Boatercross

The Boatercross is an exciting blend of down-river racing and roller-derby, all in playboat.

Date and Time

Sunday, July 12th at 3PM

Event Location

Participants will meet at the Feeder Canal at 3PM.  The closest available parking is at Lock 6 on Clara Barton Parkway; however, this is a small parking lot.  Additional parking is available at Lock 5 and in Brookmont.  Please arrive early to make sure you find a spot.  If you choose to park in Brookmont, PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.  The residents are friendly to boaters and we'd like to keep it that way.
The race will be held in the Feeder Canal, Z-Channel, and/or Little Falls depending on the river level, the number of participants, how much time we have left, and the capricious whims of the event organizer.

Classes

There will be separate classes for K-1 and C-1, men's and women's.  It takes 3 competitors to make a class.  Encourage your friends to participate so there will be enough competitors to make a class!

Boat length

7'0 and under.

Course Description and Rules

The course will be determined by the event organizer and explained at the competitor's meeting.

The exact format of the race is TBD, but here are the rules from last year to give you a general idea:

When announced by the Starting Judge, each heat of 5 racers will line up side by side, bows facing downstream.  The start will be a "rolling start" so that when the Starting Judge determines that all racers in a heat are lined up evenly, he/she will immediately announce "GO" as the start of the race.  (Note: since this is a "head-to-head" style race, timing the racers is not required.)  When lining up competitors, the Starting Judge may ask racers to "Back up" or "Move Forward" to ensure that the boats are lined up and nobody has an unfair advantage.  Racers should pay close attention to the Starting Judge, as he/she may announce "GO" at any moment after deciding that the boats are lined up evenly.  Any racers who fail to respond to the commands of the Starting Judges orders may be disqualified from the event.

Each heat will finish before the next one begins.

The top two finishers from each heat will advance to a second round using the same course, and so on, until 4 or 6 racers remain (depending on the number of people who enter, and subsequently, the number of heats).  These 4 or 6 finalists will race to decide the overall winner.

When the top two finishers of a given heat are identified by the Finishing Judge, they will be required to follow the instructions regarding who they will be paired up with for the next race.
Each competitor must act as safety boat at the bottom of the rapid for the 2 competitors following them.

Contact

Contact the event organizer, Scott Anderson, if you have any questions.