CARMACKS The 2005 edition of the Yukon River Quest could turn out to be the most exciting one yet, as three teams are expected to be racing neck-in-neck to the finish line in Dawson City for first place.

Yukoners Stephen Mooney and Greg McHale, defending champion Steve Landick and his parter Fred Mynar, and Americans Chris Swan and Sean Brennan all landed in Carmacks just a minute apart early this morning.

As of press time today, 17 of the 68 teams entered had arrived at the checkpoint. Five teams have scratched.

Swan and Brennan, travelling under the name 'Power Bar's Jersey Fresh', were the first to arrive at the mandatory seven-hour layover, at 8:04 a.m. They were followed closely by Mooney and McHale (Northwestel High Speed Internet) at 8:05 and Landick and Mynar (Team Michigan) at 8:06.

While Landick is always a threat, and there has been much media attention showered on the hometown duo, no one was talking about Swan and Brennan before today, which is exactly how the sneaky team planned it.

'That's the way we like it,' smiled Swan. 'That was done intentionally. You don't want a target on your back.'

Both the Jersey Fresh and Northwestel crews are paddling tandem kayaks while Michigan is hauling along in a canoe. Brennan said he and Swan, who are competing in their first Yukon River Quest, are feeling pretty good so far.

'We made some very costly navigation errors,' he admitted. 'It cost us the lead a couple of times. We were almost back at one point, and we had to slog out way back into it. But we were pretty much out in front the whole time.'

When asked what they thought of their first Yukon river experience, Swan chuckled, 'Ouch.'

'It's a nice race,' added Brennan. 'It's just a real tough river.'

While they were quiet on their intentions prior to the race, both men said they were hoping to make it into Carmacks in 19 to 20 hours, which they accomplished. And in doing so, set a new record for the first team in.

'Go big or go home,' stated Swan, when asked how serious they were taking the race.

'Whenever you race, you always race to win, no matter what you do,' said Brennan.

Winning is certainly what had been on Whitehorse resident Tim Hodgson's mind for the past year. After finishing second with partner Chris Gerwing in 2004, Hodgson picked up a new partner in Thane Phillips for this year's event, and even took time off work this past winter and spring to train hard for the victory.

Unfortunately, Hodgson and Phillips became the first casualty of the event, pulling out at Lake Laberge because of unspecified pulled muscles on Hodgson's left side.

Other teams which have scratched from this year's race as of 10:30 this morning were Minnesota solo kayaker Craig Zimmer, solo kayaker William Reitzer-Smith of Texas and solo kayaker Jean-Guy Sauriol.

All three pulled out on 30 Mile, Zimmer and Reitzer-Smith due to fatigue and the early symptoms of hypothermia. Spirit of the North's Rob Hewitt picked all three up in his boat and transported them back to Deep Creek, and then onto his house on Lake Laberge, where they will remain until their support vehicles can pick them up.

The last racer was reported off Lake Laberge at 3 a.m., but the majority of the boats are well on their way to Carmacks and most are expected into the layover by 6 p.m. tonight.

The River Quest generally loses about one third of the field by the time all teams reach Carmacks.

The top three teams will be deaprting Carmacks just after 3 p.m. today, with all of them intent on pushing each other all the way to Dawson.

Race official Harris Cox said the next half of the race 'will separate the men from the boys.

'It's going to be tight until Dawson. It'll come down to experience. They're all within seconds of each other. It all just depends on what their stratgey is in the water.'

One thing is for certain - Landick can forget the more than four hour-lead he posted over last year's second-place finishers. This one's going to come down to the wire.