Yukon River Quest paddlers lucky to recover stolen gear

A team of Alaskan paddlers almost had to quit the Yukon River Quest, before the race had even begun. Thieves broke into the team'struckthe night before the race, stealing much of the paddlers'gear.

"The screens had been slit open, and alot of our stuff had gone missing," saidA.J. Conley ofTeam Alfred E Paddlers.

She says the thieves made off with "a lot of personal gear," including sleeping bags, food and a spray skirt that was custom-madefor the team's voyageur canoe.

"Michael Yee out of Skagway designed it. A ton of work, 50 hours of work wentinto it, so basically you could do the race in the amount of time it took him to make the spray skirt," saidConley.

Within hours, RCMP found most of the stolen gear at a Whitehorsecampground, and the localpaddling community also ensured the team was fully equipped for the intense, 715 kilometer river race.

"Just an amazing response," saidConley.

"It's pretty magical that our spray skirt just ended up in the bushes right where it was stolen from," added racer Cory Thole.

Team 'Alfred E' launched in the mass start at noon Wednesday. A total of 155 paddlers in 58 teams are now making their way to Dawson City.

Thole and histeammates expect to reach Dawson City by midnight Friday.

"It's going to be a bit more mellow than our morning, and the last couple of days," he said before hitting the water.