Wednesday Night Canoe and Kayak Races

The Yukon Canoe and Kayak Club is re-instating the Wednesday night canoe races that were so popular a few seasons ago. The first few races will be from the boat launch on Schwatka Lake and go 5km upstream to "The Dragon" and back. Paddlers have been out practicing for the River Quest, the Yukon 1000 and the Yukon 360 since the end of February. These races will enable them to show if it has made any difference.

Anyone is welcome to enter, in any kayak or canoe. The races are pretty informal. The intent is to provide a bit of incentive to paddle hard in preparation for the big races later in the summer.

After the first couple of races, the plan is to have some handicap races, where the start is staggered according to how well people did in earlier races. That way it will not always be the same people coming first in their fast boats, and the finish could be really exciting as the field bunches up coming toward the finish line.

Once Chadburn Lake is open, there will be shorter races as well as some other fun events to encourage youths to take up canoe racing.

All events will give points for winners: 8 points for 1st, 6 for 2nd, 4 for 3rd, 3 for 4th, 2 for 5th, and one point to everyone else in the race. At the end of the summer points will be totalled up and prizes will be given to the top point scorers.

Ice Breaker Race
The 4th annual Icebreaker race will take place on Saturday 29h May. This is a 25km race from the Marsh Lake Dam to Schwatka Lake. Registration will be from 9:00 to 10:00 at the boat launch on Schwatka Lake. The there will be a shuttle to take boats and paddlers up to the start just below the Marsh Lake Dam. The race is scheduled to start at 11:00 with paddlers arriving back at Schwatka Lake from about 1:00pm.

Other races throughout the Summer

In addition to the Wednesday night races and the Ice Breaker, the Yukon boasts an impressive set of other canoe and kayak races from June right through to September:

The Ice Breaker Race, from Marsh Lake Dam to Lake Schwatka, May 29th, about 25km
The Yukon River Quest, Whitehorse to Dawson, June 30th, taking two to three days, about 700km
The Yukon 1000, from Whitehorse to the Dalton Highway Bridge in Alaska, July 19th, taking six to ten days, about 1600km
The Chilli and Beans Race from Whitehorse to the Takhini Bridge, August 6th, about 20km (Chilli at the Bridge)
The Yukon 360, This year from Faro to Pelly Crossing down the Pelly, Discovery Day weekend, 14th -16th August, about 300km
The Autumn Classic, Up and down the McClintock River, a Saturday in early September, about 15km.

Must be YCKC members.  Day memberships available at the race start.