Teams began arriving yesterday at the Dalton Highway Bridge in Alaska

Seven days after starting their 1000-mile journey in Whitehorse, two teams have finished the Yukon 1000 paddling race.

For the first time in race history, the first boat across the line was a canoe.

The Maine team, “Mainely Nuts” of Brad Krog and Terry Wescott is also the oldest team to win the race at 63 and 67, respectively. Their final time was seven days, four hours and 36 minutes.

Wescott completed the race before in 2011 alongside Sandra Mitchell in a tandem canoe. Their time that year (seven days, 10 hours, 46 minutes, 44 seconds) was good enough for third.

“They’re tough guys and canoeing is a sport where you can remain competitive into your 60s and 70s,” said race organizer Peter Coates, speaking from his satellite phone at the Dalton Highway Bridge, where he expects three more teams to arrive today.

The second team to arrive at the finish yesterday was U.K duo Richard Archer and Jonathan Frith, team “Foot Guards” who are paddling in support of Soldiers’ Charity. They finished about five hours back, at seven days, nine hours and 36 minutes.

At around noon Whitehorse time the third team, “Kayaking for Conservation,” of Marcus Savage and Peter Tyrrell, crossed the line in eight days and 52 minutes. They were the first tandem kayak team to finish this year.

For the first few days of the race Coates said that teams were punished by rain and strong headwinds, but by the time they crossed the border into Alaska, that has mostly cleared up.

The main challenge in Alaska was the high water level at the Flats, a section where the river widens and there are many options as to which channel to take between the many islands and gravel bars.

The different water level meant that the maps the teams were carrying were misleading, showing islands where now there was only water.

“People were all over the place,” said Coates, “Taking very strange routes through the flats.”

As Coates waits for the remainder of the teams at the Dalton Highway Bridge, he said the water is the highest he’s ever seen it during the finish. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the current is faster, as the river widens and the volume spreads out.

All seven of the teams that began the journey in Whitehorse are still on the river, including tandem canoe team, “Minnesota Gneiss” of Emma Burgeson and Paige Norman, who hope to be the first all-female team to complete the Yukon 1000.