The Estonians have returned to take another shot at winning the Yukon River Quest (YRQ). 

This time, instead of a full team, they only have one entry, the Estonian Vikings, in the Tandem Canoe (C2) category. 

For Martin Ilumets and Marek Lindmaa, this is their first foray into competitive canoeing. 

The last time they raced in the YRQ was in 2022, when they finished 28th overall and fifth among Tandem Kayaks (K-2). 

Ilumets raced in his first YRQ in 2018. 

Last year, they raced in the Yukon 1,000 with different K-2 partners, with Lindmaa finishing fourth overall and Ilumets coming in eighth overall. 

The Yukon Star spoke to the tandem at the YRQ Meet and Greet last evening at Mount McIntyre. Ilumets explained the appeal to the race for his country’s people. 

“This is our culture and our nature; it’s massive and very interesting. That’s why we’re coming here. The race is very well-organized. The river is huge for us because we don’t have these kind of rivers.” 

Ilumets said they have a few goals. 

“It’s a race, but we do it with no stress. Of course, we like to go fast, but first time on the canoe; let’s see what happens.” 

Having said that, Ilumets joked, “Of course, we’d like to win.”

Ilumets said you race to win, but if you don’t win the race, “you win yourself.” 

He said they’ve done a lot of training for the race. 

“The weather is promising and everything is good.” 

He also said, “Warm greetings to the local people and arrangers of this marathon.” 

Ilumets also mentioned they’re planning on entering the fledgling Yukon 2,000 next year if that race gets off the ground and into the water. That race would go from Whitehorse to the Bering Sea. 

Lindmaa admitted to feeling a little bit nervous, but not anxious about the YRQ. 

“I think it’s gonna be a great adventure because it’s a new boat for us and we haven’t paddled very much, maybe less than a year, so it’s a quite (a) challenge for us.” 

They’ve only been in one competition, the Võhandu Marathon, a 100 km race in Estonia, in which they managed to roll the canoe. 

Ilumets said, “Swimming is a part of canoeing. If it happens, it happens.” 

Lindmaa added, “You get used to it …. I love this place. It’s grown on me. I don’t know why, but I want to be back every summer.” 

There is also an Estonian paddle boarder (in Stand Up Paddle board or SUP), Martin Reinberg of Team Freedom Riders, entered in the race. Reinberg now lives in Canada. 

This is Reinberg’s first time in the YRQ and he said he was “a little nervous.” 

He added the biggest challenge will be staying awake on his paddle board. 

Ilumets and Lindmaa met Reinberg for the first time at the Meet and Greet. 

Regarding that meeting, Ilumets remarked, “The world is very small”. 

The Quest, featuring 178 paddlers on 76 teams from 12 countries, will start at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Rotary Peace Park in Whitehorse.