Texas Water Safari

The Texas Water Safari is a boat race down waterways from San Marcos, Texas, to Seadrift, Texas. The total distance traveled is 262 miles. Racers must take all equipment needed with them, receiving only food, medical supplies, water and ice along the way. The primary requirement is a boat powered only by human muscle. The event was first held in 1963, and is run annually.

History

In 1962 Frank Brown and Bill "Big Willie" George decided to navigate from San Marcos to Corpus Christi, Texas, without a motor. In 1963 they created the Texas Water Safari which would become an annual race.

The race is scheduled to begin on the second Saturday of June of each year, unless extremely inclement weather prevents it from being held safely. The Safari has been postponed in only three years (twice in 2004, making a total of four postponements).

Course

The Safari course includes natural rivers like the San Marcos, with rapids and dams. Most boats destroyed on the course are lost in the upper river. The San Marcos River converges with the Guadalupe River and becomes wider and slower. The main dangers in the middle river are sweepers, downed trees, logjams and dams. Near the end of the course there are lakes and swamps, and it ends with a crossing of the San Antonio Bay. Other challenges on the water include alligator gar, alligators, sharks (while crossing the bay), poisonous water moccasin snakes, fire ants, and mosquitos. Participants' boats are frequently damaged along the upper river.

There are 12 official checkpoints, including the finish line. Their locations are published and they are staffed with race officials. Each official checkpoint has a cutoff time which the racers must meet or be disqualified. The final cutoff time at the finish is 100 hours. The Team Captain of each team must be present at the checkpoint to sign off the team's time as the team leaves.

Official checkpoints:

Participants belong to one of a number of classes. The Unlimited class is one of the best known to spectators, and is restricted only to watercraft powered only by human muscle. Attempts have been made to win in craft of unconventional form, but the best results have been achieved by a well-trained team in one of the multi-man canoes (the records for largest team and fastest finish time are held by nine- and six-person canoes respectively). In 2006 the Unlimited class was further restricted to no more than 6 persons on a team. Other classes include Tandem Unlimited (similar to unlimited, but only two entrants per boat), Solo Unlimited (one entrant), and other Canoe sprint classes.

Records

Records current as of 13 January 2015

External links