RegattaCentral

Fellow rowers and coaches,

As you may have seen, the water level on the Des Moines has been too high to safely row this past week. We’ve worked with the Army Corps of Engineers for several days to see if there was a way to get the water level down to a safe level for the regatta. Much of their decision is determined by the weather forecast for the Des Moines River Valley north of Saylorville Lake which is upstream of the regatta course. We’ve also discussed alternate courses on the river to make the course safer for participants. These discussed courses would be more like a sprint race in distance and might not be what participants would like.

While this decision was a difficult one, safety of the rowers is our number one concern. With the updated forecast for heavy rain north of Des Moines, and an already high river, the Army Corps of Engineers was unable to reduce the flow on the river, and the river level is expected to rise to increasingly unsafe levels. This unfortunately leads us to cancel the 2016 Head of the Des Moines Regatta. All entry fees will be refunded by Regatta Central. We hope to see everyone next year and we apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Catie Lawrence
Regatta Director
Head of the Des Moines Regatta