To Texas Water Safari participants,

The Texas Water Safari board has enacted several changes for this year’s TWS.

After 10 years of not having an entry fee increase the board has voted to raise entry fees from $75.00 to $125.00 per person. The late entry fee will be raised from $125.00 to $175.00. Increasing the fees will enable us to cover the rising cost of insurance, trophies and other expenses incurred putting on the race.

In past years, the Texas Water Safari Corporation has put on three other races: The Texas River Marathon, the Barrier to The Bay Race and The Junior Texas Water Safari. The TWS Board has voted to drop the Barrier to The Bay Race and keep the Texas River Marathon and Junior Texas Water Safari.

The Luling 90 cut-off time has been moved from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The cut-off at Luling Dam/Zedler Dam has been dropped. They are both still official checkpoints and team captains will need to sign their teams through the checkpoints. The only things changing are the cut-off times for the two Luling check points.

The Salt Water Barrier cut-off was moved from 10:00 AM to 8:00 AM.

All other check point cut-off times remain unchanged.

The TWS board is also considering requiring all teams to carry tracking devices that can be monitored by TWS officials. We are currently exploring several options and may ask several teams to volunteer to carry devices for us to test this year. Tracking devices will not be required for this year’s (2010) TWS, but they may be required at some point in the future.

The board wants to thank all of you that have raced in the TWS or been a part of the TWS. The TWS is special because of the people involved. If you are not racing or otherwise involved this year, we can always use help putting on the race. If you have an interest in volunteering this year please email the board at texaswatersafari@yahoo.com .

We hope to see you on the river, paddle safe and paddle hard.

The Texas Water Safari Board