Texas Water Safari Race Rules

Texas Water Safari Rules

1. All team members (entrants) and team captains will enter this race at their own risk and the Texas Water Safari Corporation and its judges, officials, and sponsors will not be liable for accidents to personnel or damage to any property or equipment.

2. The minimum age to race any team event sponsored by the Texas Water Safari Corporation is 13 years of age. You must race with an adult in the boat and an adult must remain in the boat for the duration of the race. A parent or legal guardian must be present to sign a waiver of liability for all minors.

The minimum age for any solo classification sponsored by the Texas Water Safari Corporation is 18 years.

This rule applies to anyone wishing to race in any of the following races:

The Texas River Marathon
The Barrier To the Bay
The Texas Water Safari
The Jr. Texas Water Safari

3. Each team that enters the Texas Water Safari must have a team captain. The team captain must be at least 18 years old. The team captain must make contact with his/her team at each checkpoint or notify the race officials why this required contact was not accomplished. The team can be disqualified if its team captain fails to make this contact, fails to enter it on each Check In/Out sheet, and/or fails to know, at all times, the team’s location (between which consecutive checkpoints).

4. Only human muscle powered propulsion of boats will be permitted.

5. All members of a team must travel together in the same boat/canoe and under the same regulation. Should a team member be forced to, or elect to, drop out of the Safari for any reason, the team member may not reenter or be replaced. Relays in any form are prohibited.

6. The team captain must report to the Race Chairman or Head Judge as soon as his/her team, or a team member, drops out of the race and sign them “Out” at the proper checkpoint.

If a team drops out of the race, the team captain will sign his or her team out at the checkpoint where the team stopped, or if between checkpoints, at the next downstream checkpoint. If, due to an emergency, you cannot get to the next downstream checkpoint, the team captain should contact a race judge via the ham radio operator, or a TWS Judge in Seadrift 361-785-5500. Give him your team’s boat number, name of team members, where they dropped out, and the time they dropped out. This information prevents wasted energies and/or a needless search for a “lost team”.

It is the team captain’s responsibility to inform race officials when the condition or whereabouts of the team is in serious doubt. It is then the Head Judge’s decision when, or if to initiate rescue effort.

7. All provisions, equipment, and items of repair must be in the possession of each team and listed on the check-in sheet at the beginning of the Safari. Nothing may be purchased by or delivered to an individual or team during the entire Safari except under Rule #8.

8. Only the team captain can give his team fresh water during the race. He can give them only containers of water and/or ice. Items used to help the team captain make this exchange may not be left in the boat (this is to prevent littering or any other use of bags or other containers). Water with a temperature above that of ambient air (artificially heated water) is prohibited. The team captain may convey water to his team in any manner except by boat or canoe.

9. Teams shall not receive help or assistance of any kind (except verbal) during the Safari.

10. Entrants shall have their designated boat number affixed to both sides of the bow of their boat. This boat number shall be at least 4” in height and shall be composed of up to four Arabic numerals without leading zeros. Entrants will be given the number of their choice provided it is not already taken. Applicants requesting a previously allocated number will be required to make another selection. It is the responsibility of the entrant to provide their own boat numbers.

11. Canoes must have adequate flotation to float the canoe and gear and a white light for night travel.

12. Each team is required to have a first aid kit, a snakebite kit and an efficient signaling device (whistle).

13. Each entrant must have in his or her possession a properly sized, Coast Guard approved, life preserver (pfd) and must wear it crossing the bay (INFLATABLES MUST BE INFLATED). Racers who have lost pfd(s) may be given a replacement at the last checkpoint, but will be assessed a penalty of at least 15 minutes for each pfd replaced. Racers found in the bay without a pfd for each person in the boat may be DISQUALIFIED. Racers found in the bay not wearing a lifejacket will be assessed a penalty of at least 1 hour for each violation.

14. Teams are required to carry three (3) Coast Guard approved red aerial flares with a current expiration date. These flares must satisfy all Coast Guard day and night signal requirements. Solo paddlers must attach said flares to their person (e.g. to a belt or life jacket) while crossing the San Antonio Bay. These flares are to be used to signal for aid only in life threatening situations. Use of the flares for any other purpose shall be grounds for disqualification.

15. Use of two-way communication devices is illegal, however they may be carried in the boat to signal for aid in life threatening situations. They must be in a sealed bag (not a re-sealable bag). Use of these devices may be grounds for disqualification pending a decision by race officials.

16. Entrants will be subject to spot checks at any time by judges or officials whose decisions will be final.

17. Teams must negotiate over, around, under or through all obstacles from the originating point in San Marcos along the entire length of the rivers and bays to the finish line in Seadrift. For any “shortcut” to be legal, it must have a flow of river water through it. Overland portages are not allowed except where necessary for log jams, dams, or bridges. Teams are required to exit the river immediately above each obstacle and return to the water immediately after clearing the obstacle. Use of Ottine Dam by support personnel is strictly prohibited.

EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE (places where river or bay water flows, but which are still illegal) are:

The left channel around Thompson’s Island below the road bridge.
The “Cornfield Cutoff” and Blue Bayou cuts below Hwy 59 near Victoria, mentioned above.
The Victoria barge canal and the boat cut between San Antonio Bay and the barge canal.

18. The coastal portion of the race shall be that part of Guadalupe and San Antonio Bays from the mouth of the Guadalupe River to the finish line in Seadrift, Texas. Lifejackets must be worn crossing the bay (inflatables must be inflated). In case of stormy weather or high wind, teams should follow the shoreline to Seadrift after crossing to the east side of Guadalupe Bay. Contestants may row, paddle, walk, swim, carry, or drag the boat from the east side of Guadalupe Bay to the finish line. They may not enter the Victoria barge canal and, if they choose to carry, they must follow the shoreline (i.e. no shortcuts).

19. Intentional interference with another team’s progress will be grounds for disqualification.

20. Pace boats or canoes (i.e. crafts that are paddled or powered that follow or lead Safari entrants for the purpose of “keeping a team up” or conveying water) are illegal.

21. Deliberate littering of the river is grounds for disqualification. Teams should keep their trash in their canoe and hand it over to persons on the bank.

22. At no time shall a team have more than one designated team captain.

A team captain may have to be replaced by a substitute at some point during the race. If a substitution is planned, the race judges should be notified in advance. If something develops during the race, ONE substitution is permissible, but a race official must be notified at the earliest opportunity. The substitute will complete the race as team captain. At no time shall a team have more than one designated team captain.

23. In formulating the rules that govern this event, every effort has been made to foresee all situations and problems that might arise; however, officials of the Texas Water Safari Corporation retain the right to change or amend these rules at any time without liability or recourse from any party regardless of the circumstances. Should such changes or amendments be made, all entrants will receive notification of same.