The Race to Alaska winner could arrive in Ketchikan, Alaska, today, according to race officials.

“The weather has been gorgeous,” said race spokesman Jared Scott, speaking on a cellphone from a boat Wednesday.

“The big boys really took off, and they might cross the finish line sometime Thursday,” he said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Mad Dog Racing — which has maintained first place for most of the race — had a healthy lead.

The team was in line with Banks Island, about 200 miles from the finish line.

Small clusters of boats were situated along the 710-mile race course from Victoria to Ketchikan, with a high number of them just north of Vancouver.

Paddleboarder Karl Kruger of Orcas Island left the race at the north end of Galiano Island, while Team Alula, which includes three men in wheelchairs, was in the water east of Lantzville, Vancouver Island.

Race participants could enter a boat of any size or crew that did not have an engine for the race, which covers a total of 750 miles.

The race began early last Thursday morning in Port Townsend for the first leg to Victoria. It continued at noon Sunday for the far longer second leg from Victoria to Ketchikan.

The first-place finisher in the race, which is sponsored for a second year by the Northwest Maritime Center, will get $10,000; second place will net a set of steak knives.

The winner of the inaugural race in 2015, Team Elsie Piddock, completed the 750-mile race in five days.

Scott said Wednesday that 11 teams had dropped out of the race, including the five who did not make it past the starting line, leaving 33 still heading toward the finish line.

Sponsors have provided a constant stream of blogs, videos, messages and up-to-the moment tracking maps in two locations: www.r2ak.com and the race’s Facebook page, http://tinyurl.com/PDN-racebook.

“Facebook is the best place to go for live streams and up-to-date information, while the webpage is updated once a day,” Scott said.

In a blog, the executive director of the maritime center, Jake Beattie, called Kruger’s bid to compete in the race “a heroic one.”

“Team Heart of Gold’s Karl Kruger wasn’t a guy with a board and a paddle and a delusional dream; he had planned and trained for a year,” the blog on the Race to Alaska website said.

Kruger had done the math, calculating everything from weight to knowing how far and how fast he could travel in every condition, to exactly how many calories he could subsist on and how he would get them, which turned out to be food pellets, Beattie said.

“Karl’s theory of exacting simplicity, eat pellets, paddle, was working, and by day three his solo performance was ahead of even some trimarans,” Beattie wrote.

“The flaw came from a board whose behavior changed with the increased load and exacerbated the vulnerability of his weaker side.

“When he called it off he was paddling four times more on his left side than he was on his right, and the ratio was getting worse.”

Beattie expressed admiration for Kruger.

“Thanks for trying Karl, thanks for stepping into the ring, blowing our minds, and reminding us the richness that is possible when you stop simply avoiding the possibility of failure,” he wrote.

As the race proceeded, two investigations continued into a helicopter that flew low over boats at the Port Townsend starting line.

The helicopter circled above participants and onlookers at heights of 8 feet to 15 feet, according to police.

Initial police reports said the pilot received pressure from the crew to fly at a lower altitude.

The pilot took responsibility for the incident and expressed remorse that he had agreed to do so, police said.

He has not been charged, according to Port Townsend Police Officer Bill Corrigan.

Witnesses said there were two cameras shooting out of both sides of the helicopter, Corrigan said.

The rented helicopter had four people, a pilot and three broadcast journalists, whose identity was not released by authorities.

CBS spokesman Richard Huff confirmed the helicopter carried a CBS news crew but declined to name the show.

Prior to the race, Beattie said the event had approved credentials from CNN and CBS Sunday Morning.

Corrigan turned the initial results of his investigation to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Flight Standards District Office in Seattle.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor confirmed the agency was investigating the incident but could supply no details.

“These are two different investigations,” Corrigan said.

“The FAA’s is administrative, while ours is criminal.”

Corrigan said the charge could be reckless operation of an aircraft rather than reckless endangerment, as previously reported.

Corrigan said he plans to file a statement this week recommending whether the case should be prosecuted.

________

Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.