Always looking for new, fun ideas, the concept of Raft Cross has been around for a while –

for example the Teva Mountain Games 2012. It is a concept used in a number of other sports, like Ice Cross, Kayak Slalom Cross, and was introduced to the GoPro Mountain Games held in Vail last year.

It is an excellent spectator sport as it is easy to follow and, since ramming is allowed and tactics are essential, exciting to watch!

Wadi Adventure has decided to hold a Raft Cross event during the World Rafting Champs and so encourages all the paddlers to prepare to enter teams – this can be done at Registration.

So how does Raft Cross work?

• Each raft has 2 people only.
• It is a head to head race with 4 boats (or 5 or 6, depending on the course) starting simultaneously.
• First raft (or 2 rafts depending on numbers and start group sizes) to cross the finish line then advances to the next round.
• There is only 1 category – so competitors can “mix and match” their team any way they want to – men and women, juniors with seniors, even 2 people from different countries.
• The elimination rounds proceed until only 4 boats are left and then they will compete for the final victory.
• To make the race even more interesting there will be some obstacles on the course, like flags they have to touch, gates they have to pass, along the way.

So grab this chance to paddle with someone from another team and come have some fun on the Wadi Adventure course!