Following on from H&H 1, held in what could only be described as unpleasant conditions, with wind and flow combining to make life hard; what a pleasant change to find last Sunday's weather and river conditions being almost optimal for racing. If anything, it was almost too sunny and the race finish line officials found reading boat numbers particularly difficult (club issue Shades perhaps?). A few leaves had been around and in the river on the Saturday, but even these seemed to obligingly disappear for the following day. As a result, a nearly 100 strong turnout largely beat their target times and hardly any paddlers felt the need to swim.
Notable performances were too many to list in full with two course records being set; but for club veterans, Paul (Fish) Thompson stayed dry for a change and Michael Luck smashed the hour barrier for the first time in 10 years (his words!). Reports reached me that there was some havoc between a K2 quietly minding it's own business and a number of K1s taking up valuable river space - I can't think who they mean. A number of the juniors posted personal bests, led by Robert Harrison with an impressive sub 46 minutes time, whilst the junior K2 of Tom Goldsack and Samantha Martyn also showed up well. For the more experienced paddlers, the scratch K2 of Vicki Croucher and Calvin Freebody, despite prior protestation of not being in shape, still managed to limp home in 45 minutes. It wasn't just Wey members to the fore; Richmond provided a strong presence with over 25 paddlers and there were good turnouts from Royal and other local clubs. All in all a good day with thanks as ever to the team officiating and especially those manning (or perhaps more accurately womaning) the kitchen who all did a sterling job.
