I guess then it is 4 races but 2 of them are done in the same heat is the way to put it, once in the morning and once in the afternoon which is what I was trying to explain. So yeah Merlin fan what you say is correct. The first part of the race is the obstacle course which is head to head against 2 other teams and then when you cross the finish line you turn the boat around and do the sprint going back the way you just came from. I should know as I have done it 8 years in a row!
But anyway its done together so that is why I said it is 2 races. I would say for the obstacle course you will need a pretty good steersperson who knows when to tell his crew to hold the boat, back paddle, hold the boat, forward paddle, and then back the boat up again, hold it again and finally go forward to the finish line. You will need to do a figure X in between 2 flags. When you get there you will see what I mean. I am surprised there are no videos out there of these fun races in all the years that PFK has been going on.
