Nestled in the southern alps of France lies the incredible Ubaye Valley and one of France’s premiere rafting destinations. This watershed is famous throughout Europe for its powerful rapids and committing gorges. With its headwaters at the Col du Longet over 8700 feet above sea level, on the Italian border, the Ubaye River is one of the few raftable free flowing river sections left in France.

Often considered one of the most beautiful in Europe, it offers ten sections of class II to class V- whitewater on over 31 miles of whitewater. The Ubaye runs unhindered for nearly 50 miles before it is impounded by the Serre-Ponçon reservoir. Flow on this river varies between 7000 Cubic feet per second in spring to just under 200 CFS in summer. Prime season . . . → continue reading . . . The Ubaye – gem of the French Alps
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Firstly you need to have some idea of how many teams will be going to the Euro and/or World Champs from your country. Then you can put those numbers into this formula below and follow the steps.

WRC: Open teams: $230 x number teams = WRC: U19,U23,Masters teams: $130 x number teams = ERC: Open teams: $130 x number teams = ERC: U19,U23,Masters teams: $70 x number teams = TOTAL =

Once you have calculated the TOTAL you can go onto Step 2 below:

If you are an Established Member:

– and the TOTAL is less than $550 – you will pay $550 – and the TOTAL is more than $750 – you will pay $750. – and the TOTAL is between $550 and $750 you pay the TOTAL

If . . . → continue reading . . . How to calculate your IRF Membership Fees for 2018
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Is there anything better than the new EC season starting with a new river and a new country placing herself on the EC Competition map? EC Romania 2018 – Dracula race, over the weekend of 14th-15th April, brought together twelve teams from Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania, along with 10 kayakers, in Nehoiu city on the Buzau River.

Slalom was the first discipline to run and in the Open Men category team “Vointa Arad” (flat water kayakers) passed the more experienced “MOE” team and took first place. The two ladies teams from Bulgaria: “Adventure Net – Atom Kozlodui” and “NSA” battled for first and second places, leaving the only Romanian team “ Outdoor Events Ladies” in third place.

. . . → continue reading . . . EC Romania 2018 – Dracula Race
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With the new H2H format being introduced there is an option for organisers to choose what direction the rafts will be facing at the start. This option was included as sometimes the usual method of pointing the rafts downstream is harder to set up exactly evenly. Sometimes, as at WC Yushu in China in 2016, having the rafts start facing upstream in eddies on either side of the river can work perfectly.

To ensure teams know which start method will be used organisers must choose their option well ahead of time. We can therefore announce to you that for this year the options for these events is as follows:

Figure 1 IRF Instructor Tsering Chotak IRF workshop India 2018

By Mark Hirst

I am commonly advised from reliable sources that British kayaker Peter Knowles introduced throwbags to the market on a wide scale with his green slime throwbags back in the 1980s. Before this time people made their own throwbags ranging from rope stored in an empty plastic bottle to a tennis ball with a length of rope attached to it. These were the tools you used to rescue your fellow rafters or kayakers when they had taken a swim

As with any sport our technical understanding of new techniques & materials has rapidly changed over the past 30 years.

I myself partly owe my livelihood to the throwbag. I spend day . . . → continue reading . . . Choosing the correct throwbag (a helping hand!)
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Two great events on offer this (Northern Hemisphere) Summer!

China is hosting two IRF events this Summer – both are subsidised and offer great prize monies. Summary details below – the Ziyuan Rafting Festival is now open for registration!

Ziyuan Rafting Festival

The Wupai River (home of the 2016 Guilin IRF World Cup) will be host to four days of racing and include raft racing, SUP and dragon boat racing! An event not to be missed!

R4 Raft racing will be in Open Men’s and Open Women’s categories only. Up to 15 international teams are invited to participate (minimum 10 teams required). Racing will be in accordance with IRF Category C Race Rules. Total prize pool is approximately $24,000 USD!!!

This event is an “invitational event” – . . . → continue reading . . . China welcomes raft racers from across the globe
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The world of rafting reals in shock at the sudden loss of well renown rafter, Andrew Mazurkiewicz, better known to most as Maz.

Maz passed away in Cairns Base Hospital on Sunday 8th of April 2018, failing to recover consciousness after he was taken off life support.

“The shock of Maz’s sudden acute illness and rapid deterioration from the man whom we knew as our strong, smart, articulate, progressive leader to one that has been taken from us and is still so hard to comprehend.” – Australian Rafting Federation Facebook page

Maz was a passionate and skilled riverman, the first guide . . . → continue reading . . . RIP Maz – gone too early, the world of rafting is poorer without you
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Having trouble working out what age group you are in for our divisions? Here are a list of ways you can work it out to see if you are eligible for the 2018 year:

You are OLD ENOUGH to compete in the Open division in 2018 if you:

YOUTH – you are eligible to compete in the U19 division in 2018 if you:

JUNIOR – you are eligible to compete in the U23 division in 2018 if you:

The first complete guidebook about Altai whitewater for kayakers and rafters by Anton Sveshnikov has now being brought out in English!

In this Whitewater Altai guidebook you can find all you need to make your kayak or raft trip in this Russian region:

Read more ….

Alexey Shirokov, President of the Russian Rafting Federation, has this to say about the area . . . → continue reading . . . Altai white water guide book now in English!
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A Judges course will be run during the 2018 Euro Rafting Championship in Slovakia. Anyone keen to do the course should email IRF Admin.

The details are:

Dates: 2 – 7 July (same dates as the ERC)

Place: Event Headquarters, ERC, Slovakia

Cost: $US30 to be paid to Instructor on the first day of the course. This is a once off payment.

Schedule and what is expected of you: