CARMACKS – They rubbed the sleep from their eyes as they groggily stumbled to their freshly cleaned boat.

“Good morning Thomas,” Stephen Mooney quipped as his skipper, Thomas de Jager, arrived on shore slowly and complaining of the sleep that never came to him during the seven-hour layover at Carmacks Checkpoint.

It was 1 p.m. and Yukon Wide Adventures was sorting through the gear they would need for the next 400-or-so kilometres of river until Dawson City.

Gus Oliveira, leaning over the bow seat, said he’d never eaten as much on any of his previous Yukon River Quests as he had coming into Carmacks with the crew of five other majority solo paddlers – kayakers.

They had teamed together, a mix of some of the top kayakers in Yukon River Quest modern history – Whitehorse’s Thomas de Jager, who has placed in the top three of the solo kayak division; Whitehorse’s Stephen Mooney, was has consistently posted top kayak results; Gus Oliveira, also a strong kayaker; American Dave Hutchison, who has won the race in the past and posted top solo kayak results; and Pat McClelland and Wayne Anderson who are both experienced paddlers.

The team is a joining of solo forces.

“We were competitors once and became friends,” said de Jager. “That’s Yukon River Quest.”

The team is paddling a boat that was hand-built by an American voyageur crew, the Texans.

It’s actually the second boat they built, the team explains. The first one, a tub of a voyageur, didn’t win them the race, so they built another. The Texans were repeat YRQ victors in 2010 and 2011.

The boat was left in the Yukon and was rented out a number of times, but ultimately ended up in de Jager’s possession.

He spent the winter refurbishing the boat to bring it back to its full glory. The work involved six months of sanding and refinishing and gluing; reconfiguring the hydration system, the seats, and installing new spray skirts. Each boat section is customized to its paddler, complete with name stickers identifying the men on the side of the boat.

The boat has a fat middle that bulges out near the hull before narrowing near the gunnels. While built for speed, it tends to be tippy and having McClelland in the middle is key to staying upright, says Mooney. “I’ve never seen a faster brace stroke.”

As they’re reloading the boat with snacks and clothes and water, McClelland pulls his shorts down to his ankles, revealing an isthmus-shaped sore on his cheek. He queries his teammates on how it could be possible from his seat.

“Where did that come from,” he asks.

The paddlers bargain with food and numbing gels. They check in with each other on their conditions.

De Jager returns with a Boost drink. “Steak in a bottle,” he says.

Paced by Oliveira, the team was fast off the start and have steadily been increasing their lead as they go.

“We squeeze each kilometre out of the boat we can,” says de Jager.

They will depart Carmacks before about half the field has arrived.

It’s no secret that the team is aiming to break the course record, a blistering fast time of 39 hours, 32 minutes and 43 seconds, set nearly a decade ago by Kissynew, a voyageur team.

But they arrived in Carmacks almost 30 minutes off the pace and have their work cut out for them to make it to Dawson City in under 40 hours.

Yukon Wide Adventures are in the boat off the dock with four minutes to spare as the clock counts down.

Here, they’re all smiles. Some breathe deeply as family members line the shore. Kids and spouses shout their approvals as the team paddles away from the dock, picking up the fast current and cruising towards Dawson.

CARMACKS — Seventeen teams have scratched from the Yukon River Quest as of noon today. Set Free, The Other Kiwi , Paddle Jumper, the Grand Canoedles, SUP Yukon and 2 of Hearts all withdrew before reaching Carmacks.

Canoe Believe It?!, Yukon Slayers, Carhartt Boys, Duck Juice, Tubeerdz, Beauty and the Beast, Yukiwi3, Captain Hook and the Donky, Inglorious Paddler and PWS have all withdrawn at the Carmacks Checkpoint.

Gaetan Plourde, who won the race in a C-2 last year and is the C-1 course record holder, scratched after Five Fingers Rapid, citing illness. He was joined there by Chiswick Charger.

The current red lantern candidate, SUP Emily Matthews, had been shown as withdrawn yesterday, before powering on to the Carmacks Checkpoint and continuing in the race. She left Carmacks early this morning.

Currently in the lead, Yukon Wide Adventures continues to widen the gap on 2 Numbnuts.

The Gorge Downwind Champs hold onto third, while Saranac 4, a C-4 team, remains in fourth.

Team Ts’alvit is the top Yukon team, currently sitting in sixth place.

The top teams are expected in Dawson City early this evening.