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The Panama Canal is 50 miles (80 km) long. A ship takes approximately 8 to 10 hours to pass through Canal while being lifted step by step in three sets of locks - Gatun, Pedro Miguel, and Miraflores. The three sets of locks of the two-lane Canal work as water elevators that lift the ships to the level of Gatun Lake, 26 meters over sea level, and later lower them again to sea level on the other side of the Isthmus of Panama.

For the race, over 70 participating cayucos were lowered first by the Pedro Miguel and then by Miraflores Locks. There was a waiting period of more or less an hour as the locks opened. The opening of each lock gave way to sprints, a 10 minute one after Pedro Miguel, from one lock to the next, and a 15 minute one, to end the race, after the Miraflores Locks.

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