CARMACKS — Clear skies and calm water followed Yukon River Quest racers all the way to Carmacks – making the trip through Lake Laberge relatively easy.

“It couldn’t have been any easier,” team “Time to GO!” paddler Dave Hutchison said about the lake.

“There was a few ripples in the beginning, a little bit of headwind and then it just went totally glassy.”

The tandem kayak was the first into Carmacks this morning at 8:12 a.m.

Hutchison’s experience in whitewater rafting came in handy last year, when conditions on the lake caused several teams to capsize and eventually scratch from the race.

Following close behind the leaders was Ontario’s tandem canoe “Perfect Storm,” nearly 17 minutes behind the first team.

Gaetan Plourde said the paddle up the lake felt good, but the water was low, causing a slower time than they had anticipated.

“A lot slower than expected,” Plourde told the Star, before giving his partner Jeff Brainard a high five. “We thought we’d be here almost an hour ago.”

By now, Plourde would know his times pretty well, as this is his eighth time undertaking the River Quest.

Five minutes later, at 8:34 a.m., team “Bald and Sexy” arrived.

The two British Columbians are the second men’s tandem kayak to reach the first rest stop.

Volunteers met each team at the dock, ready to help racers get out of their boats – a difficult task, at times.

“Bald and stinky,” a YRQ volunteer laughed while lifting Gus Oliveira out of his kayak.

For Hutchison, hobbling up the hill from the dock required crutches, due to a climbing injury he had in 2008.

His teammate, Ross, withdrew from the 2013 YRQ at this very checkpoint due to a shoulder injury, which did not appear to be bothering him at all today.

Thoroughly exhausted and hungry, the racers stumbled around looking for washrooms and familiar faces— looking confused in an endearing kind of way.

Hutchison’s wife Felicia took her husband and his teammate to a hotel in town to rest up quickly after arriving.

Others, like Plourde, hung around for a little while, chatting to support crews and other opponents.

The next wave of teams arrived just after 10, including solo kayaker Martin Rother, “the northshore paddler,” and two voyageur teams.

Team “3-2-1-Go” was just eight seconds behind Rother, the first voyageur team to arrive in Carmacks.

Yukon voyageur team “Ts’alvit” came in three minutes later, telling their support crew that the all-women team ahead of them has been hard to catch up to.

Teams arriving today will have seven hours to shovel down a hot meal, take a shower and catch some well-deserved shut-eye.

If all goes well, “Time to GO!” will be the first to continue racing around 3 p.m. today.

When asked about their strategy going into Dawson, all the two men could say was, “Go fast.”

Any teams arriving after 11 p.m. tonight will be disqualified.

In order to stay in the race, teams will have to leave Carmacks by tomorrow at 6 a.m.

The 17th annual Yukon River Quest features 58 teams and 155 paddlers.