Soar Valley New Year Race

Before setting out for this 12 mile race I was told to 'think of it as an adventure'. Maybe this was more of a premonition than a piece of advice as the race turned out to be a pretty bizarre experience.
Shob and I got off to a good start, staying with Mick and Leanna and doing some good portages. We worked hard and had a laugh as we went.
Problems started on the way back when you have to remember which way you actually came from and Shob and I seem to have an inability to navigate our way along a fairly simple river. Shob seemed to think that all the giant 'all craft this way' arrows had got it wrong and twice insisted on me taking a wrong turn. I did as I was told and if it weren't for some fisher men telling us to go the other way, who knows where we would have ended up. The second time we made this mistake however (it seems stupid in hindsight but i think there was some sort of logic behind it), there was noone to tell us we'd got it wrong. We soon spotted the lock on the bit of river paralel to us that we should have been on. Deciding to use a bit of initiative, I had a great idea that we should climb up a big muddy hill covered in sticks and nettles and portage back over to the correct side. This might have actually worked if it weren't for Shob dropping her paddles in the water and only realising when they had floated out of reach. Shob ran off with my paddles to try and fish hers out of the water, leaving me to drag a K2 full of water up of a pile of stuff which was gradually collapsing under the weight.
Meanwhile, Shob was unable to reach her paddles and asked a man in a K1, who we later learnt was called Malcolm, to get them for her. He attempted to do so and consequently fell in. Leaving the boat, I went to find Shob looking guilty and Malcolm swimming to the other side. We helped him carry his boat and paddles and get back on the water in an attempt to make up for it all and thankfully, he was ok about it. So we went back, got in our own boat and paddled back with this guy to a crowd of confused NKC paddlers who had long since finnished their race with no such adventures.
Oh well, atleast it will be one to remember and an interesting start to 2008. We even came first in the ladies class! Thanks for another fun day :)
Happy new year!

Winter Race 3 - December

The weather was cold, calm and dry again for the 3rd Winter Race in the 2007/8 series. After the recent high water, the level had returned to nearly normal. Of the 32 paddlers, 11 of them were juniors, with yet another "Lads & Dads" K2 appearing in the shape of Marish and Tadek who took first place and 20 points. Shobhanna & Zyggy were 2nd, Craig & Ricky 3rd followed by Beth & Leanna 4th, as all junior crew.
The equal leaders in the series are now Kath, Beth & Leanna, with Shobhanaa, Craig & Ricky as equal second. A quick glance at the leader board shows that 7 of the top 10 placed paddlers are juniors.
Full Official Results here http://uk.geocities.com/nottinghamkayakclub/resultstore/winter_races_07_08.htm

15km Race

Cold, blustery and a bit dark, but a few hardy crews turned out for today's 15km race. Those in the A & B races did the full 15km or 3 laps of the Toll Bridge - Lady Bay Bridge loop, while the C race did 10km or 2 laps of the same course. Only Tadek & Zyggy turned out for the Hody race which was a much shorter course still.

It was good to see paddlers from Leamington, Lincoln, Solihull & Macclesfield make the trip to join us.

There was just enough light for a few pictures.
























Results at http://uk.geocities.com/nottinghamkayakclub/resultstore/15kmk207.htm

Thanks to Norman for organising it, thanks to Cathy for the hot food.

Winter Race 2 - November

Unlike Race 1, it was a bit of a miserable day for Race 2. Despite that, there were 32 paddlers eager to get out there. 18 of these opted to do the race in K2, 10 of these Juniors. Mick has obviously been asking Kath for tips about how to beat the handicap and paddled with Harvey, who was in a K2 for only the second time & they were back so quickly that they almost finished on Saturday! ... And yes Kath did manage to get back 2nd, paddling with Laura, but only just as it was a dead heat with Craig & Ricky. Perhaps most important was that 6 of the first 10 over the line were juniors.
Hayleigh moved into the top spot for Lady's K1 for the series so far with a time of 37:20 and Tom & Chris were the fastest boat on the water with a time of 37:19

The top of the leader board is now:

Kath Nadal 39 (K2, K2)
Beth Walker 28 (K2, K2)
Leanna Bold 28 (K2, K2)
Max Littlewood 26 (K2, K2)
Rex Littlewood 26 (K2, K2)
Ben Oakley 25 (K2, WWR)
Shaune Hicks 21 (K1, K1)

Full (Unofficial) results at http://uk.geocities.com/nottinghamkayakclub/resultstore/winter_races_07_08.htm

More Bonfire Paddle Photos

Thanks to Mark of these pictures of Jonathan, James, Shohanaa, Beth, Kath & Mick, plus the raft that had over 40 paddlers in it!

Gunpowder Plot meets Cockleshell Heroes!

It was a great idea of George's to paddle up to the Toll Bridge in the dark on the evening of the Wilford Bonfire. There were 44 paddlers altogether, from the Pool sessions, Holme Pierrpont Canoe Club, Dave's Casual Paddling sessions plus a handful of club members. Mark & Rachel brought Jonathan who had the grandstand view from the front of the Topo Duo, Gary was in a plastic GP, Ricky & James paddled playboats & we took the open canoes, some hot soup, fresh home-made bread, biscuits and cakes with a few Doritos, plus quilts and groundsheet and made a picnic of it. It was a lovely evening for paddling - even better for watching fireworks and picnicing! Kath & Shob paddled one boat, while Beth and I were in the other. George & Dave rode shotgun and signalled for help with a variety of parachute & hand flares and eventually the Nottingham Princess came to the rescue. Meanwhile, James was the only casulty when a paddle blade took out his tooth in the middle of a Mexican wave. However it did not limit his ability to out-shriek the "screamer" fireworks.
Thanks to George for organising it assisted by Dave & thanks to the rest who contributed to a different and enjoyable way to do Bonfire Night.

Trent K2

There was a fair entry for Trent K2 last weekend. Unusually there were more in the C Race (Div 9 or more total ranking) than there were in the B Race (5-8 total ranking). This may have been due to the unusually low river conditions. The weather was a bit odd too. It started fairly bright at the start at Castle Donington, but by the time we were reaching Sawley, the wind was whipping up quite a chop and the sky was so black it seemed as though dusk was approaching. By the time we reached the club, the sky was blue and the sun was shining.

I don't know how other people's races went, but ours was as mixed as the weather. We got a reasonable start and Beth set a good pace, steering past the shingle banks, the groups of rock and the "clag ups" until a random rock leapt out and got us after about a mile. The rudder got bent and although we had a spare stowed in the boat, I was reluctant to stop before the first portage, so we lurched from side to side of the river on the most "technical" bit of the course. However, Beth did a good job and although we dropped gradually back until we were down to about 13th or 14th place, we didn't lose sight of the group ahead. A quick straighten and a good run at Sawley brought us back up to the second group. Once Beth discovered that the rudder was once more functional, she burned my arms off until we reached the group and not satisfied with that wanted to take the work up straight away.
After that, things went well again with some good runs and a bit of local knowledge on the portages and yet again an attempt to kill me off by Beth, we improved our position considerably.
It was a bit of a drag from Beeston to the finish, and not an impressive time compared to other years, but an enjoyable paddle.
I hope everyone else enjoyed the race too. Full results http://uk.geocities.com/nottinghamkayakclub/resultstore/trentk207.htm