The Yukon 360, 360 Km from Johnson Crossing to Carmacks

Discovery day Weekend, 15th - 17th August, 2009

The Yukon 360 is a canoe race designed to fit in a three day weekend. It is structured much like its big brother race, the Yukon 1000, but with some significant differences

The race is shorter, less than one fifth of the distance
the required overnight stops are longer
It does not take all your vacation allowance to enter
Faster boats are permitted

This race takes place about a month later than the Yukon 1000. this means that the nights are longer. That means that to avoid paddling in the dark, paddlers have to stop for longer each night. Does that make this an easier race? Well yes and no. Yes, because you are not going to be short of sleep. No, because the paddling is going to be that much more intense if you are going to be competitive.

This year, the race will start from Johnson Crossing at NOON on August 16th. It is our intention to arrange transport for paddlers, their gear, their boats, and possibly even their camp followers from Whitehorse to Johnson Crossing, and from Carmacks back to Whitehorse. This means that paddlers will have between nine and a half to ten and a half hours of paddling on that Saturday. It is 196Km from Johnson Crossing to Hootalinqua, and given that the water will be quite low in late August, that means you will be camping on the Teslin River. The next day you have up to sixteen hours paddling. If you manage to average just over 14 kph, you will get to Carmacks Sunday night. Otherwise you will need to camp again. The tail of the pack should be into Carmacks by noon Monday 18th August.

Next year we will run the 360 on a different river, the Nusutlin perhaps, and maybe the Pelly the year after. There are several rivers that are reasonably accessible in the southern Yukon that are both suitable for a race of this type, and which have road accessible start and end points.

Racers will be required to carry Spot devices, and will be required to "check-in" using those devices at least every 2 hours during the day, and in the evening between 21:30 and 22:30, and again 8 hours later from the same location.

The Carmacks Finish line will be open from 20:00 on Sunday evening until 22:30 (after which time boats are not allowed to move), and will open again at 05:30 on Monday. The Race will finish at Noon on Tuesday. Teams arriving after noon on Tuesday will not receive an official time, and may miss the transport back to Whitehorse.

Boats that fail to stop before 22:30, and boats that stop for less than 8 hours will receive a time penalty of four times the infraction. Boats arriving at Carmacks after 22:30 will have to check in late for their required overnight stop, and will be deemed to have arrived in Carmacks eight hours after their actual arrival time. So if you get into Carmacks at 23:00, you will receive a finishing time of 07:00, and receive a 2 hour penalty.

Registration will open in November. The entry fee is $100 Canadian per paddler at the moment. We think that is sufficient, but we may have to increase that if the insurance costs more than we expect. Enter early to get the low entry fee for sure.

It you are interested in this race, I suggest you read the rules, and waiver. Then if you are still interested, contact me at info360@yukon1000.com, or phone me on +1 867 668 6430 or fax me at +1 425 799 1160