Tinny Rally - Murray River Edition

What’s Included

• Entry into the greatest water based rally on earth
• Charter Bus back from Mannum to Mildura, dedicated parking just outside of Mannum 
• “Tinny Rally Entrant Event Information Package.pdf”
  • All our knowledge and experience from multiple times doing this trip, so you’ve got the best information to plan and undertake the trip, have an awesome time and seeing all the best things. 
  • Tinny Preparation, equipment & Fuel planning
  • Best free camping locations map
  • Best maps to use 
  • Treasure map/hunt with the key sights to stop and see on the way
• Support on land for breakdowns, we have a full time land vehicle following along. Support for running out of fuel etc.
• Spare (25hp) motor in case of non repairable breakdown
• Spare tinny (25hp tiller, 3.7m) in case of non repairable breakdown
• On call Mechanic support
• Someone watching over the boats when they are left in Mildura for the day and night
• Fuel assistance – we organise fuel trailers so less distance between fuel stops and no long walks to the servo
• Pubs opening especially for us, doing food especially for us, getting camping next to the pubs especially for us. Food specials.
• Event Prizes
• Joining a community of other dead set legends
• Event t-shirt, Event stubbie cooler, Event cap
• Event team flag & event stickers for your boat
• Memories of a lifetime

Not Included & What you need in order to enter

• Accommodation.
• Food & drinks. 
• Fuel. 
• Equipment. A portable toilet is required to minimise our impact on the river. 
• Tinny.  The cheapest boat that has completed the Tinny Rally cost $1200 and they sold it for $1400 at Mannum when they finished
• Engine spares. Water pump kit, spark plugs, spare prop, spare fuel hose.
• Current Boat Licence, Boat registration and boat 3rd party Insurance , and all maritime safety equipment as required by law
• Someone in your Tinny needs to have a mobile phone that uses the Tesltra network. This is so that you can be contacted by organisers in the event of an evacuation due to bushfire or flood being required.
• First Aid kit

Who is this for

• People who can handle being self sufficient in the outdoors, can handle good and challenging days, fit enough to carry fuel from the servo, outdoor savvy enough to travel 726ks and not run out of fuel etc.
• People who like the adventure of camping almost anywhere you want
• Social people who like adventuring with a bunch of other legends
• People who love adventuring by boat
• It is very likely the rally will interact with Maritime Boating Safety Officers and possibly Police during routine patrols at some point, so participants should expect this.

Who is this not for

• People who want a fully guided tour. This is an unsupported trip through areas with patchy phone service and a long way from breakdown and medical assistance. You need to be comfortable with travel in the outdoors. Do not join this rally if you are not.
• This is a self drive trip, it is not a guided tour.  We group 3-5 boats together so that through the remote sections with patchy phone service you have support if you need it (there is one section of 40km with no service at all). We can provide support on land if you need your boat taken to a mechanic.

This Is NOT for You If…

• You’re expecting a guided tour with gourmet meals, scheduled stops, or someone to carry your gear.
• You’ve never been camping and don’t want to start now.
• You expect smooth grassy lawns, resort toilets, or a coffee van at every bend in the river.
• You’re not self-sufficient, adventurous, or comfortable problem-solving on the go.

Conditions of Entry & Refund Policy

Entry Fee

Adult $995 per person. Child 12 years and under are half price.

Hire Tinnys available, click here for details

How Much will it cost to participate

• Entry fee. As above
• Accommodation. You can camp for free all of the way. The first two nights and last night it is more convenient to book a cabin in the caravan parks that we leave from and finish at. This allows you to look your equipment in the cabin when you drop your car and boat trailer at the end.  Cabins with 3 beds (ie share between 3 people) are $150/night
• Food & drinks. For the duration of the rally and the start and finish party.
• Fuel. For the length of the rally. In my 25hp 12ft tinny I used 300L of fuel and 4L of two stroke oil
• Avenza online maps for the route, downloaded to an app to your phone $30
• Boat 3rd Party Public Liability  Insurance.  You will need to show proof of this to participate in the rally (this is  required by our insurers for the event) . If you do not already have it for a small boat it is approx $230 a year.
• Equipment. All your usual camping gear plus enough jerry cans for fuel, portable toilet, and folding trolley (suggested to help get your jerry cans back from the servo). All of these can be found second hand on facebook marketplace. Budget $200 for a tinny if you do not already have them.
• The cheapest boat that has completed the Tinny Rally cost $1200 and they sold it for $1400 at Mannum when they finished
• Engine spares: Water pump kit, spark plugs, prop, fuel hose. (allow $200-300)
• Required communications equipment.
  • One person in each boat is required to have a phone on the Telstra network so you can be contacted by organisers in the case of an emergency (Telstra have the best service in the region). You can buy prepaid Telstra SIM cards for less than $50.
  • Each group of 3-5 boats is required to have at least one PLB or EBIRB and one VHF or UHF radio.
  • ⁠Each boat must have reliable & tested phone charging in place to keep one phone on the Telstra network plugged in and running the RaceMap tracking app at all times while travelling during the rally each day (this uses significant phone battery power)

How does dropping my car/tinny off work?

• First morning: drop your boat in the water where you are staying at Apex Riverbeach caravan park Mildura, (or if Apex caravan park is full, then at  River Gardens holiday park Gol Gol). 
• We leave from Apex because it’s a great sandy beach and good boat ramp, so it’s the best of all the options to start from. The river is wide and not as much traffic as closer to town.
• Drive your car and boat trailer to Mannum (~4hr drive), to leave them at a place we have organised
• Bus leaves there Mannum at 3:00pm to come back to Mildura
• Bus drops you off at Apex or Rivergardens holiday park at 7.00pm. 
• The finish party will be at the Pretoria hotel, which is the best pub in Mannum and overlooks the water. You can walk to the pub from most accommodation in Mannum
• When you finish on the last day at Mannum we will have a car to shuttle you out to your car & trailer just out of town

Boats Permitted – 2026 and onwards

• Maximum hp is 60hp, maximum length is 5m
• Aluminium Dingys, polycraft hulls and fibreglass runabouts that look like a tinny
• Tiller, side console, centre console, forward controls all welcome, although the more authentic experience is to complete it with a tiller steer
• Fibreglass and heavier boats: read this

In 2026 we will be returning to the roots of the Tinny Rally and a having a more strict requirement for boats taking part. (In 2025 we allowed some larger boats and non-Tinnys to take part)

The idea of the Tinny Rally is to take the humble tinny, a magnificent adventure craft on a hell of an expedition.

A tinny is cheap, light and durable, perfect for this trip down the Murray.

It is also a little uncomfortable and slow (compared to a bigger & flasher boat). But that’s the point. Everyone is doing this together.

Recommended Boat Size

• 20 – 25hp, 3.7m for one person
• 25 – 40hp, 3.7 – 4.2m for two people
• You need to test your boat fully loaded before the rally and ensure you can do at least 30km/hr, preferably 40km/hr. Most people underestimate how much the weight and fuel affects the boats speed. On the first day we have had people that cannot get on the plane and were having to jetison tables and other heavy equipment.
• In a 25hp with 2 people you need to pack light (depending upon how much you each weigh). A lot of people that bring a 25hp struggle to get on the plane and end up having to shed weight.
• The smallest hp boat that has completed the Tinny rally with 2 people is 20hp and 3.5m, but they packed crazy light. Guys that turned up with a 15hp boat could not get on the plane and had to get another motor.
• The cheapest boat that has completed the Tinny Rally cost $1200 and they sold it for $1400 at Mannum when they finished

Boats not permitted

• Pontoon Boats, RIBs, inflatable hull boats, Speed boats, wake boats, jet skis, jet boats, baycruisers, bowriders (anything fast basically). Nothing with inboards or big V8s.
• Anything over 5m
• Anything over 60hp

Speed

• Limited to 60km/hr on the Tinny Rally for safety reasons and to keep things in the spirit of doing the rally together and at the same speed

Pets

• Not permitted for insurance reasons.