Team Alegria X arrives on Maui during the 2014 race.

LAHAINA – The Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race, first contested in 1965 and sailed every second year since 1968, is the pinnacle of Pacific Northwest ocean racing, covering a distance on the rhumbline of 2,308 nautical miles.

Vic-Maui challenges sailors to demonstrate their ocean sailing and weather routing skills.

The Lahaina and Royal Vancouver Yacht Clubs co-host this international yacht race, which is now celebrating its historic half-century this year, from Victoria, British Columbia, to Lahaina.

The start venue is Victoria, BC, on Canada’s West Coast, where pre-start preparations are completed in the picturesque Inner Harbor. The fleet starts just outside the harbor, sails out of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, leaves Cape Flattery on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula to port, and heads across the Northeast Pacific Ocean.

Boats aim to sail around the North Pacific High and into the trade winds for the subtropical run to Hawaii. Days and nights at sea pass with sightings of whales, dolphins and albatross under spectacular sunrises, sunsets and brilliant starry nights.

The finish venue is Lahaina. As each boat crosses the finish line, the boat and crew are warmly welcomed in the Hawaiian tradition, after which the crew, family and friends enjoy vacationing on Maui and attend an awards banquet.

The boats will depart from Victoria on July 9-12 and will be begin arriving on Maui from approximately July 19 until the race time limit set as of July 29, 2016.

Lahaina Yacht Club extends the opportunity for the local community to participate by assisting with greetings, donations or volunteering. There are also opportunities to participate as a local sponsor (each level accorded with its own privileges in addition to media and public relations support).

The Vic-Maui race has the distinction of being the only trans-Pacific international yacht race that starts in a foreign country but finishes in the USA… right here in Lahaina.

Join the fun and sign up today to participate in this year’s half-century race.?Call or e-mail to receive information, or to sign up for greetings, donations, volunteering or for local sponsor information. Contact Patti Link at (808) 214-2868, e-mail patti@mauiadvertising.com or greetvicmaui@lyc.us, and visit www.vicmaui.org and www.lyc.us.