The world’s greatest exponents of white water rafting have been fine tuning their skills this week in and around Rotorua ahead of the elite and masters World White Water Rafting Championships which blast off tomorrow (Thursday) at Okere Falls near Rotorua.

Last weekend the Under-19 and Under-23 titles for men and women were fought out at Kawerau and Rangitaiki and this weekend the big guns will battle it out over four disciplines – the Sprint, the Head to Head, the Slalom and the Down River as they fight it out for gold medals in the individual discipline and overall honours.

New Zealand has crews in both the Men’s and Women’s Open category and the Men’s and Women’s Masters category and all four crews are hungry for success after a curtain raising gold medal apiece for the Under -19 and Under-23 women last weekend.

The Kiwi women’s Open crew is one of the hot favourites for honours whilst the elite men will face the best crews in the world – including the current champs Japan – and will hope extensive knowledge of all three stretches of river – the Tarawera, Okere (also known as the Kaituna) and the mighty Rangitaiki will give them a home advantage.

The event begins Thursday with the Sprint race at Okere Falls. The Head to Head will take place at that venue on Friday, the Slalom and Global Waterhouse Festival takes place on the Tarawera at Kawerau on Saturday and the competition concludes with a 45 minute Down River race on the Rangitaiki at Murapara.

SCHEDULE

• Thursday 21 November 2013 - Senior/Masters Sprint – Okere (Kaituna) 10am-4pm
• Friday 22 November 2013 - Senior/Masters Head to Head – Okere (Kaituna) 10am-4pm
• Saturday 23 November 2013 - Senior/Masters Slalom – Tarawera 10am-5pm
• Sunday 24 November 2013 - Senior/Masters Down River – Rangitaiki 10am-3pm

The rules of World Championship Rafting

Rafting competitions consist of four disciplines – the Sprint, Head-to-Head (H2H), Slalom and Downriver. The points earned in each discipline are added to determine the Overall winner and final positions. Each team has 6 members with the option to have a reserve.

The Sprint is a hard, fast, short burst of speed for the teams. It is ideally over a fairly short distance and is about 2 to 3 minutes of hard paddling for 10% of the overall points. It is always done first, cannot be on a Class 5 rapid and teams are set off one by one, hence racing the clock and not each other.

The H2H (Head to Head) is without doubt the most visually exciting discipline as it is pitting two teams together in a fast paced sprint for the finish line. It is ideally over a shortish distance but must be through a rapid, normally taking teams about 2 to 3 minutes to run the course. The two teams are set off together with the team having the best time in the Sprint being given lane choice. Although the race organisers always try to have the lanes as even as possible this is not easy as a river is so dynamic and changing river levels can also create problems. Ideal locations for a H2H have more than one line through the course allowing teams to overtake. It counts for 20% of the total points and is an elimination race in which pairs of teams race down a section of powerful rapids. The winner of each heat proceeds to the next round and eventually just 2 teams will remain for the Final.

The Slalom is the most technically challenging event and counts for 30% of the total points. This event demands a high level of technique and teamwork to negotiate the rafts through 12 downriver and upriver gates in powerful rapids. Touching, failing to pass or intentionally moving a gate results in a penalty. Each team runs the course twice and their best time is used to determine the results.

The Downriver is the star event and is worth 40% of the total score. The race is close to an hour of racing along of a section of continuous and powerful rapids. Technical ability and endurance are essential elements to ensuring a good position in this event which is crucial for the teams that aspire to win the Championship. The points earned by the teams in the previous events determine their position in the starting line-up in groups up to five rafts.

Links

• Daily event video reports of around five minutes in duration can be found here.
• Event website: www.2013raftingworldsnz.com