Raft racing consists of teams of 4 or 6 people working together to manoeuvre an inflatable raft down the white water course, with each person having a different role to play to ensure your boat gets to the finish line safely. There are now two international competition formats: the Classic Format and the Adventure Format
Most races consist of 3-4 disciplines:
Sprint: The purpose of the sprint is to complete a course in the shortest possible time.
Head to Head (H2H): The Head-to-Head (H2H) competition is conducted in a paired, knock-out elimination format, in which two teams race simultaneously along a course marked with designated navigation markers. with both teams required to paddle upstream around these markers. There are normally 4 to choose from, with each team needing to navigate their way around one on both the left and right hand sides of the river.
Raft X (RX): The RX competition is conducted in a paired, knock-out elimination format, in which two teams race simultaneously along a course marked with designated upstream and downstream gates Both teams are required to complete 2 upstream and 2 downstream gates, with a miss or foul meaning additional penalty gates need to be completed.
Slalom: . Each team must navigate their way through a number of upstream and downstream gates that are placed along the rapids trying to avoid touching the gates with either the raft or the crew. Penalties are given for missed gates and touches.
Downriver: The Downriver race is all about a team’s endurance. It lasts between 30 – 60 mins of constant paddling down the river navigating both flat sections and rapids.
