Race officials say the first Swiftsure boat to cross this finish line in this weekend’s long-course races was Kahuna from Tacoma Washington.
Skipper John Leitzinger sailed Kahuna into Victoria’s Inner Harbour before noon on Sunday.
First over the line receives an award but the racers will not know where Kahuna is in the race order until course corrections are made.
May entrants dropped out of the race, which is organized by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, as the event saw light winds and wet weather on Sunday. About 165 yachts went over the start line off Clover Point for the Swiftsure International Yacht Race on Saturday morning. The yacht race is the largest on the West Coast and a qualifying event for the the Vic-Maui race from Victoria to Hawaii.
The first of six course starts began at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Two races were postponed due to lack of wind before the final races began at about 10:30.
To follow the race online, visit the Swiftsure 2019 International Yacht Race tracker.
With files from Cindy E. Harnett, Times Colonist
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