ERC Georgia, May 22-28, 2017

• Expected river flow               250 cms
• Hardest river rapid (s)           class 4
• Water temperature                15 Celsius degrees. Please dress accordingly.
• Air temperature                     18-22 Celsius degrees

Hazards to pay attention to:

On land

• Road traffic in Georgia is generally fast, reckless to the western eye and potentially dangerous for pedestrians.
• As the river flows at the side of a heavily transited national road, the teams and spectators must mind the traffic at all times and avoid walking along the road or cross the road if possible.
• For Sprint, H2H, Slalom and the training days Teams will use only the river right bank to move between Finish and Start locations.
• At the Start locations the teams are requested to stay in the designated pedestrian areas.
• Team vehicles, if any, will be parked in the designated parkings only.
• Teams are not allowed to use boat transport vehicles for carrying people.
• The river banks are steep and rocky with fast flowing current close to the bank.
• To avoid falling in the water the spectators must use the designated Spectator Points.

In water

• The Mtkvari river is 20-40 m wide, fast flowing and has only a few rocky sections to be concerned of.
• Most dangerous river features are water features – surface holes, hydraulics, boils or wave trains.
• Hardest consequences to expect are raft flips with short underwater downtime and potentially long swims.
• Organizers may require proof that the registered Competitors have the ability to perform self-rescue.

Safety rules

• Competitors and/or Teams must have the following minimum self rescue knowledge and demonstrative skills:
  1. Re-righting a flipped raft quickly and unaided.
  2. Climbing onto/into a raft unaided.
  3. Passive and aggressive swimming techniques in fast flowing white water.
  4. Awareness and understanding of all risks involved in raft racing.
• The Safety Team is entitled to require adjustments on a Competitors personal equipment, their position in the raft and their set-up to meet safety requirements. Failure to follow the Safety Team’s instructions or requirements may result in penalties or disqualification from a discipline or the Event.
• PFD`s with less the 50 N buoyancy will not be accepted.
• Teams training on the river before the competition will do so at their own risk.
• Event organisers take no responsibility, nor will provide any logistic help or provide safety covering outside the official competition schedule.
• Each participant will have an accident insurance provided by one of the event sponsors.

Teams can address safety questions to:

• Mihai Mares – Safety Director
• +40722415407

Competitors take part of the ERC 2016 at their own risk.

Neither the IRF, nor Event sponsors, nor Organizers or Race Officials assume responsibility for accidents or damage that may occur during a competition. Every participant, including the Event Staff and Competitors, is obliged to act in a safety conscious manner at all times so as to minimize the risk of an accident or damage.