The only downside to the race arrangements this year, were that the starts made it impossible for any juniors, or Lightnings to be accompanied, helped, supervised, or chaperoned, if everyone else was paddling the course with their start a considerable distance from the club. This severly limited us this year as all the parents of the beginner juniors and Lightnings who wanted to paddle, also paddle themselves. The Google Earth photos of the course were good and the simple course diagram easy to follow - the best I've seen.
I can't speak for the Div 2 & 3 paddlers who had 4 laps of the same bit of river to do, owing to the spectacular, but dangerous events staged at Warwick Castle during summer weekends. (Being moving targets for mediaeval artillery could be considered dangerous!) For Divs 4 -6, the actual racing was if anything better than the course we have come to expect. Club members had cleared the long portage "get outs" well and although the weir could be deemed by some, too dangerous to be done downstream, it was dry enough to be OK upstream. The additional bit upstream of the club, made up for missing the downstream portage. The biggest hazards actually encountered were, as always, the wandering "rowing" pleasure boats. These beetle around looking as though they are intending to go right, but go left & vice versa - they look equally confused about what we are doing. I do remember the punts at Oxford were worse, but it's marginal!
The damage we sustained to our understern rudder took place at the last turn where an underwater log leapt out and got us as we turned.
Craig's day was made when he heard a "piper" off in the woods and went to track him down after the race!
Leamington were welcoming and generous with their mugs as prizes (now blue on yellow to go with our yellow on blue ones.) The weather was spectacularly hot and even though Craig and I could have had a better race, the easy journey to Leamington was well worth the effort.
Perhaps a few more Notties could manage it next year.
Full results here http://www.marathon-canoeing.org.uk/results/Leamington2008.htm
