my watercraft, if I flip over it doesn't sink - and I'm dressed to go in water."

Poths has seen bad weather before. Once, while she was approaching Fire Island a few years ago, the wind started roaring down Turnagain Arm, with waves coming from three different directions.

"It took us forever just to cross those three miles," she said.