Prince Rupert paddler Yota Kano completed the Race to Alaska’s opening Proving Grounds stage alongside his mentor, Martin Rother, with the pair leading the sea kayak competitors into Victoria. Kano, competing as Team Rainy, paddled from Port Townsend, Wash., to Victoria, B.C., in the first leg of the 1,200-kilometre race to Ketchikan, Alaska. The flat, glass-like conditions favoured human-powered craft, with race officials describing the paddler…