Two Broken Rudders? Trent K2 2009

Well I remember better Trent K2 races and I remember worse. Worse would be the years when there were blizzards, head winds, a hole in the boat, broken paddles and one year when my partner and I were so unfit that the last 5 miles seemed to last for days.
Better would be any other Trent K2 in the last 20 years! It was nothing to do with my partner, as the boat ran well apart from the last bit and there was no way we could keep it moving in a straight line for more than 50 metres or so.
We were never going to be with the leading boats as some of the other crews have obviously escaped the promotion opportunities in the last month or two (little do they know ...) we did however settle into a small group well down the field before the 1st portage. The rest had obviously not been listening at the briefing because they all chose the difficult "get in" at Sawley, while we jogged slowly to the comfortable beach portage about 100 metres further down the bank. Steve from Leighton Buzzard was well ahead of us at the start of the portage, but there was just a chance we could get with him if we were .... oops, rocks! I'd taken too narrow an angle in my haste to get on the wash. That was rudder no. 1. No worries, I always have a spare in the boat on such races. The wing nut was a bit rusted on and it took considerable force to undo it and get the spare out. Remind me to use a plastic one in future. Then I couldn't get enough slack in the rudder lines to get the wheel onto the new rudder until I noticed that they were snagged under the buoyancy. All this on a desert island in the middle of the Trent with the rest of the races going past us. I spotted the back markers in the A race slide by, well before we were back on the water.
Fortunately there was a crew in the B race who were only a little faster than we were, so we had a decent wash nearly to the Cranfleet Cut. This got us past the back markers in the A race. We also had a reasonable portage despite the height of the "get out." It was a bit of a lonely plod to Beeston, but we were going reasonably well until the portage, when ting the spare rudder caught on the step and we lost no.2.
Donna agreed to carry on and we tacked our way the 5 miles to the finish line, having gone aground on the shallows by Monkey Island on the way. We had swapped places at that point and I ended up with Donna's seat and my knees by my chin. There must be something odd about her anatomy if she can sit on that seat for more than 5 miles - I will never speak in the same pitch.
We weren't last and we finished before the prize-giving and before everyone else had gone home. As I said not the worst Trent K2 I can remember doing, but definitely not the best. Thanks Donna, I hope you can promise me that we will only have "an adventure" every alternate race we do together.

Lincoln 2009

I needed a break from moving the club website from uk.geocities to Google and the allotment has had loads of time recently, so what better change of location than Lincoln Hasler race.
It was a mixed day as far as weather was concerned, with warm, bright sunshine, sudden sharp showers and wind. The usual Lincoln interest was provided on the 8 mile course by the low bridges at the end of Brayford Pool, but most people seemed to get under with reasonable ease.
My race was not the most enjoyable ever, getting dropped in the first half mile, however the company of Jamie from Leamington stopped it being a boring drag. He's probably about 45 years younger than me and it won't be very long before he's disappearing into the distance too. A couple of changes of position added some spice, when we were caught and dropped by a Burton paddler, only to recatch him and drop him just before the finish.

The real action was going on at the head of our race where Norman was coming 2nd and in Div 3 where Ian was also in the medals. Damian managed a place in Div 8, but no promotion, while Ricky got both in Div 6.
For sheer value for money, Andrew, who is ranked Div 7, so could do the 4 mile course, opted to do Div 6 and the 8 mile course, but missed the turn buoy about 200 metres from the finish and did the 12 mile course instead!
Then it was a rush back to Nottingham for the club Annual Award presentations.

More photos from Caroline on Picasa.

Surfing Weekend

A whole collection of NKC families and individuals made their way to that sufing paradise of the north east coast .... Satburn-By-The-Sea. The weather was kinder than the forecast suggested, the surf was as big as the predictions, but not as well formed. None of this altered the determination of those there to have a good time. The motly collection of kayaks, sit-on-tops and boogie boards took to the sea en masse on Saturday, with some die-hards only getting off the water for a bite to eat and a drink before getting out there again.
Some of us had already done a session on the biggest surf on Friday afternoon, all did at least one session on Saturday and most could not resist another one on Sunday & Mick did all four.

So a new generation has been introduced to the delights of Saltburn and camping at Runswick Bay and most are sure to return now that the bug has bitten. The prize for the most waterlogged should be shared by Eddie & Matt who were hardly out of the water long enough to swallow the hastly lunch that parents insisted on distracting them with.

Thanks to Gilly for the coaching. Thanks to Caroline for the photos. The rest are in the Picasa Album or the NKC Gallery.

Shropshire Paddlesport Hasler Race

The Montgomery Canal at Queens Head near Oswestry was the venue for this week's Hasler race. As with Hereford, only a small group of Nottingham paddlers made the two and a bit hour trek to race. The weather was hot, the canal was narrow, but the welcome warm. The refurbishment of the old Green Barn is well under way, so facilites are likely to be much better in future years.
For a change there were no trophies for NKC, but the 4 of us managed to score 61 points, giving 4 Hasler points. The Host club scored the 10 points and Worcester scored 9 points leaving them only 5 points behind us on the Midlands Hasler Table.

For the rest of the details use the links below.
Race results.
More photos.

Hereford 2009

An early start, a long drive and weather that was cooler and wetter than Nottingham was all worthwhile for the success of the elite band that made the journey. Damian was 2nd in Div 8, Mick & Ricky 2nd in Div 5 K2 after a close race with Jon Cave & Ellie Andrews of Worcester. Alice won Div 6 just 1 second up on John Talbot also of Worcester.

The rest of the photos: click here.
Full results: soon.

Hot day at Burton

After the cold damp day at the Hasler finals last year, Burton was back to what we expect for this year's Hasler race. There were a number of new competitors with Sandra and Jane both doing their first Div 9 race. Olivia won her first Div 9 race, while Kath and Geordie won Div 7 K2. 28 Nottingham paddlers represented a good turnout for us and gave us the 10 Hasler points.

The day is best described in pictures on the Picasa Album. Photos by Mick, Caroline & Simon http://picasaweb.google.com/paddle2live/Burton

For those interested in the results, go to http://www.marathon-canoeing.org.uk/results/Burton2009.htm

Much later ...

The other important event last night was Shob's 18th celebration with NKC. After the K4 10km was over, those few who could stand joined those who hadn't raced to help Shob become a senior.

Mini K4s

Meanwhile ...

While the gladiators were battling it out over 10km, 5 boats full of mini K4s were practicing skills at the boathouse end of The Pond.

May K4

Despite sudden downpours, there was a good turnout for the May K4 in the Ken Phillips series, with Paddlers from Nottingham, Lincoln, Loughborough, Burton, Wey & Leicester. The K3 stroked by Matt F sadly suffered equipment failure, otherwise, they looked in danger of being in the medals.

Here's the short version of the video - longer one available on request.

Meanwhile, more photos in the Picassa album. http://picasaweb.google.com/nottmkc/K410KmRaces?feat=directlink

Results on NKC website. http://uk.geocities.com/nottinghamkayakclub/resultstore/K4May09.htm

Worcester Marathon 2009

The conditions were good, the turn out from the vets and juniors was better and 2nd place in the points was even better. Best was reserved for Lightnings who managed 1st place in their point table with only 5 paddlers. Well done to Kasia, Stani, Max, Abbie & Ozzie. Results http://www.worcestercanoeclub.org.uk/Worcester%20Hasler.htm
Great Pictures from Jane at http://nkcgallery2.blogspot.com/

Anker Valley 2009

A slightly chilly wind was offset by beautiful sunshine and the shelter for most of the course made race conditions fairly pleasant. Spectating was less comfortable than paddling and I ended up doing 3 separate warm ups. My boat was even less prepared than I was, as the rudder lines snapped as I started my warm up on the water. Having just made it to the line in the old pale blue club Javelin that Nip had just vacated for his Div 8 race, the Div 4 start left me bobbing behind the rest of the field. The two local paddlers were obviously not at their peak as I would not normally expect to catch Simon or Gordon these days. However, I had a very enjoyable paddle, finishing with a sprint where Simon just squeezed past in the last 10 metres for 3rd place. James Cordery of Wey won Div 4 ahead of Bruce Blackman of Gailey.

Other Nottingham paddlers shared 4th place in their races too - Kath & Donna in Div 8/8 K2 and Abbie in Under 12 Girls to name a few.

Geordie & Tadek managed a great 1st in Div 7/7 K2, so did Tom in Div 6 K1. Nip managed a 2nd place. The teeshirts, that Anker Valley have presented as prizes for a few years now were once again in evidence.

Mention goes to Damian & Caroline, completing their first ever Div 9 race without mishap.

Lincoln & Banbury clubs dominated the prizes in both the Under 10/12 races and the Division races. It was another enjoyable day all round and I heard no complaints from any Nottingham paddler. Thanks go to NKC parents & Gilly for help with transport, support & safety.

More photos can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/nottmkc/AnkerValley2009#

The results will be on the Marathon Website at: http://www.marathon-canoeing.org.uk/results/Results.html

DW 8

Having zoomed up to Nottingham & dropped the girls off I continued nearly to Manchester to finish the last 2 days of holiday with Donna & Kath, following the rest of the race remotely. Fortunately, Jane also recorded the 2 days with her camera. http://nkcgallery2.blogspot.com/

Craig dropped from 15th to 18th on day 3, behind Graham Holmes, but again finished in about 6 hours 15. On the last day he picked up again, finishing in 17th place in an overall time of 20 hours 32 minutes 33 seconds.

A very good result and well deserved.

I'll add the video soon.

DW 7

I was up pretty early (4:30) filling flasks & reorganising the car. Craig was a little while later (6:00) and the girls half way through the day (7:30). The incorrect finish meant no individual timed start for stage 2, but the starter very kindly let Craig go just before the first of the timed ones. The timekeepers assured us that they would continue to investigate the accuracy of the time to Newbury and were very patient considering that we kept popping up and asking if it was sorted out yet. They had over 90 time corrections to do for other crews for the tunnel alone.

Craig headed into Day 2 with a time of 6:16 still standing and a promise to try and work it out from the timers. During the day there were 2 phone calls from them, but both came while I was driving and finding time to ring them back between driving and running was not easy.

The parking at some of the locks was more scary than the driving or running. While half way over the bridge to Marsh Lock, Beth phoned to say that a police woman wanted the car moved. I ran back the quarter mile towards the car, but just before I got there met the police woman and gasping for breath asked if I had parked on the yellow lines, apologising. She asked which my car was and she confirmed that I was one of the few in the half mile melee who was not, but said it was obstructing traffic! Then she looked me up and down and completely changed, asking if there was an event on! I swallowed my urge to laugh, cry or yell hysterically and told her what it was and what I was hoping to do. And ... she said OK, leave it there. I could have kissed her, but realised that would probably get me arrested and ran off back to the lock. Craig's dad had rung me from foreign parts to enquire how he was doing and wish him luck, and I mentioned it to Craig as he was half way over the bridge on his run. This clearly cheered him up. I didn't mention my blossoming relationship with a WPC.

There were more misunderstandings between me & the SatNav during the day and it was lucky not to get thrown in the river. Yet again it was reassuring to have Beth as human navigator. Why I bother with the electronic one with her there I'm not sure. Shob was also there when needed, complete with banana chunks, go juice bottles & jam sandwiches. Craig was fortunate to have their support. I was even luckier or I would be sedated with stress right now.

Craig continued to make very good progress, close to the 20 hour schedule I'd come up with. We actually saw him at the last place on our list, but at a distance, as the traffic in Henley meant we were moving slower than he was and it was a long run to the lock.

At the finish, we had some time to spare, despite having to park a quarter of a mile from Longridge, between the 2 hairpin bends up the hill! We lugged his giant kit bag with us and still with time to spare went in search of the timekeepers who had posted notes for us to contact them. They needed evidence that Craig (No 217) had finished about when I thought. I told them all I could remember. Unfortunately the paddler mistaken for 217 (211) had given similar details. Then ... then ... Beth said that she had videoed the finish and thought that the crew before Craig was also on the video to back our claim! For the 2nd time it the day I was tempted to throw my arms round a woman and give her a kiss. (Stress gets me this way I suppose - or at least the relief does.) I handed my DVCam over and they took a copy from it. I didn't learn until later, that this resulted in a time correction for Craig of about 13 minutes. I think Craig owes Beth a hug too!

He finished the 2nd day in 6 hours 15 minutes and while he set up camp, I handed over to Jane & Ricky, emptying the car of about half the kit. That was it for us, we followed Craig's progress via the internet and texts & phone call to & from Jane. (See DW 8)

DW 6

In the very early hours of Friday morning, the support crew rose somewhat blearily from bed or floor and got final items ready while Craig carried on dreaming for a while. Eventually, a little like a Chinese puzzle, everything and everyone fitted into the car and rolled South Westish for a 100 or so miles. All the "check in" bits went smoothly with some friendly advice from Ian White & Paul Ralph. (Well you may as well ask the real experts.)

Craig was so eager, that he set off before I was even aware that he was on the water, so his start time was guessed by how far he had got down the canal. (20 seconds actually)

He was running close to his schedule and all the usual frenetic activity of supporting followed as we rambled around the Wiltershire countryside aided by Mark Burton. The SatNav got lost a few times and was quite frustrating as it kept trying to make us go back to an early portage for about 20 miles and I couldn't work out which! Fortunately, Beth mostly didn't get lost as frequently and in the rain & drizzle & mud our progress was mainly towards Newbury. On the canal, Craig's progress was entirely towards Newbury, so we met up at most of the prearranged places, poured carbo-drink down him & poked jam sandwiches in the general direction of his face, some of which found their target, other fed the ducks.

After missing a turning, I casually reversed into a grass bank and modified the back of the car a little - the bank remained unchanged. I didn't like to mention too frequently that the brakes felt rough, but my driving was mostly more sedate than usual. I suspect it was just the ABS working in the slippery mud, but the gears got more hammer than the brakes until I was sure they were going to stop us when required.

Graham Holmes, from Rabbit Independant Paddlers (No. 215) accompanied Craig for much of the day and he deserves special mention, having started 30 seconds ahead of Craig and finished a few minutes behind him. Quite apart from very gentlemanly dropping off the wash and moving round the back to change sides, so we could feed Craig, he finished with a correct time, an important fact as will become evident!

It was rather disappointing and unsettling to find that there was some dispute over Craig's finish time when we got to Newbury, but after registering our disagreement (well mine really, I'd better not blame anyone else) Craig, Beth & Shob went for a high priced Newbury pasta after pitching their tent. I settled down to boil kettles, wash the food & drink containers, mix more drink & do all the missing calculations on the schedule to confirm the time I was certain Craig had done. The "evidence" that confirmed my suspicions about the time problem, was Graham's of 6 hours 6 minutes, which made made nonsense of the one they eventually gave Craig of 6 hours 16, about 10 minutes behind Graham.

The 3 campers returned with tales of Shob's "thrifty" treatment of the pasta bill before turning in and I settled into my sleeping bag in the back of the car, dreaming that people were nicking the paddles off the roof, trying to steal the filthy, slimy, dripping bits of kit like paddling shoes and "camel pack" from where they were draining (drying was out of the question) under the car and messing around with the times & positions in the senior K1 race.

For a more interesting account of Friday & Saturday, come back in a few days time for the film version. Meanwhile, thanks to those mentioned above for the advice, in Mark's case serious running bits, like Crofton locks and Graham for being there. Thanks also go to Beth and Shob for catching the odd photo & video clip between jam sandwiches. (Particularly Beth for the video - see DW 7)

DW 5

Well that's the rest of the supporters assembled. Just need to see if they fit in the car with the kit at 4:30 a.m. Craig looks relaxed enough. That's good, his body is quite unaware of what is about to happen to it! Mind you on his weekend off relaxing, it coped with a 40 mile run through the Peak District, so DW should be just another day at the office.

DW 4

That's my kit & Craig's shoehorned in- just Beth & Shob & their kit to go. Oh dear! I forgot the 1000 jam sandwiches Craig will eat in the next 4 days.

DW 3

Well the boat fits even if Craig's kit overflows the dining room. There was no way I could lift it. A good job he doesn't have to pack it all in his boat!

DW 2

Reached the trimming it down stage. Easy with my own kit - just don't take it, sleep under the car in a plastic bivvi bag. A bit harder with support kit. Craig is doing the same with his kit. But his is vital, mine comfort!

I decided not to take the vacuum cleaner, or blowlamp, or gym balls. If my back is bad, the sacro-iliac belt will have to surfice.

Skinned the fibre-glass kit, rudder repair kit & spare parts down too, after all it's only one boat that might need fixing. No extra wooleys for me or extra waterproof coats.
The car is nearly ready - fuelled, watered and inflated. Packing has commenced, but can't continue until Craig brings his kit.

DW 1

Most of the kit is ready & is starting to gather ready for packing. From the forecast, it looks as though it will be a wet DW. Keeping the fibreglass resin, Deepheat and meths apart from breakfast & Craig's paddling food is the main issue at the moment. The dining room and office are getting more cluttered by the minute!

Waterside B

The only time I remembered my camera was at 5:30 a.m. just before we set off to Newbury, however, with the stiffness and soreness from Waterside A nearly forgotten, there were just as many NKC members turning out for Waterside B.

For those interested in all the results go to the results page. http://www.watersides.fsnet.co.uk/current-b-res.htm

However, if you want to know how our day went, read on ...

It was a slightly later start than for the A race and everyone was there & the trailer loaded on time. There were several Waterside "virgins" opting to do the 17.5 mile downstream/upstream race. Michael (ears featured above) wanted to know what to expect and Norman, sitting next to him, who has been doing Waterside since the 1970s gave an explanation that he thought would be appropriate to a White Water paddler. "Imagine going down "Serpent's Tail" ... 3 abreast ... then imagine paddlers coming towards you ... 3 abreast." This is probably the most apt description ever, especially for the section leading up to Aldermaston. Michael paddled with Tadek (age 12) in the Senior Mens K2 and came 12th out of 44 starters in a time of 2 hours 47 minutes, a great performance by them.

The next newbie would be Lynda - the blonde head on the right - who has done minimal training, just come back to serious paddling after a break of 3 children and about 20 years who was doing Ladies K2 with Cathy - the blond head on the left. She had some novel plans for combatting the dreaded numb bum that might have won prizes in a Renaissance beauty pagent and soaked up enough canal water to fill a bucket. They came 2nd in a time of 3:03:16, so however hard it felt Lynda, it was a pretty good first Waterside for you!

George & Bryan deserve a mention after their second waterside this year with "equipment failure." It was the footrest on Race A when some amazingly good luck in finding bits of wood and steel just the right length allowed them to mackle up a replacement and complete the race. This time it was the seat which partly detached itself from the boat and swivelled round, needing constant attention at portages. Are they doing Race C? I wonder ...? No I won't even think about it! Despite their tribulations they managed 4th in the C2 race out of 22 starters in a time of 3:11:26. Another good performance.

Alison and Norman in the Mixed K2 race, had a good run despite Norman thinking it was hard. 5th out of 30 in a time of 2:45:28 is a pretty good result and much better than some of the crews half their combined age. (I can't reveal what it is, but not quite 100) Alison not only remembers how many portages they've done (I remember the first 3 or 4 and then lose count) but revealed that they had overtaken 121 crews during the race.

Richard Golder & Richard Meyer made their own ways to Waterside, and we only saw them in passing (literally) on the water. 6th and 12th out of 28 in the Senior Mens Race was a reasonable performance although both would have preferred higher no doubt & have been in the past. I don't know about Richard G, but I know Richard M had not done that much training for the event. Richard M's account of his novel approach to tackling the low swing bridge would take too long to relate and would be much better on a video.

Craig was 8th out of 15 in Junior K1 in 3 hours 3 minutes including 2 swims as well as paddling and running, so he made it into a triathlon. I don't think he meant to though.

Chris & Zyggy (aged 11) were 6th in the Junior/Veteran K2 in 3 hours 1 minute. Zyggy was still standing at the end although he did sleep most of the way home. I wonder how school went on Monday morning? Chris looked OK though!

Shob & I were only just ahead of them in the same event, coming 5th in 2:53:50 which is the same time I did with Beth last year. However at the swing bridge, we had not had the benefit of Richards novel approach to negociating it and went for the more classic ducking ... at least I did! Shob obviously was not quite so successful and managed to bang her head. The extent of the damage was not obvious until she took her hat off to get changed, revealing a a mass of matted blood and hair ... and a split over an inch long (2cm.) A quick trip to the local A & E got it glued - the bridge has not yet been inspected for damage.

I owe you Shob! The photo on the Paddlepics website shows that we were in time and paddling well! http://www.paddlepics.com/watersides/wat%20b%202009%20pt%201/index_17.htm (IMG_9909) So it didn't stop her stroking the boat really well and giving me a good race even though neither of us were aware of the blood trickling down her neck for over two and a half hours. Well perhaps because we were unaware!

Hot race; cold air

Clifton time trial on a Tuesday night is turning into a spicy event. The number of top UK paddlers past and present seems to increase every week, despite cold, damp and general economic depression. This week saw Tim Brabants, Jonny Schofield & James Block all out in K1 together with the usual diehard club paddlers. You need to be pretty quick to get the washes, but they are there for those who want to try. It may be dark and chilly to the majority of the Nottingham population, but on the Trent at 6:00 on a Tuesday night it's scorching hot and illuminated by flashes of gold!

Gold Medalist at Clifton Time Trial

It was probably the coldest Tuesday night of the winter and all the usual crazies turned out to do the time trial, but we were warmed by the presence of our most successful member who showed up to let we mere mortals have a glimpse of the Gold and Bronze medals won at the Games. (See earlier post.)

But his reason for being there was far more important than to just warm our hearts, as he had promised Zyggy that he would do K2 with him & you don't let a keen 11 year old like him down whatever the weather, whoever you are.

They did about 37 minutes, but hey, who cares about the time, not everyone is lucky enough to do the Clifton time trial with an Olympic Champion.

A real pleasure to see him again. Thanks for the picture Jane, more on the NKC Gallery at http://nkcgallery2.blogspot.com/