Celebrating 50 Years of Craziness

March 3, 2013 is the date for our upcoming Ice Floe Race.

This year's event will be extra special.

We are looking to make the event more reminiscent of past years with more events over the weekend, more teams, decorated floes.

This year we are planning change tents, and an awards banquet.

There will be a limit of 20 teams.

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Sponsors and Grand Prizes

This year we are going to have awesome prizes.
(click on the logo for more information on the sponsors)

	A 1 week dive trip with Ocean Quest ($1600.00 value)
	A one week live-aboard cruise with Blackbeards ($940.00 value)
	"$500.00 OFF the current retail price of a JW Fishers Pulse 6X or Pulse 8X underwater metal detector or any other JW Fishers Search system purchased direct from the factory." Valid for 1 year starting March 1st, 2013
	A one day Whale Watching snorkeling trip also from Ocean Quest. ($150.00 value)
	A (2) two tank dive trip for 2 people with Thousand Islands Pleasure Diving . ($180.00 value)
	Two (2) two tank dive trips for 1 person with Conch Republic Divers. ($170.00 value)
	First Aid Backpack ($150.00 value)
	PADI Pro Bag - donated by PADI Canada
	Each diver, upon registration, will receive a January and February edition of Dive Training magazine
	Mesh bags and hats from Aqua Lung ($200.00 value)
	Ikelite Dive Light ($200.00 value)

Enter the OUC Ice Floe Race 2013 in four easy steps:

1. Assemble a team of between 8 (minimum) and 16 (maximum) certified divers to race.
   
2. Recruit three friends to be "dry" volunteers who will help run the event. A list of volunteer roles can be found in the documentation links below.
3. Elect your Team Captain and decide on an outrageously silly, but cool name to call yourselves.
4. Fill out the Registration Form from the link below, and drop it into the mail (after Dec 14, 2012) to OUC, along with payment before the FEBRUARY 1ST REGISTRATION DEADLINE.

* First team to have their registration form and money received by OUC will get the 1st starting postion. The next team will get position 2 and so on.

Please e-mail a copy of your Team Registration Form to ALL of the following e-mail addresses:

• ouc.icefloerace<"@">underwatercouncil.com*
• ouc<"@">underwatercouncil.com*
• ouc.president<"@">underwatercouncil.com*

Register Now! The earliest postmarked entry gets the Pole Position!

Starting positions will be assigned on a first-come first-served basis in descending order. If you want to avoid all that jockeying to get around slow-poke entries, get your registrations and payments in right away!

Race fees:

• Racers, Family and Friends; $55.00
• Registered Volunteers, 3 per team; $35.00
• Fees include the race, banquet, dinner, transportation to the starting line, a 50th Ice Floe Race Crest, and a chance to win one of several prizes.
• Supplementary pricing for "Family and Friends" only: $35.00 for all the above EXCEPT AN ICE FLOE RACE CREST AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN ONE OF SEVERAL PRIZES.

OUC must inform Trentwinds International Centre 7 days prior to March 2nd the amount of people attending the banquet. Captains and teams are to purchase the tickets needed for Family and Friends by February 15th.

Please act now!

Late Registration closes February 15th, 2013

The map below will direct you from this parking lot to the Trentwinds International Banquet Centre at 264 Landsdowne Street East.

Banquet starts at 4:30 PM.

You must have your tickets from your team Captain to enter.

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Click on the links below to get the forms, directions and information you'll need.

OUC Invitiation to Clubs

OUC Ice Floe Race Registration Form

OUC Ice Floe Race Participant Affirmation, Liability Release & Consent Form * Updated 2013/02/16

OUC Ice Floe Race FAQ&A * Updated 2013/02/16

OUC Ice Floe Race Map & Directions

Directions to OUC Ice Floe Banquet

OUC Ice Floe Race Official Safety Procedures & Rules

OUC Ice Floe Race Rules for the Float * Updated 2013/02/16

OUC Ice Floe Race Volunteer Station Roles & Responsibilities * Updated 2013/02/16

Accommodations (click on name to see website)

Holiday Inn Waterfront
Addr: 150 George Street North.
Phone:705-743-1144.
Rate: $99.00 plus tax.
It is approximately 15 minutes to the race and 5-8 minutes to the banquet.

Motel 6
Addr: 133 Lansdowne Street East.
Phone:1-866-430-4982.
Rate: $69.99 plus tax.
It is approximately 10-15 minutes to the race and 3 minutes to the Banquet.

Trentwinds International Centre
Addr: 264 Lansdowne Street East.
Phone:705-743-4271.
Rate: $59.99 plus tax.
It is approximately 15 minutes to the race. It is the location of the banquet.

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If you still have questions after working your way through the above documentation, please don't hesitate to contact me. I can't wait to see you there!

Yours in safe and enjoyable ice floe racing,
Rick Le Blanc and Terry Ethridge
Co-Chairs, Ontario Underwater Council Ice Floe Race 2013
ouc.icefloerace<"@">underwatercouncil.com*

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Gala Banquet at the Trentwinds International Center

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Pictures of Past Years

(click for full size image)

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Don't know what an "Ice Floe Race" is?

 
It's where teams of certified (certifiable?) scuba divers gear up in rubber suits, BCDs and fins (no tanks, regs, or weight belts required), jump into a river, then push ice floes downstream in the fastest possible time.

Why? To win the highly-coveted First Place medals, trophy and associated bragging rights.










The ice floes are roughly 20 feet by 20 feet (400 feet square), about 1 foot thick, and can weigh several tons.

Teams must consist of a minimum of 8 to a maximum of 16 racers, plus at least three (3) dry land volunteers.

Registered teams meet at 10:00 a.m on Race Day at the Registration Tent, located at the Starting Line (Douro Lock #24 of the Trent-Severn Waterway) in Peterborough.

Volunteers meet at 8:00am and Team Captains meet at 9:30am. Race starts at 11am.

2012 WINNERS!!

(and still bragging about it)
With a winning time of 59 min. and 33 sec. Just 2 min. and 50 sec. ahead of the second place finishers.

Let's knock these guys off their soapbox!!!

Colt Creek Tank Jockeys

2013 Theme

This year's theme is "Anything Gold," so use your imagination!

A few Golden ideas...

Goldie Locks, Gold Finger, Pot of Gold, Gold Medal - olympics, Gold Fish, Gold Coast, Gold Miining, Golden Tanning, Gold Rush, Golden Boy, Gold Gigger, Gold Finger - band - 99 red balloons, Au, Spanish Gold, 24k, Golden Girls, Sutter's Mill, Gold Key Comics - characters, Heart of Gold, Black Gold, Fool's Gold, City of Gold, El Dorado, Paititi

It's a fun event for all!!

And due to the steady growth in attendance at the Ice Floe Race, OUC has once again made arrangements for portable washroom facilities to be located at the Starting Line (or you can make the short 10-minute drive to Tim Horton's down the road).

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Blackbeard's Cruise WINNER for 2012!

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How all of us can help

Every year, we encourage OUC Ice Floe Racers to help support a local charity. This year's charity is the Ontario Public Interest Research Group.

OPIRG accepts both food and clothing donations.

It is easy to donate food or clothing by dropping it off in the donation barrels which will be on-site.

Food items most needed:

• peanut butter
• pasta sauce
• mac & cheese
• canned pork & beans
• canned stew
• canned hearty soup
• rice
• canned fruit
• canned vegetables
• pasta/spaghetti

We are inviting everyone attending the Ice Floe Race to please bring a donation of food or clothing to help out a great cause.

An Ontario Public Interest Research Group representative will be on hand to gratefully accept all donations.

For more information, visit http://www.opirgpeterborough.ca/

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ice  n.
1. Water frozen solid.
2. A surface, layer, or mass of frozen water.

floe  n.
1. An ice floe.
2. A segment that has separated from such an ice mass.

race n. pl. races 
1. Sports.
a. A competition of speed, as in running or riding.
b. A series of such competitions held at a specified time on a regular course: a fan of the ice floe race.
2. An extended competition in which participants struggle like runners to be the winner: the ice floe race.


*Please note: To help in the global fight against e-mail spamming, all e-mail addresses on OUC's website are displayed in a scrape-resistant format. Unfortunately this format creates extra effort for legitimate users. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you understand.