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

Tim in action again

Despite only having started training again in mid February following a lay-off after winning Gold in the 1000 metres and Bronze in the 500 metres at the Beijing Olympics, NKC member Tim Brabants was up there with the leaders in both 500 & 1000 at the April regatta. He also managed to win the 5km race by a hair breadth. Tim was caught in action by fellow club member Leonard Bobcek. see Tim in action again at Holme Pierrepont on the weekend of Sat/Sun 8/9th of May.

New Mixed Record for DW

The record for the Mixed K2 on the non-stop 125 mile Devizes to Westminster canoe race has been broken by NKC pair, Harriet Farish & Paul Enoch. Their time of 17 hours 30 minutes 31 seconds beats the previous record set in 1994 by nearly 5 minutes.

Not only that, but Paul and Harriet finished in 2nd place overall and first Civilian crew, a really outstanding result for a Mixed pair. As far as I can tell from the race records this is the highest position ever for a Mixed crew.

Portaging Oakhill Lock -Froxfield

Paul and Harriet also break our own "club record" in the placings for Senior K2, previously held jointly by Brian Newbutt/Dave Hewlings in 1994 and Dave Phillips/Kath Nadal in 1981. These 2 crews both finished in 6th place.

So in a year that saw a quarter of the Senior K2 retire including our own crew of Craig Duff & Mark Burton, this is great result - well done Paul & Harriet

Photo: Jane Millar
More photos
Results

Waterside D 2010

There were only 3 Nottingham enties for the 35 mile final race of the Series. I say entries, there were only 2 starters, with Tom having gone to the extreme of hammering his head against a piece of bathroom/kitchen furniture to render himself senseless in order to avoid a greater ordeal. Making a cup of tea? Ha! So a No Show for Becky and Tom.

Josh was rather muted, even at the start, as the realisation that he was about to do 112 x 500 metres all in one go gradually dawned on him. That's about 55.5 km further than he claims is "his distance."

Volume was down to about half normal by the end, even when his result became clear. No doubt it will soon pick up again as 4th place in a time of 5:23:24 is something he will want known. However, that was not the best, as his overall performance on the whole series left him in 2nd in Senior K1, an outstanding performance for a 500 metre sprinter. Not only that, but his technique was spotted by more than one old hand, who wondered if he could really be a Nottie paddler with such a relaxed, efficient style. So really well done Josh - bragging rights mate. Mind you next time you finish a marathon before the end and claim it's because you're really a sprinter, we will all know the truth, after all you've got the teeshirt to prove otherwise.

Craig and Mark looked fresh at the start and apart from a serious twinge in Mark's back looked the same at the finish. Craig still only had one thing in mind and they overtook her somewhere along the course to make his day complete. They went off the scale of possible speeds I had considered likely over the 1st 16 miles, but then settled back to one slightly faster than I would have predicted. Mark accepts all food and drink offered, although I've not tried steak and chips yet. Craig did better this time and didn't spit out anything whilst in sight. Reports of a flasher in rural Berkshire should be discounted as myth.

Their place of 8th on the D race in a time of 5:28:06 was good enough to get them into 4th in the series in Senior K2. Well done to them and to Josh as it is quite some time since Notties finished so well in the series.

Well done too to all NKC members who did any of the races, as the turn out in 2010 has been better than for quite a few years. If you haven't yet had a go, well, there's always 2011.
Waterside D results
Series results
Thanks to Ollie Harding for photos

Waterside C 2010

Waterside C saw less NKC paddlers, but there were still enough to need a minibus and car. Setting off from Nottingham in dark freezing conditions is becoming a habit.

The temperature gauge wizzed up and down between -6 and a steamy -0.5 all the way to Pewsey, where it finally stuck on -2. This obviously meant that the paddling race turned into a running race for much of the 1st third.

Josh was the only K1 but produced a steady performance for 9th Senior K1. He was considerably quieter as he hove into view at the finish than when he set off, but still going strong.

Chris & Zyggy had been first Nottie crew away, but the running was very demanding on them, although they finished strongly for the conditions as one of only 4 Junior/Vet crews to complete the race. 

 Becky & Tom also turned in a good performance to come 9th in the mixed race, but went straight to the top of the leader border for the broken rudder trophy. The spare in the back of the boat was obviously worth carrying. Shaune and Cathy did well to finish just behind them in 10th despite the mismatch in leg stride on the running. Considering that it was a bit longer than your average Canoe Polo pool, Shaune was looking remarkably fresh at the end and Cathy was sufficiently relaxed to sunbathe in the car park briefly. (Sorry no pics)

Paul and Harriet paddled steadily through the field with little incident apart from the need to negociate the packed portages full of Sunday afternoon spectators to win the Mixed K2 class.

Craig and Mark started well, dropping very little time over the frozen sections and working steadily through the field. Craig's clockwork ran down about 16 miles down the course, just after Hungerford and the field started working their way back through them. A few more turns of the key needed for Waterside D.

Mark managed to look fresh all the way down probably due to the steady fuel supply welded to his back.

All NKC crews finished. The day looked to be a beautiful spring one, but the thermometer says, "No!" The organiser summed it up on the Waterside website, "That was a tough one. Respect to all who finished."

Results

Thanks to Ollie Harding for the photos

Waterside B (2)

Photos from Ollie Harding's Waterside B Album

Would you want to sit on this wash on a cold day without a spraydeck?

See all Ollie's paddling Albums http://www.flickr.com/photos/paddling

Waterside B 2010

Watching the Winter Olympics till late at night all week didn't help prepare for racing at Newbury too much, but was definately an asset for the drive there. The slips, the slides, the snow ...

Everyone was on time, loaded and on the road before 6:30. Well I say road, my choice of using the A46 may not have been best, as the car tyres never touched the actual road for the first 20 miles or so. When a snow plough we were following turned off, I wondered if we were going to be marooned near Leicester until the thaw set in. Fortunately that happened before we reached the A43.

Newbury by contrast was almost summery and seemed warmer than it was for Waterside A, 2 weeks ago. The good weather obviously attracted a few paddlers out, with over 250 boats racing.

Zyggy and I cannot be said to have had our finest race, although there were people for us to to catch and overtake all the way, nor did we finish last in the Junior/Veteran class. I was a bit disappointed not to beat 7 times World Champion, Ivan Lawler and his junior partner, who not only won our race, but were 3rd fastest boat on the water. Dave and Tadek were much quicker than we were, finishing 3rd in the same class, and I don't suppose they minded being beaten by Brian Greenaway, another legend of the sport and his junior partner. Dave and Tadek were only 3 minutes down on them. Our 6th was almost 1 hour slower than Ivan's time.

Meanwhile, Tom and Becky were putting in a far better performance than on Waterside A ... they finished.  Tom obviously had new legs, or perhaps it was borrowing Geordie's aging boat that did the trick. 6th for them too in the Mixed class.

Craig and Mark may well have sorted their differences on portaging, although the boat still leaks, and the pump needs some serious maintenance. They finished 7th in the Senior K2 race dropping 2 places on their A result, but were the fastest Nottie boat on the water.

Josh was 12th in the Senior K1 and 2nd fastest Nottie boat.

I console myself with the knowledge that across the classes, over 70 K2s were slower than we were, one of them over 2 hours slower!

That's about it, Spring had almost returned to the Midlands, making the journey home almost effortless. Josh, Tadek and Zyggy were completely hyper when they should have been sleeping blissfully - at least there was little chance of feeling tired driving, although Craig didn't seem to notice.