麻豆社区

Sixty-eight teams launched out of Whitehorse this afternoon for the 14th annual Yukon River Quest, the yearly canoe and kayak race from Whitehorse to Dawson City.

The teams compete in solo kayak and canoe, tandem kayak and canoe and voyageur boat classes.

In last year's race, the Texans repeated as champions in the voyageur division, paddling the 720 kilometres (460 miles) of the Yukon River in a time of 42 hours, 17 minutes.

The paddlers are offered only two mandatory stops in the race, with checkpoint layovers in Carmacks and Kirkman Creek, and otherwise race around the clock.

Sausages and Mussels were the first Whitehorse voyageur team to cross the finish line last year, coming in second overall behind the Texas with a time of 44:37.

Chris Spoor led the way in the solo kayak class, the Victoria, B.C., native paced the field with a time of 47:13.

The lead woman was Sharon Colley who crossed the finish line in 49:05

Only one team withdrew from this year's race, narrowing the field from 69 to 68 teams.

Around 200 paddlers are registered, hailing from Austria, Australia, Belgium, across Canada, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Latvia, Norway, South Africa and the United States.

There are overall cash prizes for each class, as well as prizes for the top three in each division.

The top all-Yukon canoe and kayak teams and the top First Nations teams are awarded with $500 cash.

Teams must finish the race in 55 hours to receive prize money, while all those that cross the finish line are award finisher pins.

The race is supported by over 200 volunteers.

To follow the race online, visit http://www.yukonriverquest.com.