Rafting

The CloudTimer app is very good for rafting races. It can handle all disciplines of sprint, slalom, head-to-head and downriver. It is easy to set up a competition on line and have real time and detailed results the moment the raft crosses the finish line. In slalom the gate judge module can be used, for the head-to-head rafts can be started simultaneously and in the downriver, multiple  split times can be shown to keep the race exciting for the followers anywhere.

Characteristics of White Water Rafting

Rafting races have individual starts to begin with in the sprint event. The sprint event determines the pairs for the head to head. Head to head races  are held in a knock-out system. The winner of each pair is proceeding to the next round, until the last two teams battle for first place in the final.
In slalom 8 to 14 gates have to be navigated in two run. The fastest run including penalties is used for the ranking. A gate touched adds 5 penalty points to the time, a gate missed of navigated in the wrong direction adds fifty seconds to the time. In the downriver event 4 to 8 rafts paddle a course of 20 to 60 minutes. Sometimes a Le Mans start is used.

For all stages in the event, points are given in order of ranking. In the sprint a maximum of 100 points can be won, in the head to head 200 points, in the slalom 300 points and in the downriver 400 points. The following teams will receive a percentage of this points declining by their position in the stage ranking.
To check all scores and to handle protest and inquiries, an online dashboard is available for the race management. Changes can be made by the race management, even after the app closes the race or run. To manage the race, volunteers and the devices used, several levels of access are possible. The points and ranking system for the multiple stages and rankingsSplit times are sometimes used and it is possible especially in the downriver event. In some cases it is a good idea to use a split timing point to train a new timer or to be used by the speaker to update the audience on site. To keep the race organisation simple, just use one smartphone at the start and one at the finish. If there are enough volunteers and devices, it t good to have some extra split times taken.

Have a look at this competition with canoe slalom, downriver and rafting (slalom and sprint): Results
or a full result competition.

Go ahead and start you competition1

After reading through the manuals and when you know the basics about CloudTimer, you can now start your own competition. As we are passionate about rafting as well, we prepared an excel sheet containing macros to export the start list to CloudTimer and import the stage results to generate the overall standings. With the provided instructions, you should be able to have a rafting competition without our help.

Download overall standings Raft race format_Cloudtimer

If you do have questions, do not hesitate to ask: support@cloudtimer.nl