A giant, custom-made raft was piloted down the Grand Canyon last week. Its crew pushed for more than 39 hours straight set on breaking a record.
![grand canyon custom whitewater raft](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2017/01/grand-canyon-speed-record-raft-700x467.jpg)
Paddling the 277-mile length of the Colorado River’s Grand Canyon is a lifetime goal for whitewater enthusiasts. Last week, an elite team tried to complete the whole stretch in one go.
In a magnificent 48-foot craft a crew including members of the U.S. Whitewater Rafting Team set out from Lee’s Ferry, Ariz., late at night on January 13th.
What unfurled ahead was a dark river, currents rushing around 20,000 cfs, cliffs towering above. Through the night they rowed, eight men who’d spent a year training and designing a one-of-a-kind craft.
![Fast water on the Colorado River during a test day before the record attempt](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2017/01/down-river-paddle-grand-canyon-700x279.jpg)
As reported in a great recap in the Denver Post, there was to be “No stopping. No bathroom breaks. No sleeping.” Then, disaster struck after the team had been rowing non-stop for more than 20 hours.
At the Colorado River’s massive Lava Falls rapid a frame-bar snapped, puncturing one of the inflatable beams and effectively ending the trip. A futile effort to repair the boat was aborted and the crew then faced “nine hours of dejected flatwater paddling below Lava,” as the Post article explains.
In the end, the trip took 39 hours and 24 minutes. They went straight through, with no sleep and few breaks, and they did not break the record. But the team — Jeremiah Williams, John Mark Seelig, Robbie Prechtl, Kurt Kincel, Seth Mason, Matt Norfleet, Ian Anderson, and Marty Borges — was proud of its effort and the experimental boat that got them there.
![Members of U.S. Whitewater Rafting Team](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2017/01/paddlers-700x440.jpg)
![Fully geared, ready to crush out the river miles](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2017/01/paddling-whitewater-raft-700x467.jpg)
![The Colorado River in the Grand Canyon](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2017/01/grand-canyon-700x467.jpg)
![Big water on the Colorado River](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.gearjunkie.com/uploads/2017/01/whitewater-in-grand-canyon-700x467.jpg)