Fourth-place win for Fraser, Robinson in Yukon River Quest

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Robinson is a member of La Ronge’s Pimiskatan Canoe Club, which he credited for some the success they had during the race. He was able to borrow canoes from there and did some training on McGibbon Bay before the race.

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Robinson and Fraser also did some training together on the weekends by completing 150-kilometre loops on Lac La Ronge and Nemeiben Lake to simulate what the race would be like.

The Yukon River Quest route travels through mountain ranges, as well as Lake Laberge. (submitted photo/Ragnar Robinson)

There was very little sleep for the duo, who completed the race in 48 hours and 15 minutes. (submitted photo/Ragnar Robinson)

“Since it is a race, the only time we got a break is when they had one mandatory checkpoint about halfway through the race at Carmacks, so there’s a 24-hour paddle from Whitehorse to Carmacks and then there’s a 10-hour break. From Carmacks to Dawson City, we paddled again. All the people who were competitive just sort of had to stay in their boats,” he said.

“We were paddling for about 24 hours at a time without any maps or breaks. It was a little bit hard to stay awake, but luckily I was in a two-person canoe, so we could take turns trying to take like a one-minute nap, but we didn’t get much sleep.”

Robinson also credited the canoe they used in the race for their success. It came from Martin Bernardin’s Kisseynew Canoe Company in Air Ronge. He uses materials like carbon fibre and Kevlar, so the canoes he produces weigh less than 40 pounds.

Bernardin himself entered the Yukon River Quest in 2008 with one of his canoes and he finished the race in a record-setting 39 hours and 32 minutes.

“A pretty good part of getting fourth place was Martin’s canoe,” Robinson said.

“An interesting fact is that his canoe was also the canoe of choice of the winning team and the winning voyageur team in the Yukon. His boats are definitely the fastest boats of choice for this race. It was awesome to have one of his canoes in the race.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno