only "won" through outright cheating — using a raft equipped with an outboard motor, direction finder, radar and sonar, along with utilizing every trick available to thwart everyone else's chance to even make it to the finish line, much less win the race. The kids are broken into three groups: the boys' group (consisting of Charlie Brown, Linus, Schroeder, and Franklin), the girls' group (consisting of Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Sally, and Lucy), and Snoopy and Woodstock. Charlie Brown reluctantly leads the boys' group, struggling with insecurity but doing anything possible to work things out and implement his decisions. His antithesis is Peppermint Patty, the very confident but inept leader of the girls' group who does little more than stand around and give orders. Moreover, she insists that every decision, regardless of inconsequentiality, be confirmed by a vote of secret ballots. Predictably, when the voting is tied or she disagrees with the outcome, she often overrules the decision, angering the other girls. The overconfident bullies use their cheating to burst ahead, but while boasting, they fail to watch where they are going and crash into a dock, costing them substantial time and effort to dislodge their boat while the others sail past. The groups see many unique sights along the river race, such as mountains, forests, and a riparian logging community of houses built on docks. However, they also run into different obstacles: getting lost, stranded, storms, blizzards, and sabotage from the bullies. Snoopy abandons the race to search tirelessly for Woodstock when a storm separates them; finding an abandoned cabin to retire for the night, was spooked by a bear that was at the door when he was trying to sleep: as was the bear when seeing Snoopy. After a long search, they manage to find each other and are joyfully reunited, later reuniting at the abandoned cabin where the girls claimed it for the night, kicking the boys (including Snoopy and Woodstock) outside where they then had to camp in the snow. Charlie Brown grows increasingly into his leadership role; ultimately, after the bullies sabotage everyone else's rafts, the boys' and girls' teams merge. Although blamed for problems, Charlie Brown handles them well; for instance, when the team is trapped on a water wheel, he decides, as the leader, to remove the obstacle. Thanks to Charlie Brown's growing self-confidence and leadership, the gang has a good chance of winning