If I don’t have an opportunity to paddle I try to compensate by watching some racing videos. Open water racing is always exotic for me living in Colorado.

Rambo is an outrigger canoe racer and innovative video maker from Australia. It is worth to surf through his blog Rambo’s Locker – a lot of great video clips and technical stuff. He also runs a forum for users of Go Pro Hero cameras.

Below I selected three recent movies from his production – open water racing in Australia. You can watch them in a full screen mode, just move away a little bit from your computer monitor.

Nice shots of surfski racers in action with a wide angle Go Pro Hero camera.

Row For Cancer – 2009 from Ocean Sports Media on Vimeo. 4th Annual Health Foundation Row For Cancer.

If you still need more ocean paddling on your screen visit Ocean Paddler TV.

Now, I am ready for a paddling workout. Perhaps, I should also put my Pentax Optio W30 into work and shoot some video.

Related posts:
Zsolt Szadovszki and Carter Johnson Side by Side on Surfski
Training with Huki SX-1 Surfski and a Hungarian Kajner Wing Paddle on Video
1000 m Sprint in Huki SX-1 Surfski – Video Clip from Training for Texas Water Safari

With this issue, we are hoping to introduce many of our readers to the world of open water racing. If you are like me, you are landlocked and don’t know ebb from rip.

The racing world is large and varied, which is wonderfully illustrated by the fact that open-water racing is contested on surf skis, outrigger canoes, paddle boards, sea kayaks and a host of other platforms.
….
Dan “Osprey” Grubbs

This year I decided to paddle Surfrigger, my outrigger canoe. Connie drove with me to Missouri and provided land support.

Surfrigger (24′x13.5″, ~28lb) built by John Diller from Savage River Works arrived to Fort Collins in the very end of January 2003. This solo outrigger canoe designed by Kris Kjeldsen, a New Zealand designer and has won many races in that area and in the west coast, also suitable for fast cruising and expedition races: A very light and stiff carbon/kevlar lay-up, rudder, the small volume cockpit with sprayskirt. Two small hatches allow me to do some light overnight paddling. I am paddling her on local waters in Colorado. I also paddled her during WaterTribe Everglades Challenge 2003 in Florida. Surfrigger is an interesting platform for photography and videomaking providing very different shooting angles: Surfrigger and Surfrigger II video clips.

A front deck of my Surfrigger with a deck bag and Garmin Etrex Vista GPS mounted with the sticky pod

Start. 9:30. The start was delayed by thunderstorm with heavy showers. I launched Surfrigger at a tip of Kaw Point. The boat ramp looked pretty crowded. I had about one hour to warm up and shoot some pictures before the start.

There was plenty of room on the Kaw River for all boats, but it got pretty crowded after the start when entering the Missouri. I had some problems with my Surfrigger to not get reduced to a monohull.

A. 16:13-16:19 Lexington checkpoint. Non stop paddling. I only approached a shore at Fort Osage without stopping to get an icebag from Connie .

B. 19:37-19:47. Waverly checkpoint. It was not easy to deal with Surfrigger at busy boat ramps.

C. 00:19-01:13. Miami checkpoint. I didn’t find Connie at the boat ramp. After a few minutes of waiting I carried the boat to the top of the ramp and started calling and searching. Finally, I found Connie sleeping in a tent. I wouldn’t recognize a tent without our “team captain” chair in front of it. Two hot dogs later I was back on the river.

D. 07:16-09:36. Glasgow checkpoint. Beautiful full moon night. I had to wait for Connie at the checkpoint. I tried to take a nap under big trees, but it didn’t really work.

E. 14:24-15:51. Franklin Island below Boonville. Our traditional meeting place in addition to official checkpoints. Finally, I was ready for short nap. It is a good river access spot, but there is no restrooms there.

F. 20:09-20:23. Coopers Landing checkpoint. Just a quick stop to resupply. Pad thai in a box to go. Typically, I wasted much more racing time by staying at Coppers. A few miles later I had a short maintainance stop to prepare for a night paddling.

G. 0:06-4:01. Noren. Another full moon paddling. I slept about 3 hours in a tent setup by Connie.

H. 11:26-11:36. Hermann. It was a nice morning on the river, but the Missouri was really slow below Jeff City (Osage River) in comparison to the previous year.

I. 14:53-15:36. Dandee. I was getting really sleepy in the afternoon. When I saw a sandy spot on the shore I decided to stop. When landed I recognized my familiar beach at the 76.5 mile where I spend a half hour shooting pictures during the first MR340. The place looked much better with some trash cans. I took 30 minute nap and started to enjoy paddling again.

J. 18:33-18:41. Klondike. The last checkpoint. That checkpoint was at Washington in 2007 and at Weldon Spring in 2008. The checkpoint shouldn’t be confused with the Weldon Spring campground which is a little bit upstream from the boat ramp (showers and kitchen!).

I was hoping to finish the race during daylight, but I had another few hours of full moon night paddling when approaching St Charles.

Finish. 22:41. St Charles. 61:11 hours (50:13 of active paddling time). 12th of 94 registered, 90 starters, 64 finishers in the men’s solo class. Race results.

My race speed as recorded by GPS (black line) and smoothed by running average (red line)

Some observations:

• 2009 MR340 offered the best ever full moon night paddling. The weather was generally good, except, the big thunderstorm at the start. The river was pretty high at Kansas City, but significantly lower and slower below Jeff City in comparison to 2008 conditions.

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• I had my fastest time this year: 1 hour faster than in the previous year with a faster river. However, I didn’t accomplish my goal which was to finish below 60 hours.
  

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• Surfrigger worked pretty well for the race. It is wide and a long boat (24′) with an under stern rudder. As expected I had some challenges to land on narrow and overcrowded boat ramps, especially, during the first day, but it wasn’t too bad. This boat doesn’t turn easily. I had to put some extra efforts to approach landing spots with big eddies behind wing dikes (e.g., Franklin Island or Coopers landing).
  

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• I used a single blade paddle, light ZRE Power Surge, the same one I used in 2008 with Sea Wind. It is a fairy small paddle, 8″ wide. I was afraid to use my wide “outrigger” paddle (9.5″) due to uncertain condition of my elbow.
  

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• Could I use double blade paddle with Surfrigger? I believe that a rear ama in Surfrigger is placed much closer to a cockpit than in e.g., Huki outrigger canoes. It makes difficult to use a kayak paddle. Nevertheless, it is possible with a modified shorter stroke. A shorter paddle helps. My 212 cm Quickblade wing feels too long. I had some success with an adjustable wildwater Legend wing which I could make a few cm shorter – about 0.5 mph of gain in speed. However, it would require a lot of practice and a lighter paddle for a long race.
  

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• I added some extra padding to the Surfrigger original seat. I also tried the foam bumfortable seat which I am using in my Thunderbolt and Sisson kayaks. It didn’t work so well. I was afraid that the seat with high edges and back would make more difficult to remount the capsized canoe. The seat worked OK, but I ended up with some pain in my left hip/butt. Obviously, when tired, I started to put more weight on ama than usual and pressed my hip against cockpit coaming.
  

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• I didn’t use a spraydeck for my cockpit during the race. There was really no rough water. I didn’t have an opportunity to use my storm cag either. I used to have some water at the cockpit bottom from getting in. I neglected to dry it out and my feet in water shoes stayed wet all time. It didn’t bother me during the race, but caused some problem later – blisters from walking around St Charles.
  

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• It was not easy to open my venturi drain due to mud collected at the cockpit bottom. Additionally, to make this drain to work it is necessary to speed up well above 6 mph which I wasn’t very eager to do later in the race. I should just keep a sponge more handy.
  

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• I paddled all nights without using any lights except mandatory navigation lights and a tiny keychain LED light tied to a life jacket and used inside the boat. I also took a bike HID light, but I never turned it on. It was ready to use mounted on top of my deck bag. I also had a harness to use it as a head lamp.
  

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• Surfrigger as all outrigger canoes has a really narrow hull (15″). So, packing and resupplying may be somewhat tricky. I didn’t test the full equipped boat before the race and I had some little surprises which made my paddling, or at least resupplying, less efficient.
  

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• In last three races I used a hybrid life jacket, Kokatat SeaO2. It is light, quite comfortable and well ventilated. I was wearing it all time.
  

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• According to the MR340 race rules: “15. Each racer must wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved life preserver at all times while on the water.” I had some mixed feelings watching many racers not wearing life jackets, even, at the start. I believe that this rule should be either enforced (e.g., by time penalty) or relaxed. Sorry, guys …
  

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• I had some injury problems during last two years: DeQuervain’s syndrome in my wrist in 2008 (ended up with surgery last winter) and some elbow problems this year. They both affected my training for MR340 races, but, after warming up, I didn’t experience any troubles during actual racing.
  

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• After four MR340 races in four different boats it is time to revise my old post
  How to Choose a Boat for an Ultra Marathon Race? The Case of Missouri River 340

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I have got several questions about my Surfrigger experience in MR340 race. I tried to answer them above. Please let me know if you have more questions.

Could you share your experience with paddling an outrigger canoe in long distance races?

Big Muddy sunscreen – my race number on my outrigger canoe ama still well visible after removing the tape.

Here are a few tips for Team Captains (land crew) and paddlers in long distance races like Missouri River 340, based on my experience. They are, perhaps, most appropriate for paddler/ground-crew-spouse combinations. Of course, every couple is different, so be your own best judge as to how to do things. Also, I’ve only been part of a “one-solo, one ground crew” team. It’s always been Marek in the boat and me alone on the shore. I’m sure that larger teams have their own dynamics.

1. Paddlers, please provide your ground crews with as good driving directions as possible. Don’t expect that your spouse will do this by him or herself. Not everyone lives, eats, sleeps and breathes MR 340 as you do. Weird, I know, but there it is.

2. Ground crews – you will get lost. It’s ok, don’t panic. Just persevere and you’ll eventually find your way there. If all else fails, as you near the river and can’t find the access point go downhill. I think it was Daniel Boone that said, “I’ve never been lost. Sometimes I’ve just been very confused for a few days.” Also, the more tired you get, the harder it gets to find the access points. Expect to take some wrong turns and try not to blame yourself or anyone else.

3. Ground crew drivers – rest as well as you can and try not to drive when you are sleep-deprived. As important as this race is, it’s not worth running down somebody’s child in your car because you are too tired to keep one eye on the map and one eye on the road. Each of us has a remarkable brain which allows us to function while parts of it are actually asleep. Try to avoid this. Would you ever forgive yourself if you killed somebody with your car? Make plans with your paddler before the race about where and when you will sleep, taking into consideration how long it takes to make and strike camp, that you may have to park some distance away from your camping site (especially at busier checkpoints), that driving takes longer than it seems like it should, and so on. This will undoubtedly add to your race time, but it’s the price of being a responsible human being.

4. Dad Paddlers, reconsider whether you really want your wife to take care of the kids while also being your ground support in the race. Any effort made to take care of the kids will take energy that could otherwise be used to take care of you. Being ground support is truly exhausting. Even such a small thing like keeping up the ice supply is hard – I went through 90 lbs. of ice for Marek’s last race, and that was just for one solo paddler and one camping ground crew (me). If you want the kids to be part of the experience, try to have at least one adult to take care of you and one adult to take care of the kids.

5. Ground Crews – try to eat healthy foods during the race, also monitoring your electrolites and water intake. It is tempting to just stop at fast food places to eat, or to just eat the Boy Scout hot dogs sold along the race course. I’ve found, however, that I get through the races much more happily if I eat healthy foods during the race. Except for Dairy Queen – I love Dairy Queen.

6. And finally, if you as ground crew, arrive to a checkpoint a little late and have to choose between a) staying at the car to get the stuff ready to bring to your paddler, or b) meeting your paddler when he or she arrives at the bottom of the ramp, go to the ramp now and then go back to the car after you meet up to resupply. Marek tells me that the most important thing for him is seeing someone there waiting for him. It seems that the moral support is more important to him than fresh water. It’s best to have everything there and ready or course, but getting lost or over-sleeping – these things can happen, and it’s a real downer for a paddler to reach a boat ramp expecting to have their ground team there and find themselves alone and uncared for.

7. I like to have a couple of extra bottles of water or Gatoraide in the cooler during the hot parts of the day, ready on hand for paddlers who have arrived at a ramp and find themselves without their expected crew. It seems to really cheer them up while they’re waiting for their bank crew to find them. Unlike Water Safari, we’re allowed to do this in the MR 340 and I think it really adds to the camaraderie of the race.

I hope these suggestions help to make the race experience as good as possible for both paddler and bank crew.

Connie
Team Captain: 4 x TWS, 4 x MR340

Related posts:
Adventures of a Team Captain – 4 Years of Texas Water Safari in Retrospect
12 tips for Team Captains and 10 Tips for Paddlers Starting in Texas Water Safari

Yesterday night, me and Connie returned back to Colorado from the 4th Missouri River 340 Race. 272 boats entered the race. The start was little different this year due to morning thunderstorm with heavy showers. Otherwise, the weather was great with beautiful full moon nights.

I paddled Surfrigger, my outrigger canoe and completed the race in 61:11 hours, a few hours longer than planned. I believe I was 12th of 94 registered, 90 starters, 64 finishers in the men’s solo class. 340 miles by boat, 2200 miles by car.

This is my first post related to the 2009 MR340 – some pictures from the Kaw Point – a confluence of Kaw and Missouri River with a Kansas City skyline. I will be writing more about the race. I haven’t checked my GPS track yet, neither pictures shot by Connie.

August 2, 2009. A quiet Sunday evening at the Kaw Point with a skyline of Kansas City and a silhouette of Lewis and Clark. 36 hour later, many racers including myself launched their boats just here from the very tip at confluence of Missouri and Kaw Rivers. The moon is getting full specially for the race.

The Kaw Point boat ramp is still occupied by fishermen, but first racers are showing up for some test paddling

August 4, 2009. 8:07. Waiting for the the race start. The start was delayed by one and half hour due to thunderstorm.

Wet racers are gathering along the right shore of Kaw River across the boat ramp

A beautiful skin-on-frame kayak

Two Thunderbolt kayaks are moving to a start line

David and Will Anderson warming up. They were the overall winners in 38:59 hours.

Los Humungos Paddleos

I could not help myself and shot this “environmental” picture. It reminds me my visit to the Dundee beach at mile 76.5 during the first MR340. I stopped at the Dundee this year again and took a short nap there. The spot wasn’t really clean but looked much better with a garbage can.

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Well, I believe that you really don’t need a GPS to navigate the Missouri River during the race. There are markers with river mileage on shores. There are easy to find even at night with a flashlight. Usually, you are aware of your position on the river within a mile or so. Official race checkpoints are difficult to miss – a crowd of people and boats, MR340 signs, flashing lights at night. I worry that it may be difficult to land at some checkpoints crowded during the first race day with 280 boats. I am sure that a narrow boat ramp at Miami will be a favorite one for my long and wide outrigger canoe …

Garmin Etrex Vista GPS with suction cup mount (sticky pod)
and a tether (!) on deck of Thunderbolt-X kayak, 2007 MR340

Of course, it is good to have a GPS during the race and I am using one. I carried the same device during first three MR340 races – Garmin Etrex Vista. How I am using it?

1. Motivational device

This is a primary function of my GPS. I am displaying my speed in big numbers like in the picture above (other numbers are time of day and distance traveled).

I can also display a route – a set of subsequent waypoints including official checkpoints, boat ramps, landmarks or some occasions to celebrate like 100 miles traveled. I can check the distance (in a straight line) to the next waypoint on my route which may be good for my morale (or not).

2. Night or low visibility navigation

At night or in a fog I usually display my position on a map (topo maps from Garmin MapSource) and I am trying to figure out where the navigational channel goes and where to expect wing dikes.

3. Emergency

When you have to find other places on the river than checkpoints your GPS may help. I wouldn’t find Weldon Spring boat ramp at night during 2007 race when it was not a checkpoint. Of course, in the case of a real emergency providing your exact position to a rescue team may be really important.

4. After/before race analysis

You can learn a lot about your race analyzing your GPS track, checking your speed and progress. You can geotag pictures if you take any and start planning for the next year race.

Can you think about any other applications of GPS during the MR340 race? Texas Water Safari or WaterTribe Everglades Challenge may be a little different story, but the #1 still applies.

Related posts:
My Experience in Three Famous Ultra Marathon Paddling Races
Speed: My 2008 Missouri River 340 Race as Recovered from a GPS Track
3 Years of the Missouri River 340 Race

Jeremy Rodgers with his JKK Supernova at the finish of 2007 race

Annual race on the Colorado River from Dotsero to Hanging Lake Rest Area in Glenwood Canyon
10 miles class I $10 per person entry fee
Date: August 23, 2009 (Sunday)

Registration will begin at 7am at the green bridge at Dotsero. Take I-70 to exit 133 and follow the frontage road to the river. Shuttle will leave shortly thereafter and the race itself will begin approximately 8am. Please pay the $10 per person with cash. PFD’s must be worn while racing.

Race classes will vary depending on who shows up, but are generally:
Solo canoes
Tandem Recreation/ Touring Canoes – canoes under 18′
Tandem Cruiser Canoes – canoes 18′ and longer
Solo Recreation/ Touring Kayaks – kayaks under 17′
Solo Sea/ Cruiser Kayaks – kayaks 17′ and longer

We’ll add $500 to the pot for prizes, prizes for each class are $100 + entry fees split 50-30-20 to 1st, 2nd and 3rd

There is also a prize drawing with over $500 in merchandise after the race, we put all racers names in a hat and draw for prizes. The first name gets to choose from anything in the prize pool, second name chooses anything not yet taken and so forth.

This is a fun race, even if you don’t win you’ll probably still win something.

For more information contact
Eric Nyre, CanoeColorado.com

Related posts:

Slide show: Colorado River Race
2008 Colorado River Kayak and Canoe Race in Glenwood Canyon
2007 Canoe Colorado Race in Glenwood Canyon – More Rapids with Opened Shoshone Dam
10 Mile River Race in 60 Seconds – Thunderbolt Kayak in the Glenwood Canyon
10 Miles on the Colorado River into Glenwood Canyon – Dotsero Race
Valley Kayaks Rapier 20 and WSBS X-par Missile: Can I Fit My Butt into a Narrow Racing Kayak?
Pentax Optio W10 as Kayak Cam on Colorado River in Glenwood CanyonPentax Optio W10 as Kayak Cam on Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon
Glenwood Canyon – Kayaking and Inline Skating along the Colorado River
2002, 2003, 2005 Photo Reports and Results at Mountain Wayfarer
1984-2008 Colorado River Race Results by Jerry Nolan

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Texas Water Safari (TWS) … WaterTribe Everglades Challenge (EC) … Missouri River 340 (MR340)

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2006 WaterTribe Florida Ultimate Challenge

12 years ago, after paddling folding kayaks for more than 20 years, I got my first hard shell boat. I built a stitch-and-glue 19.5 Patuxent from CLC, perhaps the fastest kayak available for home building at that time. Racing? No, I just wanted to travel fast by water to some remote photography destinations.

A couple years later I was surfing the internet looking for winter paddling opportunities on Padre Island. I have never gone paddling there. Instead, I discovered the Texas Water Safari. Hours of watching video tapes produced by Pat Spencer, three visits to Texas including the 2001 race and two boats later I ran my first paddling race: 2002 TWS. I was hooked.

Since then, I have completed the Texas Water Safari three times, entered three WaterTribe events and finished one Everglades Challenge, completed three Missouri River 340 Races, and several shorter events from 10 to 100 miles.

How can I compare these three ultra-marathon paddling races? Which one is the toughest, the most challenging?

The distance to be covered by the racers seem to be quite similar. All three races run non-stop with mandatory checkpoints. You need to be prepared to paddle day and night, and paddling conditions can change drastically with the weather. TWS and MR340 are river races while EC is a coastal race with longer timeframe.

Everybody has a different story and experience. I am not a competitive athlete. My goal is just to finish the race, competing mostly against myself. My additional challenge is to shoot pictures and video when racing. The perspective of Carter Johnson, who paddled all three races in a surfski setting a solo record every time, would be quite different.

2001 Texas Water Safari: a portage over the old Rio Vista Dam

History …

TWS, “the World’s Toughest Canoe Race”, has been organized since 1963, following the 30 day expedition by Frank Brown and Bill “Big Willie” George. More than one hundred boats enter this race each year. There are also other river marathon races organized on different segments of the TWS course.

EC, “Adventure in Small Boats”, was created by Steve Isaak (aka “Chief”) to promote expedition style racing in kayaks, canoes and small sailboats. Everglades Challenge has been run since 2001. Other challenges have also been organized including Lake Michigan, Cross Florida and Ultimate Florida Challenge, as well as shorter racing and training events. Typically, around 30 boats show up at the start of the Everglades Challenge.

MR340, “the world’s longest non-stop river race”, organized by Scott Mansker and team at RiverMiles.com is three years old. In this short time the race grew up to 250 boats expected at the start this year.

Race course …

TWS. 260 miles from San Marcos to Seadrift, 100 hours time limit, 10 checkpoints. Small, spring fed river with numerous portages over dams and log jams, strainers, some rapids (San Marcos), then more open river (Guadelupe), and, finally open water of San Antonio Bay. No other river traffic, just racing boat congestion at the start and first miles of the San Marcos River. River access, especially, along the Guadelupe, may be muddy, steep and difficult. The race starts on the 2nd Saturday of June.

EC. ~300 miles, from Fort Desoto to Key Largo. 8 days time limit, 3 checkpoints. Coastal tidal waters of Florida, many choices for race course between checkpoints, several long open water crossings, ship channels, heavy traffic along Intercoastal Waterway, Everglades National Park.

MR340. 340 miles on the Missouri River from Kansas City to St Charles. 100 reduced to 88 hours time limit, 8 checkpoints. A big navigatable open river with strong current, wing dikes, buoys, floating debris at high water, some barge traffic, no portages. The race takes place at full moon in July/August.

2007 MR340: Race start at the Kaw Point

Race format and support …

TWS. All gear and supplies except water and ice must be carried. Each boat has to have a team captain whose responsibility it is to follow the team by vehicle to keep track of their location and condition and give them water and/or ice – it is a real team effort. For a single, sleep-deprived team captain, driving from checkpoint to checkpoint, the TWS is a quite challenge. No other help from land support, spectators or other racers is allowed.

EC. Self supported expedition format. No land support or any prearranged help is allowed. However, you can buy supplies. 24 hour reporting rule.

MR340 is the river race like TWS, but is more liberal concerning the land support. Many forms of land support are allowed, or you can paddle self-supported in the expedition style. It is possible to buy water, sandwiches, or even hot food at most of the checkpoints.

2006 WaterTribe Ultra Marathon, Everglades and Ultimate Florida Challenges: The start at Fort Desoto

Exposure to nature and elements …

You will be really dirty and wet most of the time during TWS. You will have a good chance to encounter local wildlife in the form of snakes, spiders, fire ants, mayflies. Proper body maintenance in these conditions is essential and, perhaps, more important than in other races.

In MR340 and EC you can stay away from land, so your exposure to these natural elements will be much lower. These races are much cleaner than TWS. They can be just pure sweat. If you choose to paddle inside the Everglades be prepared for mosquitos and other bugs.

Every body of water has some sort of fish (like the alligator gar in TX or Asian carp in MO) that may jump into your boat resulting in an injury (and in dramatic stories after the race). My nicest experience was to paddle with dolphins across the Florida Bay.

2005 TWS. A nice green logjam on the San Marcos River below Luling

How far away it is?

You are lucky if you are living within the area of one of these races, as you will have a real advantage in training, scouting the course and racing. I consider driving from Colorado to the race as a part of each challenge: EC (Tampa) 35 hours, TWS (San Marcos) 18 hours, MR340 (Kansas City) 10 hours. EC is the most difficult for me, while MR340 feels like my backyard. I also need some time for acclimatization to local conditions. Hot and humid Texas is always the most challenging for me. The only case when I ran into serious troubles during a race was due to a poor execution of that driving/acclimatization phase.

A local knowledge and scouting the race course is the most important for TWS in my experience. I started my paddling almost 40 years ago on a big river in Poland, so the Missouri with wing dikes and barges feels quite familiar to me. My experience in sea paddling is really limited. And, indeed, EC provides me always pretty tough time.

Boats …

You can take almost any boat for a river race. TWS favors lighter boats, especially for solos, which are easier to portage and drag over obstacles. A boat for a coastal challenge needs to be seaworthy and safe. Minimalist designs by Matt Layden like his 13.5’ Rob Royoid kayak prove that very simple and small boats can satisfy those conditions and even be faster than sea kayaks. The risk of damaging or destroying your boat is the highest in TWS. Most of paddling boats in WaterTribe challenges are equipped with some sort of sailing rig.

I paddled a Spencer X-treme canoe in both TWS and MR340 events and a Sea Wind Canoe in both EC (with Pacific Action downwind sail) and MR340, and tried Surfrigger (outrigger canoe) in my first EC. I also completed the MR340 in Thunderbolt-X kayak, but I really prefer the seating comfort of a canoe for long endurance races.

EC is more expensive than the river races due to safety equipment requirements (EPIRB/PLB, VHF radio, cell phone, signaling kit) and navigational aids (maps, GPS)

A Tribe …

All three races have something important in common which provides a strong motivation to participate. There is a growing community of racers, organizers, supporters and fans around each race – a kind of tribe. You can expect exchange and sharing of information both online in discussion forums and during actual paddling and training. River tribes of TWS and MR340 are quite similar, with TWS having, of course, a much longer tradition. They both include local communities and many paddling enthusiasts along the race course. The WaterTribe challenges, where racers are dispersed over a large area and are traveling different routes, are different in this respect. You can see all racers only at the start. The demographics of EC, which includes sailors, is also a little bit different.

There is some overlap between tribes. It is really interesting to see Texas exporting racers, boats and ideas to Missouri. Many WaterTribers, especially the Kruger’s boat clan, are starting to participate in the MR340.

2003 TWS. Spectators, racers, and team captains at Westerfield Crossing

The MR340 may be the most forgiving race for a beginner. However, it really depends on your racing goals, preparation and planning. Each race provides some unique challenges. What is more dangerous: hitting a barge on the Missouri, a strainer on San Marcos River or a manatee in Florida?

Related Posts …

Texas Water Safari – Reports, Pictures, Video Clips
Adventures of a Team Captain – 4 Years of Texas Water Safari in Retrospect
2007 Texas Water Safari in a Surfski by Carter Johnson – I. Race and Boat, II. San Marcos and Guadelupe, III. Finish and Solo Record, How to Sit in Water and Paddle a Surfski for 260 or 300 Miles
WaterTribe Challenges
How to Choose a Boat for an Ultra Marathon Race? The Case of Missouri River 340
GPS/Photo Race Log from the 2006 Missouri River 340 Race
Speed: My 2008 Missouri River 340 Race as Recovered from a GPS Track
3 Years of the Missouri River 340 Race