All remaining teams in the Yukon River Quest (YRQ) had left the Carmacks checkpoint as of early this morning, while half of them had made it to the next verbal checkpoint at Fort Selkirk.

Texas voyageur team Coureur des Bayou was still in the lead, arriving at Fort Selkirk at 9:15 p.m. Thursday. That gave then a 31 minute advantage over second-place voyageur Kisseynew from Saskatchewan, which pulled in at 9:46 p.m.

Voyageurs currently make up the top four spots in this year's race, with Kisseynew Skookum Asphalt and the Saint Lawrence Valley Paddlers battling for third place about two hours behind the leaders. The Skookum boat, which contains two Yukon paddlers as well as those from Saskatchewan and Edmonton, arrived in Fort Selkirk at 11:41 p.m. while the Saint Lawrence Valley Paddlers, from New York, were nine minutes behind.

Rounding out the top five is solo kyaker Andrew Jillings, who arrived in Fort Selkirk at 11:51 p.m.

There are 14 scratches so far, including Whitehorse's Tim Hodgson and his partner Al Wissinger of Minnesota. The duo was tops in the men's tandem canoe category, and had actually left Carmacks at 6 p.m. before scratching just a few hours later.

Also among the scratched was tandem kayak One More Time, consisting of Utah's Ed Jager and his son Jim, who resides in Anchorage. At 73 years old, Ed was the most senior competitor in this year's YRQ. This was the third time racing the River Quest for both.

'The only real problem was hitting Laberge,' explained Ed, once they had withdrawn in Carmacks. 'The high winds and the rain were tough. Other than that, it was typical high water and bugs.'

The duo pulled out due to an injury, said Ed, adding his arm 'just exploded'.

'I don't know what happened. They put an ice bandage on my wrist at one of the check stations and that helped for a while.'

The father was thankful Jim picked up some of his slack and paddled them down the final stretch into Carmacks. While their goal was to finish the race, Ed didn't seem too disappointed. After all, there's always next year right?

'Oh, you're asking me too soon after the punishment and torture,' he laughed, before adding he still has plenty left in the tank.

Larry Seethaler is also confident he is far from done with the YRQ, even though he's already completed every single running so farincluding both Dyea to Dawson races previously.

The 64-year-old Anchorage native and his partner, Jan Nyboer, are paddling a tandem canoe and so far, said Seethaler, everything seems to be going well.

'There was some rough water at the beginning of Lake Laberge and our boat took on a bit of water, but after that the lake was pretty good.'

His years of experience certainly help as far as reading the Yukon River, he said, adding he feels confident out there. The key to success, he said, is having the right gear and the right weather conditions.

'The big unknown is the lake. Everything else you know by now.'

Seethaler doesn't have an actual goal for this year's YRQ. He's just going to keep paddling and not worry about who's in front of or behind him.

'I'm not going to fool myself that I can keep up with 20- and 30-year-old paddlers,' he stated.

While he hasn't actually seen any of the top four teams all voyageur canoes in action, Seethaler said he's heard they're 'like poetry in motion'.

Asked if he was surprised about the emergence of voyageurs over the past couple of years, and this year in particular, Seethaler said not really.

'The race is getting more well known, so the competition level has gone up. I think that will only continue.'

So what is it that keeps Seethaler coming back year after year?

'I love the lure of the Klondike and the lure of the Yukon. I think the river is just beautiful.'

Seethaler and Nyboer, aka Gertie's Waiting, had yet to reach Fort Selkirk as of 7 o'clock this morning. Thirty-two teams did reach the verbal checkpoint between Carmacks and Kirkman Creek.

The last team out of Carmacks, tandem kayak W.C. Squared, left the mandatory seven-hour layover at 4:13 this morning.

Also of note, Team RAFA, consisting of Mark Clay and Carl Beet, came close to scratching when they dumped their tandem kayak at a log jam outside of Carmacks, but they recovered nicely and decided to continue on through the rest of the race.

Once teams have reached Fort Selkirk, they head to Kirkman Creek for a mandatory three-hour layover, before paddling the final stretch into Dawson City.

The first team is expected in Dawson around 4 p.m. today. The 2007 YRQ will wrap up with an awards banquet on Canada Day, Sunday, in Dawson.

The Star will have full coverage of the Yukon River Quest finish in Tuesday's edition.