The crew of the boat Bedlam II cruised into the Lahaina harbour early Wednesday - 20 days after leaving Victoria in the biennial Vic-Maui International Yacht Race.
The sailors - Port Moody's Alan Slater (skipper and boat owner), Gordon Penner, Gary McKinnon (watch captain) and Devin Jain, as well as Kevin Treharne of Coquitlam and John Johnstone of Vancouver - crossed the finish line and were greeted at around 3:30 a.m. with Hawaiian leis and tropical drinks.
On the Vic-Maui website, the race committee reported one of the Bedlam crew members "said he was very happy to be anywhere, after seeming days of being nowhere."
It added: "They sailed for the last two days without the benefit of a main sail, battered by too many days of high winds, and kept a nervous eye on their rigging after a couple of failures - the last which injured one of the crew - and forced halyards into service to replace shrouds."
Now, Slater is busy getting ready to take his 41' C&C Redline sloop back home to the Vancouver Rowing Club with a new crew that includes his son, Andrew Slater of Maple Ridge, Pete Fisher of Port Moody and Vancouver resident Al Vroom.
That return journey is expected to take at least a month.
