With 3 months to go, Yukon River Quest has almost-full roster
Experimental stand up paddleboarding category helped drum up interest, says YRQ president Harry Kearns
Interest in the world's longest river race swelled this year, with a record number of participants registered to compete in the 2016 Yukon River Quest.
"Getting this many [registrations] this early is unusual — and welcome," said Harry Kern, president of Yukon River Quest (YRQ).
With three months to go, there are 97 vessels with 234 paddlers registered, with room for just three more solo or tandem canoe or kayak teams to register.
The numbers are a boost for the race, which has had dwindling numbers recently. Last year there were 155 paddlers and in 2014 there were 153.
The 715-kilometre race from Whitehorse to Dawson City attracts paddlers from around the world and Kern said organizers were expecting a bit of an increase this year because of the low Canadian dollar.
SUP category may have bolstered numbers
This year, YRQ added a solo stand up paddleboarding category for the first time, as an experiment.
"That generated a lot of interest and an immediate response," said Kerns.
The SUP field was originally limited to 10 solo paddlers, but organizers decided to let in 12 people, including three locals: Stuart Knaack, Michelle Eshpeter and Stephen Waterreus. If stand up paddlers can hold their own this year, SUP may become an official race category in 2017.
Longer lineups at the outhouses?
The number of voyageur teams has more than doubled since 2014, with 17 teams registered this year.
Kerns said these teams provide the biggest challenge to organizers and volunteers, because they usually don't get as spread out as other boats and don't often scratch from the race.
"Having 16 voyageurs — 108 people — all coming in a similar time frame it could really jam up our volunteer effort."
Kerns said organizers are looking at getting extra staff and portable outhouses out to the last checkpoint at Kirkman Creek to alleviate the bottleneck.
