STING in STIRLING | 18th to 25th August 2012

Canoes

For this event teams will be paddling open canoes, not kayaks, during the event. Canoes are available to hire as part of the online entry process.

Canoe Hire

You can hire canoes for use during event at £130 per canoe as part of the online entry process (please note this fee will rise closer to the event as we have to search further afield to source boats). This fee includes the hire and transportation of the canoe. Paddles and bouyancy aids are also available for hire at £10 each.

Requirements

• The canoe must be a standard single-hulled open canoe between 15 and 17.5 foot in length; touring type canoe and be capable of carrying two team members - no sprint / racing boats
• All boats must be fitted with adequate bouyancy for grade 2 moving water
• Each boat requires a line fitted on each end
• Single ended paddles must be used and a spare carried in each boat.
• Each canoe requires one person with a minimum of the 2 star UKCC qualification or 3 star in the old BCU system or EPP Canoe level 2.
• Equivalent oveseas certification maybe accepted - please send us a copy of the syllabus and the certificate you have.
• It is HIGHLY recommended that each team member gains experience of paddling canoes on moving water prior to the race
• Kites / Sails can not be used
• Competitors should be aware that the priority of the safety staff is with people first not canoes.

Equipment

Please see the kit list page here

Damage

For this event the canoe hire is coming from 4 different companies. We have spent time talking to these companies about what will happen if the boats are damaged. To make this work we have agreed with them that we will take photos of any damage to boats prior to the event with your respective team numbers. The marshal at the canoe start will highlight any damage to a team before they start the paddle. Guess think of it bit like hiring a car or a van.

If at the end of the final paddle stage it is found there is damage to a boat, the boat hire company must notify the Open Adventure marshal and this should be recorded before taking the boat away.

We are not expecting any surprises..

If there is damage listed below is an idea of the costs that could be incurred.

*An example of a boat being wrapped is where it is manoeuvred broadside on to a bridge pillar. The force of the water folds the boat wrapping it around the pillar, this causes structural damage to the hull, gunwales and fittings making the boat unfit for use.

Conclusion

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask we would rather deal with queries in the months before the event than at the start. Please do not put yourself or us in awkward position on the day of the event - we will stand by the statements listed above.

We will update the website nearer the event date with details of what competitors are expected to do in the event on a emergency or a problem on the water.