About

The Oregon Rafting Team (ORT) is a non-profit team of whitewater paddlers who compete on a variety of rivers throughout the West Coast in multiple 4 man paddle raft teams.

We race head to head with other teams and against the clock through rapids ranging from class III (mild) to class V (extreme).

We also serve our community by providing river trips to disabled veterans, inner city children and other community groups.

ORT is supported by a variety of sponsors; AIRE Rafts, Aquabound Paddles, Shred Ready Helmets, Immersion Research, Next Adventure, the US Outdoor Store, Whitewater Designs, and OS Systems.

We are currently seeking adventurous, aggressive, and motivated athletes to help our crews. NO EXPERIENCE necessary, our seasoned guides will insure that you are a reliable and competent river athlete.

If you are interested contact ORT founder and United States Rafting Association President Tim Brink at nomadyellow@yahoo.com

History

ORT began it’s evolution in 2002 when 20 year river running veteran and football coach Tim Brink gathered a crew of his past and current teammates from rugby and college football for a local race. After dominating the regional whitewater raft racing scene for a number of years, an unfortunate career ending rugby injury forced Tim to focus his competitive fervor exclusively to raft racing hence ORT began. After training one summer with world class guides from Colorado, Tim returned home to the Portland area with some new found racing knowledge and began recruiting paddlers.  During the initial season, ORT raced with a co-ed team as recruiting enough committed paddlers to form two teams proved to be difficult. ORT has placed in the top five nationally each of the past 5 years and has won 33 of the 35 events entered at the regional level during that same period. 

ORT athletes will have to compete with each other to earn a spot on the “Red” team for 2010. However, ORT has a no cut policy as equipment is provided by Aire rafts, Aquabound Paddles, Shred Ready helmets, and Immersion Research, we now have enough gear to race 3-4 teams at any given event across the country. The athletic backgrounds of our athletes include 4 former college linebackers, dragon boat racers, endurance runners, skiers, snowboarders, mixed martial arts, kayakers, catarafters, drift boaters, skateboarders, rugby, and of course a few river guides.

Off the water once the gear is put away all the seriousness stops and the raging begins. With nicknames like the Rasta, Hoser, Ox, Timber, Dirty, WFE, Cuddy, Dr. No etc., let your imagination do the rest and the resulting perception may actually be accurate. We are proud to say that ORT is the first of it’s kind. Not a team of guides or even river veterans, but rather an athletic, charismatic body of energy that successfully engages in a variety of adventures throughout the year while reinforcing the bonds we have created through the medium of whitewater raft racing. ORT, we are more than just a racing team.