The 2018 race grid is posted, subject to any last minute changes.
This year, 27 teams are registered in the festival:
- 8 women's teams
- 19 mixed teams
As usual, Saturday races are timed heats, used to place teams into divisions for the semifinals on Sunday morning.
Principles behind the grid and divisions
Based on the number of teams in the festival and feedback from previous years, EDBFA's Race Committee designed the race grid as follows:
- 18 min between heats
- Only one women's team per timed Saturday heat
- At least 5 races between any individual team's races
- Medal rounds will be distributed to both better reward top competitive teams and to encourage festival teams to return
What this means for the Sunday races
Women's teams—Mulan division
Mulan semifinals start the day as usual. Lane placement and heats are determined by Saturday cumulative times.
CHANGE: Mulan finals have been moved to mid-afternoon to give the teams competing in the noon Pink Ribbon Challenge time to recuperate before the final.
Lower mixed divisions
Mi Lo division
The slowest 4 teams from Saturday will compete in the Mi Lo division. After semifinals to determine lane placement, teams will race in a 4-boat final for gold, silver, bronze and runners-up.
CHANGE: Mi Lo finals will begin after the Pink Ribbon Ceremony, at 1:30 PM. Cheer on these beginner teams for their efforts!
Edmonton division
Teams ranked 10 through 15 from Saturday will be placed in the Edmonton division. Two semifinal heats will determine the 3 fastest teams. These teams compete for medals in the final. The remaining 3 teams race in the division consolation final for 4th, 5th, and 6th.
CHANGE: Edmonton consolation and medal finals run after the Mi Lo finals, beginning at 1:48 PM.
Top mixed divisions—Aurora and Borealis
CHANGE: For the semifinals, Aurora and Borealis divisions will be combined, with the 9 fastest teams from Saturday competing for 3 spots in the highest-ranked Aurora division (3 fastest teams from semifinals) and 6 spots in Borealis division.
This means that the top 6 teams of the festival will take home medals, awarding you for your effort and skill. There will be one consolation round in Borealis division.
These divisions' semifinals had to be combined otherwise the final race for the top division would be the same as the semifinal.
Questions, concerns, feedback
You can comment or ask your questions on this post if you'd like. If you have official complaints, please contact the Race Committee via directors@edbfa.ca.
We hope everyone has a great festival!
—Race Committee