Louisiana Triple Crown
What is the Louisiana Triple Crown?
It is the best of the best in canoe and kayak racing in the state.
It will be settled by a three-year quest, starting fall 2015, for the fastest overall time in all three of Louisiana's grueling ultra marathons, the Tour de la Rivière Rouge, Tour du Teche 135, and the 410 de Louisiane, which is a combination of the first two.
Tour de la Rivière Rouge is a 275-mile adventure race from Shreveport-Bossier City down the Red River into the Atchafalaya to Krotz Springs, with a motor portage to Bayou Courtableau and a finish at Port Barre. This is a straight-through, round-the-clock race with no interim checkpoints. However, coureurs de bois – bank runners – and SPOT trackers (www.findmespot.com) are mandatory for this race. Racers have 130 hours to finish.
Tour du Teche 135, is a three-day, 135-mile staged race down the entire length of Bayou Teche. "Staged" means that it is run in three stages or courses: 49 miles from Port Barre to St. Martinville; 59 miles from St. Martinville to Franklin; and 27 miles from Franklin to Berwick.
410 de Louisiane, is a combination of Tour du Teche and Rivière Rouge, back-to-back. Racers start with Tour de la Rivière Rouge on the Saturday before Tour du Teche 135, and start again with Tour du Teche 135 on the first Friday in October.
Paddlers in each of the five Pro Racing classes of Tour du Teche who compile the fastest combined time in all three races at the end of the 2017 races will have their names engraved in granite at the iconic red lighthouse finish line in Berwick. And there will be cash prizes as well. The Triple Crown pot stands at $5,000 currently and the hunt is on for sponsors to make it grow.
The 410 must be run by itself (a racer may not register for both the 410 and the Rivière Rouge or Tour du Teche 135 in the same year). However, racers may enter both the Rivière Rouge and Tour du Teche 135, separately, in the same year. Anyone who has completed the three races in two years may try for a faster time on any of the other races in the third year.
The Louisiana Triple Crown recognizes the invidivual paddler. Any paddler vying in a multi-paddler class is not required to have the same partners for each race of the Triple Crown. Nor do the boats have to be the same but they must be in the same class.
The Pro Racing classes of Tour du Teche are:
Class A - USCA C2/Pro (USCA specs) – tandem canoes that can race at the USCA nationals and that include the following boat specifications 3X27 (Pro-Boat), 4X32 (USCA cruiser), and USCA Standard C2. Single blade paddle only. Temporary modifications to this type of boat to make it fit into any other class are not allowed.
Class B - Solo Unlimited - Single blade paddles only. Minimum length 14 feet.
Class C - Tandem Unlimited - Two paddlers, single and/or double blade paddles. (USCA C2s do not qualify for this class, USCA C2s must race in class A.) Minimum length 14 feet.
Class D - Solo Unlimited - Double blade paddles only. Minimum length 14 feet.
Class E - Big Boat Unlimited - Minimum three paddlers, maximum six paddlers, single and/or double blade paddles.
And what happens after 2017? We start all over!
Read more:
tourduteche.proboards.com/thread/206/410-louisiane-tour-riviere-rouge#ixzz3iPk3Lq1D