The “Race to the Midnight Sun” is moving into its third decade and will take place from June 26-30, 2019. Although the Yukon River Quest still seems a long ways away, registration for the event will open tomorrow, November 1, 2018.

The online entry forms can be found on the Yukon River Quest website under the register tab. The entry fees are the same as 2018: $525 per solo team, $950 per tandem team and $300 per paddler for C4 and voyageur canoe teams.

The limit of 125 teams will again be in place for the 2019 race. The Yukon River Marathon Paddlers Association (YRMPA) has recently approved an increase in the limit for solo teams from 40 to 50, although the voyageur canoe limit remains at 15 teams.

Last year a lottery system was used for solo teams, but that will not continue so it will become first come first serve, and a wait list will be started after registration limits are reached.

This year will see a revised prize money structure which will award the top men, women and mixed teams across the board in every class, as well as bonus money for the top 10 overall teams and others.

Roger Hanberg, president of YRMPA said via press release that a fairer distribution of prize money was a goal of the board after this past year’s race.

“We listened to the racers in the post-race feedback and reviewed the prize structure,” said Hanberg.

The new structure will award the top three male, female and mixed teams per class as long as they beat another team in its class and finish within 25 per cent of the top team in the class. Bonus prize money will also be given in several areas: to the top 10 teams overall, any team that breaks a record in its class, the top First Nations team, the top Yukon male, female and mixed teams, as well as the top senior team and young adult team.

All paddlers should have endurance race or wilderness paddling experience and all vessels must meet the specifications in the 2019 YRQ rules. Each team is required to have SPOT or similar tracking devices mounted on their vessels and activated for tracking before the team is officially registered. This allows teams to be tracked during the race. Following online has been popular with spectators globablly..

The course record belongs to Canadian voyageur Team Kisseynew’s winning time of 39:32:43 in 2008.