Rafting

History

A good book to read on the history of rafting is the Complete White Water Rafter by Jeff Bennett.
Formation of the International Rafting Federation
A growing need and demand for an official body that could represent and unite the rafting communities of the World stimulated a group of people, led by Lee Porter, to form the IRF in 1997. The founding group were: Lee Porter, Peter Micheler, Rafael Gallo, Tony Hansen, Sue Liell-Cock, Neil Baxter, Glenn Lewman, Zeljko Kelemen and Thomas Karas. The initial key areas for this representation were Guide Training & Education and Sport & Competitions.The first Congress was held at the 1997 CWWC, also the first unofficial IRF World Champs. The first official IRF World Champs was part of the CWWC, in Costa Rica , 1998. This is where the rules to govern raft racing were finalised. In 2001 the first IRF World Champs completely separate to the CWWC were held in West Virginia , USA .

See more : http://www.internationalrafting.com/about/history/