BUILD YOUR OWN BOAT (BYOB) RACE
Date: Saturday, July 22, 2023
Start Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Green Gate, ¼ mile west of 1st Street Bridge
Registration: On-line or at Centennial Park Registration Tent by 4:00 pm
Check-in: Registration tent by 4:30 pm, then be at Green Gate by 4:45 pm
Cost: $100 refundable deposit per boat
Participants: 3 to 5 per boat
Age Limit: 18 & older, 16 & 17 year old minors allowed with a waiver signed by parents or guardian
Description: The BYOB Race will start at approximately 5:30 pm at the Green Gate along the Arkansas Riverwalk Trail, ¼ Mile west of the 1st Street Bridge. Boats will begin with staggered starts. Boats need to check in by 5:00 pm at Green Gate. The race ends when boats reach the Whitewater Park. A minimum of three crew members per boat is required with a maximum of five. Crew members must wear life jackets and helmets that will be provided. All crew members must remain on the vessel throughout the entire race. Rafts must be no more than 6 feet wide and short enough to fit under bridges. Commercial rafts, raft parts, hulls of canoes or kayaks cannot be used. No enclosed tops are allowed. No parts powered by anything other than human power are allowed. For example, homemade paddles or even pedal style boats are allowed, while anything with a motor is not. Everything on your boat must be homemade, nothing off a raft or boat may be used. No rafters can be seated at or below the water line. Rafts must be kept in the water at all times. Only homemade sails and paddles are allowed. No unsportsmanlike conduct is allowed between boats.
Start Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Green Gate, ¼ mile west of 1st Street Bridge
Registration: On-line or at Centennial Park Registration Tent by 4:00 pm
Check-in: Registration tent by 4:30 pm, then be at Green Gate by 4:45 pm
Cost: $100 refundable deposit per boat
Participants: 3 to 5 per boat
Age Limit: 18 & older, 16 & 17 year old minors allowed with a waiver signed by parents or guardian
Description: The BYOB Race will start at approximately 5:30 pm at the Green Gate along the Arkansas Riverwalk Trail, ¼ Mile west of the 1st Street Bridge. Boats will begin with staggered starts. Boats need to check in by 5:00 pm at Green Gate. The race ends when boats reach the Whitewater Park. A minimum of three crew members per boat is required with a maximum of five. Crew members must wear life jackets and helmets that will be provided. All crew members must remain on the vessel throughout the entire race. Rafts must be no more than 6 feet wide and short enough to fit under bridges. Commercial rafts, raft parts, hulls of canoes or kayaks cannot be used. No enclosed tops are allowed. No parts powered by anything other than human power are allowed. For example, homemade paddles or even pedal style boats are allowed, while anything with a motor is not. Everything on your boat must be homemade, nothing off a raft or boat may be used. No rafters can be seated at or below the water line. Rafts must be kept in the water at all times. Only homemade sails and paddles are allowed. No unsportsmanlike conduct is allowed between boats.
Build-your-own-boat race rules
- Everyone is welcome to take part in this event, except for professional river guides. (referee discretion)
- All boat owners must transport their boat to and from the river. Owners are responsible for all flotsam and gear adrift. Keep the river clean!
- NO Pre-Manufactured Boats. The boat must be made by the competitors specifically for the event. You may not use, as the foundation of your craft, a boat or watercraft that has been made by a factory or company with the purpose of navigating any form of water (lake, river, ocean, pond, river, brook, bathtub, pool). Participants must be above the waterline. No enclosed tops to the boats. Boats must be kept in the water at all times. Only homemade sails and paddles are allowed. No unsportsmanlike conduct is allowed between boats. Boats must be no wider than 6 feet and must fit under the bridges.
- Boats must be able to hold at least three people.
- All people who start the race on the boat must finish the race on the boat. (A person may fall off and get back on).
- Must be human powered. No motors.
- The boat must remain intact from start to finish. A boat that breaks apart during the race will be disqualified.
- The event will be judged by the crowd. This is not a timed event. Winners will be determined by the amount of audience participation they garner.
- The start of the race is “green gate.” The end of the race is the “play wave” just upriver from “river-station” take out.
- All on-river participants must sign a waiver, and wear proper safety gear. A helmet and a life jacket are required, no exceptions.
