The United States Rafting Association (USRA) was a founding member of the International Rafting Federation (IRF). In 2026, the IRF merged with the World Rafting Federation (WRF) to form the United Rafting Federation (URF). The USRA is a founding member of the URF and operates under URF governance.

All USA raft racing events sanctioned by the USRA — including the USA National Championships as team selection events — are conducted in accordance with the URF Sport Rules. In any case of conflict between this page (or any USRA communication) and the URF Sport Rules, the URF Sport Rules govern.

The Sport Rules are organized into nine sections plus four annexes:

• IGeneral Rules — Purpose, anti-doping, recognized disciplines, competition formats, classification of events, awards, world ranking
• IIThe Athletes — Eligibility, national and club teams, divisions, team composition, age categories
• IIITechnical Rules — Required clothing and safety equipment, raft features, starting and finish procedures, conduct on the course, paddle loss, race suspension, disqualifications, protests
• IVSprint — Definition, start and arrival, timed sprint rankings
• VRX (Rafting Cross) — Knockout phase, course and gates, penalties, elimination, rankings
• VIHead-to-Head (H2H) — Pairing, ranking, course design, navigation markers, safety, penalties
• VIISlalom — Course, starting orders, gates, passing, penalties, overtaking, ranking
• VIIIDownriver — Distances, start and arrival, penalties
• IXOrganization Rules — Officials, race director, local organizing committee, safety manager, timing, bulletin, accreditation, captains’ meeting, race bibs
• APara-Rafting
• BPoint System
• CRaft Homologation Procedure
• DProtest Form

The URF recognizes five raft racing disciplines:

URF events are organized in one of two formats. National Federations choose the format and disciplines for their domestic competitions in accordance with URF rules.

Team composition and age categories are set out in Articles 16 and 17 of the Sport Rules. Age eligibility is determined by the calendar year of competition. The URF recognizes the following age categories:

Para-Rafting teams compete under URF Annex A, which sets out classification and discipline adaptations.

Points are awarded per discipline based on finishing position, with 100 points maximum per discipline and 300 points maximum per event. Full details, including the percentage table for places and the event value factor, are on the Race Scoring page.

USRA-sanctioned competitions follow the URF Sport Rules. Where domestic events run a subset of disciplines or include categories outside the URF framework, the USRA publishes specifics in each event’s bulletin. Common USRA-specific practices include:

• Cadets (ages 12–15) — a domestic-only category, typically limited to Sprint and Slalom; not eligible for URF international team selection.
• Mixed teams — at least one and no more than two men; competes within the applicable URF division.
• Partial-format National Championships — the USRA may run fewer than the full set of URF disciplines (e.g., the 2026 Nationals run Sprint, Slalom, and H2H without Downriver or RX). Per-discipline point allocations remain at 100 points each per URF Art. 11.

The URF Sport Rules govern all elements not specifically modified by the USRA in the event bulletin.

The protest procedure is set out in Article 28 of the Sport Rules, with the protest form provided as Annex D of the URF Sport Rules PDF. Protests must be filed within the time limits and using the procedure specified in the rules.