MR 48 Canoe and Kayak Race and Tour Rules
General Rules:
In formulating the rules that govern this event every effort has been made to foresee all situations and problems that may arise, however, officials of Two Paddles, LLC (Two Paddles) 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, every effort will be made to notify all entrants. All decisions of the event organizers are final.
All participants are required to read and follow these rules. Failure to follow any rule may result in a time penalty or disqualification from the event. All participants are also expected to read and follow all information contained in the “MR 48 Paddler’s Guide”.
All participants or guardians of participants of Two Paddles events, must agree to the “Amateur Athletic Waiver and Release of Liability” and sign the form at check-in on the day of the event start. This waiver is required by the United States Canoe Association for participation in this event.
All participants are required to comply with any health guidelines issued by state, federal and/or local government that are in effect at the time of the event.
Participants must meet one of the following age requirements:
18 years of age by the date of the start of the event
16 or 17 years old so long as they are in the same boat with someone over 21 years old. The parent or legal guardian must sign the liability waiver for anyone under 18 years old.
11 years or older as of the date of the start of the event so long as their parent or legal guardian is in the same boat. The parent or legal guardian must sign the liability waiver for anyone under 18 years old.
All boats over ten feet must be registered in the state of Minnesota except watercraft currently registered in another state and not kept in Minnesota for more than 90 consecutive days, or a watercraft owned by a person from another state that does not require licensing of that type of watercraft and it is not within Minnesota for more than 90 consecutive days, or watercraft from a country other than the United States and not kept in Minnesota for more than 90 consecutive days.
The original craft must be paddled from start to finish. Participants cannot switch boats unless their boat is damaged and unable to be paddled; in the event this happens the participants will still be eligible to complete the event and be considered finishers but will not be eligible to win a divisional or overall award.
A space must be available on each side of the boat, close to the bow on which to affix your official boat number. Each team will be assigned a 4 digit number, listed on the roster. Participants must acquire and place their own numbers, and they should be 3 or 4” in height. Numbers made for displaying your address on your home or mailbox work well. If you do not want the numbers to stay on your boat permanently you can try putting duct tape down first and then sticking the numbers on top of the duct tape.
Per the Minnesota boating guide, when transporting your boat to and from the event, participants must clean all visible aquatic plants, mud and debris off their boat, trailer and other water-related equipment before leaving a water access or shoreland property. It’s illegal to transport prohibited invasive plants or animals, whether dead or alive. Drain water-related equipment (boat, ballast tanks, portable bait container, motor) and drain bilge, livewell and baitwell by removing drain plugs before leaving a water access. Keep drain plugs out and water-draining devices open while transporting watercraft.
Deliberate littering of the river is illegal. Teams must keep their trash in their vessel or go ashore to properly dispose of waste. Campfires must be completely extinguished.
Use of alcohol and/or mind-altering drug use is prohibited prior to and during the event.
All participants agree to appear in event-related photography, videography and media coverage.
Safety Rules:
All participants should understand that there are risks involved in this endeavor. Constant vigilance, clear thinking and quick reaction will be essential at all times. Participants must use good judgment to determine when they should take a break. All team members (participants and support personnel) enter this event at their own risk and will not hold this event’s organizers, judges, officials and sponsors liable for accidents to and or damage to any property.
All participants must wear a properly fitted, wearable (Type I, II, III) U.S. Coast Guard approved personal flotation device (PFD) while on the water. Failure to wear a PFD at any time while on the water may result in disqualification. PFD’s must be in serviceable condition. For more information on what is and is not considered serviceable condition, see the “MR 48 Paddler’s Guide”.
A) Inflatable PFD’s: Shall not be worn by non-swimmers or those under 16; shall be worn in the front at the waist as the manufacturer designed it AND must be inspected by the user prior to wearing including ensuring that it equipped with a properly armed inflation mechanism, complete with a full inflation cartridge and status indicators showing that the inflation mechanism is properly armed.
B) In lieu of wearing a USCG approved PFD, participants older than 13 years of age may wear an inherently buoyant form filled PFD which meeting International Organization for Standardization ISO 12402-5 as long as the competitor complies with the instructions printed on the PFD, securely wears the PFD, and has a USCG approved PFD in the boat as well.
A pealess whistle must be attached to each PFD at all times.
All participants must check-in with their boat and required safety gear and must attend the entire pre-event meeting at Clearwater Public Landing on the east side of the river in Clearwater, MN.
Event organizers may notify participants to require them to go to shore in the event of severe weather, but participants should on their own go to shore in the event of dangerous conditions. Per the National Lightning Safety Institute; if lightning is seen or thunder is heard, get off the water immediately and seek shelter. Thirty minutes after seeing lightning or hearing thunder, participants may proceed down the course.
In the event of an emergency all participants should call 911. In the event a participant needs non-emergency assistance, participants should call event officials (phone number will be given out at the pre-event meeting). If participants decide to quit before the end of the event they should call a friend or family member to come and get them; event officials cannot guarantee they will be available. However, assistance may take hours to reach you, especially in adverse conditions, and all participants need to be prepared to self-rescue and/or hike to find assistance if needed.
If a participant asks for your assistance in an emergency you are obligated to help them to the degree that you can without harming your boat or yourself.
Event Timing and Logistics:
Participants can choose between starting on the water or on land. Any participant opting for a water start must be able to hold their position above the starting line. Failure to do so will result in being disqualified from the competitive race divisions and being put into the recreational tour instead. See MR 48 Paddler’s Guide for more information.
The event will officially end at 5pm on Sunday or when the last boat has reached the Mississippi Point Park boat ramp, whichever comes earlier. The official end time for each boat will be recorded when the bow of the boat crosses the finish line. The finish line will be set up between a buoy and the shore or under an inflatable archway, near the boat ramp. Participants still on the Mississippi River after 5pm are electing to continue independently of the event.
A person's participation in this event ends when they have failed to reach the Mississippi West Regional Park checkpoint by 3pm or notified event officials they are withdrawing from the event, or either reached Mississippi Point Park before 5pm on Sunday or failed to arrive by 5pm. If any team elects to end their event before they reach Mississippi Point Park they must tell event officials of their decision either in person or by calling event officials. Event officials will determine when and/or where that team will pull off the river. Any team electing to continue downriver beyond the designated place and/or time is electing to continue independently of the event and unsupported by event officials.
In the event of inclement weather during the event or high or low water conditions or for any other reason, the course may be shortened or changed; start times, cut-off times and finish times may be altered.
Every boat must have a cell phone with activated cellular service that can be used to place an emergency call and reached by event organizers via phone call and/or text message. We encourage people to run the Webscorer app on their phone. This app will show the participant’s location so that event organizers, friends, family and support crew know where they are at on the course. See the Paddler’s Guide for more information about Webscorer. Cellular service is generally available along the event course for most carriers but there may be areas of low or no signal.
Checkpoints and cut off times; all participants must arrive by the cut-off times listed:
Checkpoints: Cut-off times:.
Mississippi West Regional Park (boat ramp) 3:00pm Sun.
Mississippi Point Park in Champlin (finish line) 5:00pm Sun.
There are multiple boat ramps (including for example, Snuffie’s, Norin Landing/Kadler Ave., and Mississippi West Regional Park) that provide the opportunity to stop and take a break.
Propulsion Rules:
Each event craft must be propelled exclusively by paddle power (double or single blade) and/or pedal power while on the water. No sail or kite is permitted.
There are no restrictions on the use of electric bailers, outriggers, or any particular type of paddle, canoe covers or decking except for specific rules related to the USCA-defined Stand Up Paddleboard divsions (see Division rule below).
Boats may be removed from the river by participants for breaks, repairs, or illness/injury but must re-enter the water at the point of exit. If participants skip any portion of the course they are disqualified and may be barred from future competition.
Participants are allowed but not required to have a support crew. Support crews are allowed to resupply the participants from shore only. One support crew may serve multiple teams.
Outside assistance (such as from a motorboat or any craft not in the event) that provides intentional aid in the forward progress of a event boat is not allowed. This includes towing, wake riding, deflection of wind and “rafting up”. However, wake riding and wind deflection between the boats in the event is allowed. No towing of event craft is permitted unless a participant is helping another participants get to a ramp or checkpoint to leave the event due to a medical/safety issue.
In order to make forward progress, participants and their boats must remain in the water except in the case that they need to get out of their boat to move it forward for a short period due to shallow water. Participants may take any channel of the river.
A participant may quit and the remainder of the team may continue on, still in the same division. In the event a participant quits their original team they can rejoin further downstream but the team will no longer be eligible for divisional or overall awards. Also, if a participant decides to join a different team during the event, the new team will not be eligible for division or overall awards.
RELAY RULES:
Relay teams may paddle solo, tandem or team boats. All relay participants are in the same division regardless of what kind of boat you are using or how many people are in the boat. The same boat must be used the entire time. Your relay team must have a minimum of 2 people. The relay course is divided into four sections. You must stop at each of the three official relay checkpoints. At each checkpoint you must switch out all paddlers; no paddler can paddle consecutive sections. However, a person can paddle one section, skip the next and return. You cannot change paddlers anywhere other than at the official relay checkpoints.
Clearwater Landing to Snuffie’s Landing (checkpoint 1): 9 miles
Snuffie’s Landing to Norin Landing/Kadler Ave. (checkpoint 2): 14 miles
Norin Landing/Kadler Ave. to Babcock Park (checkpoint 3): 7.6 miles
Babcock to Mississippi Point Park (finish line): 12 miles Must arrive by 5pm
Divisions:
Divisions:
NOTE: Event organizers reserve the right to combine or divide divisions for any reason.
Solo men: any boat paddled by a single man
Solo women: any boat paddled by a single woman
Tandem men: any boat paddled by two men
Tandem women: any boat paddled by two women
Tandem mixed: any boat paddled by one man and one woman
SUP Unlimited Male (see note below)
SUP Unlimited Female (see note below)
Team 3+: any boat paddled by three or more people.
Recreational Tour: A non-competitive division open to all genders, boat-types and numbers of paddlers. No trophies given but participant’s are eligible for a finisher medal. Must still meet cut-off times and finish by 5pm on Sunday.
SUP Unlimited Divisions: These are USCA defined division. As such, any boat can enter this division but must meet the following regulations:
It must be paddled in a stand up position and with a single blade.
Skegs or rudders may be used on the bottom or stern unless they are designed to extend the waterline of the hull shape.
We have created a Gender Policy to help provide guidance so everyone can participate:
We will accept each person’s decision to sign up for any given division at face value, and no supporting evidence is required.
Two Paddles has adopted this policy out of the desire for inclusion and fairness. As such, we expect all parties to behave in a manner that is honest, compassionate, and respectful. We will not tolerate hateful or discriminatory behavior by any of our participants, or those associated with the event, regardless of the cause.
We plan to periodically review this policy to be sure it is up to date and equitable. Please contact the event directors at info@twopaddles.org if you have any questions, comments, or feedback.
Required Gear:
Minnesota DNR Mississippi River maps 8 & 9
Personal Flotation Device (PFD) for each paddler that must be worn at all times when on the water
Pealess whistle attached to each PFD
Mobile phone. Phone should be kept in a waterproof container.
Spare warm clothes in a dry bag with you in your boat
Rain gear
Water: see “MR 48 Paddler’s Guide” for more information
Food: see “MR 48 Paddler’s Guide” for more information
Recommended Gear:
Extra batteries and/or charger with charging cord for the mobile phone that is in the boat
Warm hat (winter hat)
Garbage bag
Toilet kit: toilet paper, trowel
Extra paddle
Knife
First aid kit
Matches
Sunblock/sunscreen
Hat
Sunglasses
Footwear that can get wet
Duct tape/ boat repair kit
Bailer and/or manual bilge pump