The 13th annual Yukon River Quest will feature 73 teams from 10 countries when it starts on June 29.

The Yukon River Quest is one of the longest canoe and kayak marathons in the world.

Except for two mandatory rest stops totaling 10 hours, paddlers race non-stop over approximately 740 kilometers (460 miles) to Dawson City.

Held annually in the north during the last week of June (around the summer solstice), it is a true "Race to the Midnight Sun” where many of the world's best paddlers gather.

Ten countries are represented in the 2011 field: Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Japan, Latvia, Great Britain, Sweden, and the USA.

The 2011 race purse will be $23,791 (CAD) based on a final registration of 74 teams as of the end of May (one team has dropped).

There are overall cash prizes for each class – tandem canoe, tandem kayak, solos and voyageur canoes – as well as prizes for the top three in each division.

There are also cash prizes for the top all-Yukon canoe and kayak teams, and the top First Nations team.

Several special awards are also donated by Yukon sponsors. But most of the 185 paddlers on the 73 teams are just aiming to get to Dawson and be awarded a coveted YRQ finisher pin.

The 2011 YRQ will have stiff competition in most categories:

• Solo canoe (C1): nine teams – This class has really grown this year. Defending champ and C1 record holder Gaetan Plourde of Ontario will defend his title against Yukon veteran Tim Hodgson and a host of other challengers, including C1 guru Joe "Bumbazer” Evans from Oregon.

• Solo kayak (K1): 11 men, three women – The women's race will feature Yukon veterans Kam Davies and Ali Morham going up against Sharon Colley of England. On the men's side, look for Yukoner Jason Doucet and B.C. veteran Chris Spoor to be challenged by the most international class of the race led by veterans Shaun Thrower from the UK and former Olympian Heinz Rodinger from Austria. Also paddling this year is 78-year-old Yukon outdoorsman Murray Martin.

• Tandem canoe (C2): 11 men's teams, 12 mixed, one women's (which will compete in the mixed class) – The canoe class this year has no returning champions or clear favorites, but count on the Anchorage, Alaska mixed team of Larry Seethaler and Brenda Forsythe to be competitive. Seethaler has never missed a race. Dave and Scott McGee from Alberta also have a few YRQs under their belts, as does the Yukon team of Pauline Frost and Jody Linklater. The only women's canoe team, Danika Andersen and Lauren Olding of Ontario, will compete in the mixed division, per YRQ rules that state there must be at least two teams in a division.

• Tandem kayak (K2): seven men's teams, seven mixed teams, one women's team (which will compete in the mixed class) – Sisters Lisa and Karla McGee of Lethbridge, Alberta will be a tough team to beat as the only women's team competing in the mixed class, where they will run up against last year's second place team of Mike and Teri Buck from Alaska, an experienced team from Washington, Mike Massey and Melissa Park, and a team from Lativia. In men's kayak, it's anyone's race as only a couple of the teams have YRQ or marathon racing experience.

• Voyageur canoe (VC): two in the open class; three mixed, and six women's teams. The Texans (2007, 2009 and 2010 champs) are back with their usual crew of Texas Water Safaris veterans and will be the favorite to lead the pack. They will go up against the "Sons of Superior” from Thunder Bay, Ontario. On the mixed side is a competitive Yukon crew "Sausages & Mussels” captained by Daniel Girouard, and "Team Skagnificent” from Alaska captained by race co-founder Jeff Brady and a new team from Vancouver Island, B.C., "Skookumchick”. The women's field will feature three veteran teams: "Paddler's Abreast” from the Yukon, "Team WHOA” from Toronto and the Yukon, and "Loonies Les Femmes” from Alaska, along with teams Alberta and Ontario.

The race organization invites spectators to gather in Rotary Peace Park and along the waterfront on the morning of June 29 to witness the spectacular start.

The racers line up for introductions at 11:30 a.m. with the historic SS Klondike looming in the background. Then the race horn blows at 12 noon and the participants run a short distance to their boats. Watching all the colorful boats leaving Whitehorse is truly one of the most spectacular sights in the north.