Rivanna River Regatta Charlottesville - Race Information

Announcing the 7th Annual Rivanna Regatta Kayak & Canoe Race, Saturday, May 12

2012-01-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

The 7th annual Rivanna River Regatta Canoe & Kayak Races will be held Saturday, May 12, 2012. Racers to assemble starting at 8:30am for registration. First race starts promptly at 10am.

Racers may be started together at 10am sharp or there may be several heats. Race Coordinator reserves the right to combine or eliminate categories depending upon the number of paddlers in each category on race day.

Where?
Paddlers assemble at registration/start line under the Route 29 bridge north of Charlottesville (just north of the DoubleTree Hotel/Sam’s Club on the upstream side of the bridge off Rio Mills Road.) Race finish line is 6.2 miles later at the boat ramp in Darden Towe Park on the east side of Charlottesville. First place paddlers may finish by approx. 10:45am. Awards ceremony will be held at Darden Towe boat ramp shortly after the last racer completes the race (estimated 12:30-1pm.)

Small entrance fee (watch website for updates.) All kayakers and canoers welcome. Race course includes Class II—II+ rapids. Paddle at your own risk. (Signed waiver forms required.) Public spectators welcomed and encouraged at the finish line at Darden Towe Park.

Please keep on eye on this site for more information and updates!

Rivanna River Race 2011 video!

2011-05-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

This was the 6th annual race held on May 14, 2011 in Charlottesville, VA. We thank everyone who came out to the event and look forward to next year. (Tentatively May 12, 2012) This year's event was the most competitive one yet with the top four finishers coming in less than 2 minutes apart!

Changes to this blog

2011-05-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

This space will now be reserved for information about the annual Rivanna River Canoe & Kayak Races only. If you wish to stay informed about local paddling or our informal group's Wednesday night outings, then join our Facebook Group or watch the feed of Twitter.com/RivannaHipSnap. If you are not familiar with us, we are a very informal group of Charlottesville-area paddlers who get together to paddle on the S. Rivanna reservoir on Wednesday evenings during the summer and we network with each other to plan other canoe and kayak trips. There is no membership and we encourage local paddlers at all levels to connect with us.

Rivanna River Race 2011

2011-05-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

A huge Thank You to everyone who ignored the weathermen and came out today for the 6th annual river race! The weather turned out to be perfect for a paddling race and the competition was fierce.

Let us know what ideas you have to make next year even better.

Tomorrow's races are still on

2011-05-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Race Coordinator is still planning to have the races as scheduled on Saturday despite the rain in the forecast unless there are thunderstorms with lightening in the morning. He'll reassess at or before 10pm tonight but as of right now is planning to carry on with the races as scheduled.

Rivanna River Regatta Canoe & Kayak Races Saturday May 14, 2011

2011-04-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

The 6th annual Rivanna River Regatta Canoe & Kayak Races will be held Saturday, May 14, 2011. Racers to assemble starting at 8:30am for registration. First race starts promptly at 10am.

Racers may be started together at 10am sharp or there may be several heats. Race Coordinator reserves the right to combine or eliminate categories depending upon the number of paddlers in each category on race day.

Where? Paddlers assemble at registration/start line under the Route 29 bridge north of Charlottesville (just north of the DoubleTree Hotel/Sam’s Club on the upstream side of the bridge off Rio Mills Road.) Race finish line is 6.2 miles later at the boat ramp in Darden Towe Park on the east side of Charlottesville. First place paddlers may finish by approx. 10:45am. Awards ceremony will be held at Darden Towe boat ramp shortly after the last racer completes the race (estimated 12:30-1pm.)

$10 entrance fee. All kayakers and canoers welcome. Race course includes Class II—II+ rapids. Paddle at your own risk. (Signed waiver forms required.) Public spectators welcomed and encouraged at the finish line at Darden Towe Park.

Contact for more information:
Merrill Bishop, Race Coordinator
Tel: 434-975-3072; Email: rambishop[at]aol[dot]com

Medals awarded in multiple kayak & canoe categories

Please help by right-clicking, printing and circulating the printable flyer (.pdf) for this event.

Announcing the 2011 Rivanna River Regatta Canoe & Kayak Races, May 14

2011-02-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

The races have been announced for May 14, 2011. Save the date and come back often for more details.

Also be sure to watch the video from last year's race:

The 2010 race video is here!

2010-09-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry this took me so long to produce but two videos, new computer, new video editing software, steep learning curve and....well...you get the drift.

Looking for local flat water during this dry spell?

2010-07-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Don't overlook the S. Rivanna Reservoir as a great, local place to paddle. Most people don't realize that it is as big as it is and that it provides 7 miles of paddling enjoyment from end to end.

2010 Rivanna Race Winners

2010-05-30T20:31:00.001-07:00

Categories announced for this Saturday's Race...

2010-05-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Awards ceremony will be at the Darden Towe boat ramp parking area at 1:30pm on Saturday. We invite the whole community to cheer on the paddlers as they cross the finish line and then stay for the awards ceremony. Bring a picnic lunch and make it a family event! The Rose of Nelson Batteau will be there... plus other surprises.

UPDATE #2: The Parent/Child race will be broken down into separate kayak and canoe categories.

* The Race Coordinator solely reserves the right to create or combine classes as it makes sense based on the number of paddlers and types of boats entered into this event.

May 8 canoe and kayak race is shaping up

2010-04-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

The agenda for the May 8 Rivanna River Regatta Canoe and Kayak races is shaping up.

A local outdoors retailer will have a 'demo day' at Darden Towe so you can test drive canoes and kayaks, The Rose of Nelson batteau will be on display at Darden Towe for your enjoyment and education, T-shirts and hats will be available along with light refreshments and the Elks Club (at the entrance of Darden Towe) will be hosting a separate car show that day. Come on out and join us at Darden Towe! Racers are expected to start crossing the finish line at ~10:45am and with several heats and classes they will continue crossing the finish line until at least 12pm so pack a lunch, take plenty of pictures to share with us and have a wonderful time along the friendly banks of the Rivanna River.

T-shirts and hats will be available on race day

2010-04-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

Rivanna River Regatta Canoe & Kayak Paddler t-shirts and hats are here and will be available for purchase both at the starting and finish lines of the May 8 race. These are high quality garments with the embroidered logo and will be selling for $15 each (cash only). All net proceeds will go to Mr. Bishop to help offset his costs/expenses for hosting this race (prize money, insurance, etc.).

The Rose of Nelson batteau returns for the May 8 Rivanna Regatta!

2010-04-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

The Rose of Nelson Batteau will once again work its way down the Rivanna River on race day and dock at Darden Towe Park this year or (if not enough water) will be on a trailer at Darden Towe Park for the day on May 8.

The Virginia Canals and Navigation Society will also have a table display to educate visitors about the batteau, canals and early river history and exploration in Virginia.

Come on out to Darden Towe Park on Saturday, May 8 to cheer on the canoe and kayak racers as they cross the finish line and learn more about this historic batteau. Bring the entire family because there will be other activities and displays to enjoy also. Pack a picnic lunch and help make this event a community-building and river appreciation event!

Interview with Merrill Bishop, Race Coordinator for the Rivanna River Regatta Canoe and Kayak Races

2010-04-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Rivanna Regatta Canoe and Kayak Race

2010-03-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

Promo video for the 2010 Rivanna River Regatta Canoe and Kayak Races in Charlottesville

The most technical portions of the river

The race route

The 2009 winners

More information regarding the May 8 canoe and kayak races

2010-03-31T18:41:00.000-07:00

This section of the Rivanna River is rated Class I + Class II by the American Whitewater Association and may reach Class II+ depending upon conditions on the day of the race. If you are unfamiliar with the River Classification System then you are strongly urged to become familiar with the classification system and weigh that against your unique paddling skills. Only you know your skills and what type of water you are capable of handling safely.

You are strongly encouraged to paddle the river prior to the day of the race to become familiar with it. If you join the Rivanna River Regatta Facebook Group then you will most certainly find other paddlers willing to join you for a recreational trip on this section of the river prior to race day. (One such group of paddlers will be doing this section of the river this Friday, April 2.)

You may also view the following video that shows the entire section of the river used for the race.

Organizational Meeting for Rivanna River Regatta 2010, Wed. 7:30p

2010-03-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

There will be an organizational meeting this coming Wednesday, March 31 at Aldersgate Church, 1500 E. Rio Road, Charlottesville at 7:30pm for any and all volunteers who wish to help out with this year's canoe and kayak races and/or those who wish to learn more so they can volunteer to keep this event healthy in future years.

Please contact Race Coordinator Merrill Bishop 975-3072 or RAMBISHOP{at}aol.com for more information or to RSVP for Wednesday's meeting.

The 2010 race is just a little more than one month away

2010-03-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

Help us promote the 2010 Rivanna River Regatta Canoe and Kayak Races by printing out some copies of the flyer and circulating them amongst any paddlers you know. The more the merrier. Let's make this year's race the biggest and best one yet!

Also be sure to tell your family and friends to come to Darden Towe Park on May 8 to cheer on the racers as they cross the finish line.

The 2010 Rivanna River Regatta Canoe and Kayak Race is coming May 8!

2010-03-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

The racers are coming! The racers are coming!

Join us on May 8 for the 5th annual Rivanna River Regatta Canoe and Kayak Races. There will be several classes of races for canoe and kayaks (solo and dual/tandem) ~~and a shorter, Youth (under age 14) race~~. (Under Age 14 race has been canceled.) If you just want to paddle the river during this time but do not wish to enter the race then by all means come on out, enjoy the fun and watch the racers wizz past you on the river. Spectators are welcome all along the race route but the best vantage point and most excitement will be at the finish line at Darden Towe Park.

Racers should start assembling on the upstream side of the Route 29 bridge (just north of the DoubleTree Hotel and Sam's Club) at 9am for check-in and registration. First heat starts promptly at 10am. More details can be found on the printable flyer.

May 8, 2010 Regatta Flyer with race details

2010-01-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

2010 Race Flyer

View as HTML

2009 Race Video is here

2009-06-15T02:17:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to join us Wednesday evenings during the summer at the boat ramp just above the S. Rivanna Reservoir dam at the end of Woodburn Rd., Charlottesville. We'll start gathering at 6pm and depart ~6:30pm for leisurely paddles to Twin Bridges and back for all age groups and skill levels. Some even pack food and call it dinner. If you bring chicken wings, however, the "water wings" joke has been heard waaaay too many times. Please resist the urge. :-)

Seeking photos and videos

2009-05-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

Please, please, please send in all photos and videos you have from any of the Rivanna River Ragatta Races. See the previous post (below) to see where to send them.

2009 Regatta photos

2009-05-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

OK, Paci to Pearls in her comment below made a good point about Regatta photos. Not everyone in the world is on Facebook nor necessarily wants to join Facebook so.... we coerced a gracious member into donating some server space to host photos from the event.

Please keep in mind that most of us paddle in the event so we do not take the pictures and there is no roving photographer for the event. This means that we completely rely on others to share their photos with us.

If you have photos from either this year's regatta or from any of the previous years', please send them to 'regatta [at] deervinehollow [dot] com', label them with the year they were taken and we will do our best to make them all available publicly.

Again, 2009 photos are found here.

2009 Official Race Results

2009-05-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

The weather cooperated this past Saturday and the water was at safe levels so the 4th annual Rivanna River Regatta & Races went off without a hitch.

The official winners are:

Open Class Solo: Dave Segars; Time 48:04 (winner for the 3rd consecutive year)
Open Class Dual: Dave Thomas/Conny Roussos; Time 50:41
Parent-Child: Dave & Ben Dolak; Time 55:07 (winner for the 3rd consecutive year)
Under Age 14: Casey Culp; Time 4:06

Winners of the 2009 Rivanna River Regatta & Races with Race Coordinator, Merrill Bishop

Official results and times

Thank you to everyone who participated and made this year's event a success! We had a total of 22 boats and posted record times.

Be sure to join the Rivanna River Regatta group on Facebook to stay in touch with other local paddlers year-round to organize trips, swap gear, talk paddling and just plain stay involved with the Charlottesville area paddling community. We also ask that everyone who took photos and video of the event please upload to the Facebook group.

Tentative date for the 2010 Races: May 8, 2010