June Interclubs Regatta

It was memorable in many ways! A great turnout by NKC, some people doing their first regatta ...

.... and wind, and waves and more wind and more waves and long days.

Here are a few photos that include club members from Burton Racing Photography group on Facebook (for those of you who are on Facebook click the group for more.

Many thanks to Grace for the photos

If you have more photos of the week end that you would like all club members to be able to see (not just those on Facebook) email them to the NKC email address or become an author and upload your own pictures to our blog.

May Regatta

You could have been forgiven for thinking it was the December regatta or that it was a surf competition. Saturday was punctuated by regular capsizes followed by rescues from the motor boats. NKC members, particularly the juniors, were completely unphased by it all. Well it's pretty much what they're used to on the Trent, just a bit more consistent.

Boys D K4 500 metres

The only one who took a swim can be forgiven as he is an ex-triathlete and was obviously suffering from deprivation as far as the swimming was concered.

Sunday was much better, but there was still the odd mishap.

Results soon

The Interclubs Regatta

The weather was poor, I'm afraid to say the turn out by most of our paddlers was poor considering that the course is right on our doorstep and from the point of view of the Lightning paddlers, the organisation was disasterously poor. However the performances of those who attended made up for both these factors to some extent.

It was of course mainly veterans and juniors racing and with some outstanding efforts from amongst them we managed to squeeze into 14th place. It seems that the scorekeeping was also poor and a quick check showed that we should have been placed 12th. The matter has been taken up, but so far no response from the organisers.

Our main cause to celebrate is the success of the Lightning paddlers. On the Saturday, our most successful paddlers in both Under 10 & Under 12 boys were denied a final despite much slower paddlers being included. However, they proved their point on the Sunday by producing medal winning performances.

The Lightning efforts, together with their consistent results and considerable participation during the season gave them the Runner Up place in the Lightning Cup. We offer them our congratulations.

Full Results can be downloaded from the Wey Kayak Club website by following links for Sprint then Results. http://www.weykayak.co.uk/

Sorry the weather made photography almost impossible, so no pictures.

Busy Weekend 15th - 18th May

A reminder to all members that the club are running their Hasler Marathon Race on 18th May. If you're not racing, there are jobs you can help with or come and cheer our paddlers on.

Meanwhile our thoughts are with NKC's top sprint paddlers, as 3 of them are representing Britain at the the European Championships in Milan. Tim Brabants, the current 1000 metre World Champion, is doing Mens K1 500 & 1000 metres. Lucy Wainwright is doing Womens K1 200 & 500 metres and Hayleigh Mason Womens K2 200 metres & K4 500 metres. In addition to this, Rosy Gray, one of our club Life Members, is acting as an official at the championships. Full team details here http://www.marathon-canoeing.org.uk/newsletter.asp

Congratulations to Harriet Farish for her 4th place, only 6 seconds down on the winner at last weekend's GB marathon assessment race in Chester. Richard Golder was 8th in the Men's K1. Full results here http://chestercanoeclub.org.uk/chester_1_ass_08.htm

May Regatta 2008

The May Regatta this year was enjoyable for a number of reasons.
First, the calm, warm weather, made the racing so much more enjoyable, even with a little drizzle on the Sunday.
Second, watching Tim Brabents demonstrate so emphatically why he is the World Champion provided inspiration for us all. Our three top seniors, Tim, Lucy and Hayleigh all produced some great results, helping to progress their standings for international selection & success this year.
Apart from them and a new member, Paddy, in Mens D, and Michael in Mens B, that was about it for Nottingham Seniors.
We also had representation in the Masters classes from Tim, Pete, Mick, Rex & Ian with a string of good results for Ian & Rex in Masters A in particular, and a win for Mick in the Masters B 1000 metres.
However good any of these factors might have been though, it was the participation and successes in the Junior & Lightning classes that were the highlight of the event.

Leanna, doing her first regatta partnered with Sarah managed 3rd in the Girls D 500 metres 1st Final. Shobhanna reached the Girls D 500 metre 1st final in K1 and Alice reached the 3rd final of the 1000 metres. Ricky & Craig excelled themselves in their 2nd regatta, particularly with their win in the Boys D K2 1000 metres. Craig also produced excellent results in his K1 races.

It is hard to pick out the best Lightning performance from the club, but for me perhaps, the fact that we produced 2 full crews for the 1000 metres Under 10/Under 12 mini K4 was the most pleasurable. Well done to, Tadek, Zyggy, Ozzie, Amelia, Megan, Max, Harvey & Olivia

The support from parents also needs mention and thanks. It was great to see solidarity from parents of the older juniors at the regatta, cheering on the paddlers. The turnout by the parents of Lightning paddlers took me back to the great days of the 1970s, when NKC parents turned out in force to cheer and help at the regattas.
Paticular thanks needs to go to Julie, who organised the Nottingham Lightning paddlers, negociating with officials & sorting crews. She also managed to run up and down with the races and take a few photos.







The two Nottingham mini K4 crews on their way to 1000 metre start. Wouldn't it be great to have a couple of the boats at the club for them to train in too!




Mini K4 1000 metre start.
Photos by Julie

Full results as PDF file: http://www.bcu.org.uk/bcu/CoachingItemPDFs/upload_2147.pdf

April Regatta

The weather reminded us that winter was not yet over, with hail, sleet, rain, snow and wind - in fact a typical April regatta. I wonder why people think sprinting is a summer activity in this country? Flat water racing - what's that? HPP was modified to be a wind tunnel at the rowers request soon after it was built wasn't it?

A few hardy NKC members turned out. Tim & Lucy did what we hoped they would in the men's & women's A races and we wish them continued success throughout the season.

If that's what Tim can produce with a bad cold, then imagine the result when he's well. Most people seem to be awe inspired at the drop of a hat these days, perhaps due to a real lack of magnificence in their lives, so I rarely use the term "awesome" due to its dilution in the common usage of English. However, I would actually consider Tim's performances to be awe inspiring, especially when the conditions during the regatta were cold, windy and sometimes miserable.

Hayleigh's K2 went particularly well too, with her racing up in Womens A for that, so we hope that she too continues her success during the rest of the season.

Sadly there was a shortage of juniors, although particular congratulations go to Craig and Ricky doing Boys D in their first regatta. They managed to make 1st finals in their events.

Congratulations go to Sandra for her performances and subsequent promotion to Girls A. Lets hope that her even greater successes in Wild Water allow a few more opportunities to sprint.

In his first season as a senior, Michael produced some good Mens C K1s and followed them up with a great Mens C K2 result paddling with Fern! Mike appears at the next regatta in Mens B.

It was good to see Ian Livsey back sprinting again, now Masters A and Tim Webb returned to racing. With Rex, Pete & myself, we now have a regular group of Masters paddlers in addition to the vast range of club veterans we could call on.

Full results can be downloaded from http://www.weykayak.co.uk/Sprint_Frame.html

Interclubs Regatta

Despite a rather thin turnout by only 16 members at the weekend, NKC members produced some good performances. The club was mainly represented by 3 junior girls, 5 women and 5 veterans. Only 1 senior raced & scored points all weekend which is rather disappointing. Well done to Ralph, who managed to get his own entries in on time, after the main ones had been sent. Some people entered late so did not score points, but at least they were there.

The best scoring result came from Shobhanaa and Beth in the Girls D K2 1000 with a 2nd place and a 3rd in the 500m. Ralph also managed a 3rd in Final 1 of the Mens B 500 metres. Pete scored well too with 2nd in Masters C 1000 metres and 3rd in the 500.

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Good scoring results also came from:

Shobhanaa, Sandra & Beth in K1s,

Graham/Norman/Mark/Mick in the Masters K4 1000 with a 3rd,

Graham/Mick in the Masters A/B K2 1000 with a 3rd place

Rex/Mick in the Masters A/B K2 500 with a 3rd place

Beth C/Michelle 4th in Womens C/D 500

Kath/Heather/Cathy/Michelle in the Womens K4 1000 with a 4th place,

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Rex/Norman/Mark/Mick in the Masters K4 500 with a 4th place.

A quick mention for Sandra, World Junior Ladies Wild Water Champion, who got 2 excellent K1 results at her first Flat Water regatta, making the 1st Final in the Girls B K1 1000. Sorry no pictures of her, but see the one of her in action at the WWR World Champs. A bit different from the Pond.

Use this link to download full results. http://www.weykayak.co.uk/Sprint_Frame.html

Congratulations to Michael on promotion to Boys B although it's a bit academic as he will be senior next year! He gained 1st in the 1000 metres and 2nd in the 500 but scored no points.

Amazingly, out of 41 clubs, we came overall 10th with a score of 379 points. Thanks & well done to all those who contributed to the result.

June Regatta 2007 - Sunday

If anything the weather was even better today. Mixed results, but some good racing. The senior races seemed rather confusing if you bothered to study the programme, as all the crews had been jumbled up. Oh yes, of course, pre-Olympic year & the coaches are raising the axe, stirring the stick, playing the game & trying to get some qualifying times at whatever cost to the individuals. Sound a little cynical? Well nothing's changed, it happens every Olympic cycle. In fact if it didn't happen we would get worried that the coaches didn't care!

At a club level, Kat & Gilly got a few National Championships medals. Tadek came 3rd in the under 12s 500 & Zyggy came first, adding another "tiddly wink" each to their score already in their first ever regatta. The future looks bright!

Considering that it was the senior National Championships, the whole day seemed a little slow. Perhaps it was the hot weather, perhaps it was the absence of the junior Girls D paddlers!

June Regatta 2007 - Saturday

Our best results were marred by carelessness by our veterans, both in individual K1 events & the K2 5km race. Having either won or gained minor placings the two underweight boats also gained us 3 more penalty points. For the paddlers themselves, the disqualifications were just pointless as they should really know better. For the rest of us, the penalty points count against the club score at the Inter-clubs Regatta in September. I can almost forgive the juniors for the ones they gained at an earlier regatta, but Veteran club members with years of experience should really know better.
The lack of the junior girls racing removed some of the more light hearted element of the regatta, but in their absence, Tadek & Zyggy made up for it with a 3rd & a 2nd in their respective 1Km Lightning races.
The 5Km with Marish felt quite hard, especially after my almost decent result in the Masters B K1 100m. I missed the "edge" of having Howard to race against due to his promotion back to Masters A!

The earlier races in the day were in pleasant conditions, so Beth & Sarah got the most benefit in the Girls D K1 500m.


After 10:00, conditions made photos impossible. Mentions need to go to Hayleigh, Ralph, Laurence & Pete. Good to see Pete back racing in Masters C after all these years. See http://www.weykayak.co.uk/Sprint_Frame.html for the results.

May Regatta - Saturday

Well it certainly made up for being a scorcher at the April regatta. The photos from this weekend were mainly taken during gaps in the rain or from the shelter of a coat, as the Girls D K1 1000 metres shows.

My weekend was dominated by coming 2nd to Howard in Masters B K1s, although I can blame the result in the 5km race on a snapped rudder line. The 2nd lap without a rudder was not quite so much fun as the first. All of them were enjoyable races though. Thanks to Beth for the photos.
Mine isn't the only repair needed though. Shobhanna's was slightly more out of the ordinary. It highlights the need for proper weights, as the splits in the bottom of her boat that opened like a gaping mouth, were the result of the bag of stones under the seat pushing through. She actually deserves credit for finishing 4th in her 1000 metre final carrying half a boat of water.




Alice fitted a few races into her busy life, before heading off to play football for Notts. She was probably most pleased with the Girls D K2 she did with Beth, but did the Girls Lightning A race as well.

May Regatta

Saturday - My first race on Saturday was a K2 which I paddled with Alice. The heat was definitely the worst conditions of all the races I did over the weekend, the wind made it very wavey. However, it was nothing I hadn't seen before and Alice didn't seem to mind either! She was great to paddle with, really up for it and I hope she enjoyed it and will race again. We came 4th in our heat and final.
K1 wasn't bad either, I can't actually remember where I finnished in the final, 6th or something, it seems like ages ago. At least I didn't crack a hole in the bottom of the boat like Shob with her stones to weigh her boat down(sorry Shob!).
Sunday - The most memorable thing about Sunday was the rain, you'd think that canoeists wouldn't mind getting a bit wet but it does make paddling less appealing.
Thanks Sarah for probably the most fun race of the weekend - we finnished 6th in final 1.
So overall, the weather did not dampen spirits, thanks for the cakes Kath, they were fab as ever, hope you had a good birthday Mick.
Next weekend is Nottingham Marathon so cross your fingers and it will brighten up a bit :)...
Beth x

May Regatta

As a true Brit, i will first start and talk about the weather. It was rubbish really, didnt race on sat (happy birthday Mick) but came down and guess what it was raining, raced all day sunday and it pretty much rained allday,making it abit cold and not that appealing to race but still was a good day(race wise). had a pretty good k1 500m heat, coming 4th(i think) time being 2.46(i think again), got into final 3 and won and was faster than about 3 people in final 2 which was v good, time was 2.40 (i know that for certain :D) . then was k2 which i was very pleased with, went really well, heat was good and we got into final 1 and came 6th, which was really good and very enjoyable. thanks Beth! Was a fab day apart from the rain, but Micks good old camper was there to keep to dry, and Kaths lush biscuits and cakes were there to keep us well....happy and energised and just to generally be really nice, as usual. And of course all the people down to have a chat and a laugh with. A very enjoyable regatta :) :) Sarah x

News

For your Diary:
NKC Marathon Race
20th May 2007
If you can help, sign up for a job on the club noticeboard!

New photos of the April Regatta & Anker Valley on the Gallery Blog!

April Regatta 2007

Well, I've known regattas held up by a number of weather conditions over the years that HPP has been open - snow, high winds, thunder storms - but fog is unusual. The water conditions were perfect - glassy smooth, but not a race was to be seen for the first hour & a half of Sunday's racing. The hot sun later, more than made up for it & by 10:30 on Sunday, most people had forgotten the reason that racing was delayed so long! Go to http://nkcgallery.blogspot.com/ for a reminder.
Cathy Howell was one of the first Nottingham paddlers out on the corse for the Saturday events.

Over the 2 days there were some interesting results. Jonny Schofield, whoever he is, popped out of White Water & stirred up a storm in the 200 metres with a course record. Ed McKeever/Ed Cox in the K2 managed the same, but that was more expected. Tim Brabants did what was expected of him in the 1000 metres & replicated it in the 500 to the visible annoyance of Schofield. Most other paddlers in the world would have been fairly pleased to have been 2nd to Tim, given his form over the past few years.


Other Nottingham paddlers, such as Lucy Wainwright & Shuna Braithwaite returned good performances with Shuna promoted back to Women's A. Ralph Baker & Richard Winstanley managed a first & second in the K2s. What a pity that Ralph couldn't manage his heat time in the final! Get a full pdf copy of the results from http://www.weykayak.co.uk/Sprint_Frame.html

The junior Girls D results may seem a little disappointing till you look at the promotions, many of which should have happened at the September regatta, but for the weather, or been done by knowledgable team leaders during the winter as they were asked to.

Delete the promoted entries & the finals would have been more like a Girls D race than Girls C. The same was true for Boys C & D.

Rex Littlewood's Masters A K1 500 final was so close that the naked eye could not work it out. Sadly Rex was just 2nd. Although what's to be sad about a good result! I managed a 2nd in the 1000 and appeared to come 3rd in the 500 of Masters B until the Richmond paddler failed to turn up for boat weighing leaving me 2nd on the results. The most enjoyable race for me though, was the Masters K4 5Km National Champs, where good pace & tactics from Rex helped Norman, Baggy & myself cross the line 20 seconds or so ahead of Lincoln. Funny that we all thought that it would be the Reading boat that gave us a run for our money! Just shows how much energy the Olivers with Andy Grimwood & an imported paddler can still summon up!

April Regatta

I don't think anyone could believe how hot and sunny the weekend was so the season got off to a good start. It was perfect conditions to race in and not like any other April regatta I've done. Hopefully they will all be like that!
The races were fairly succesful for NKC so well done everyone who raced!