FAIRBANKS -- The crew of Be-Bi-Bones Express repeated as champions of the Yukon 800 Marathon on Sunday afternoon, claiming a 12-minute victory in the world's longest and toughest riverboat race.
Captain Tom Kriska, engineer Vern Stickman and navigator Leslie Jones compiled an elapsed time of 13 hours, 17 minutes, 13 seconds in the 56th edition of the race that runs 800 miles out-and-back from Fairbanks to Galena on the Chena, Tanana and Yukon rivers.
Kriska and Stickman, who are cousins, became three-time winners on a hot Sunday afternoon. Their first victory came in 1996 with Bad Moon Rising.
"I keep saying 'No more after this,' but every time May and June come around, I get that feeling again," Stickman said.
A year ago, Be-Bi-Bones Express was one of only two boats that finished. As of 5:30 p.m. Sunday, seven boats had made it to the finish line at Pike's Landing and another was reportedly on the way.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for Be-Bi-Bones Express, the first boat to leave Pike's Landing in Saturday morning's ceremonial start.
Be-Bi-Bones was in first place with an elapsed time of 6:32:18 when it reached Galena on Saturday night, and at no point did anyone pass the boat.
Despite its front-running status, crew members didn't overlook the competition.
"There's a lot of things to think about when you're starting first,'' said Kriska, 53. "I was worried about Harold (Attla) and those guys coming by; they're pretty fast themselves."
Attla, a 10-time Yukon 800 winner, placed second aboard My Pleasure with a total time of 13:29:36. The runner-up effort marked the first finish since 2011 for Attla, who has been plagued by mechanical issues in recent years.
"I'm real happy to be finishing and it's really good to not be way down river someplace waiting for a rescue or something,'' said Attla, who was joined by engineer Frances Kozevnikoff-Demientieff and navigator Jerry Sam.
Low water raised concerns over propeller damage. Kriska and his crew, like other entries, raced cautiously in some areas.
"We didn't take any shortcuts and we weren't kind of lured into spaces,'' Kriska said. "You just kind of had to stay on the outside and in the deep water, and just stay fast, and it worked out."
After the Kriska and Attla boats came four filled with Huntington cousins.
Floyd Huntington and the crew of Koyukon-Deg Hit'An placed third at 14:35:43; 2012 race winner Tyler Huntington and the White Alice crew came in fourth in 15:08:21; Clinton Huntington, last year's runnerup, placed fifth with the Raiders crew in 15:52:51; and C.J. Huntington and the crew of Midnight Special placed sixth in 17:24:09.
Yukon 800 rookie Kyle Malamute and his Wake 'Em Up crew finished seventh in 17:44:54.
AJ Dick and the crew of My Problem was reportedly on the way to the finish line Sunday evening. Tony Peter, the 2013 winner, and his Gwichin' Warriors crew were having motor problems near Manley Hot Springs on the Tanana River but was still in the race.
Two boats scratched Saturday with mechanical problems – Sterling DeWilde and the Slo-Mo crew and Dewayne Drake and the Old Man Strength crew. Ryan Binkley and the crew of Riverboat Discovery scratched with motor problems Sunday near Kantishna on the Tanana River.
The victory was bittersweet for Jones. This year's race was dedicated to her grandmother, Harriet McCotter, a secretary, race flagger and organizer for the Fairbanks Outboard Association since 1977. McCotter, 72, died in May.
Jones said that while on the Tanana River on Saturday, she saw a group of five swans.
"That was one of her favorite animals and she had swans everywhere,'' Jones said. "So it was a very beautiful moment."