2009 Hasler Final

So the end of the 2009 marathon canoe season saw us revisiting Reading Canoe Club for the 2009 Hasler Final. The water was calm, the air was warm and sunny and the organisers presented us with a course that was simple enough, even for us Way paddlers to understand! For the 13km and 20km courses this entailed a top turn before Mapledurham weir followed very shortly by a new false portage in a cow field. And here I detected some trepidation from the organisers on how this would go down with some of their more awkward customers judging by the email,

"Before you start your blog on tomorrow’s race. You will not need hiking boots this time but … a grappling hook and rope would be advised, also a bucket and spade may be useful if you have time to spare. As you do not wear a red vest you should not attract attention from the bovine crowd.
Cheers, BG"

I was later assured that although the cows had been taken out of the field they may indeed have left something behind. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, I resolved to follow the nearest Richmond crew into said portage.

As it turned out, the new get out couldn’t have been more welcome as my crew mate and I were running with a horrible lean all the way up to Mapledurham. Until then we were constantly veering left and were steadily getting dropped one-by-one down the field. And so to the portage, an easy sandy beach, a not-so-bad-earth bank to negotiate, 50 metres of soft (well fertilised) grass and no evidence of the bull, and after putting-in the wonderful realisation that we were sitting square in the boat. With no lean we were able to stretch out and even catch a few crews up again. But alas not enough to get us onto the points table. Get yourself a faster partner and one that looks where he's going next time Marthe!

Well done to all the Wey paddlers who got to stand on the podium. An outstanding performance from Jack and Charlie in Div 3 K2 saw them take silver. In the other races we had two more silvers from James (4K1) and Calvin (7K1), four bronze placings from Richard/Mike (4K2), Rebecca/Seb (7K2) and points for five positions in fourth place from Rob (1K1), Roy/Mike (2K2), and Oscar/Tom (6K2). But Oh dear, without any gold medals this steady performance was only good enough to place us fourth in the club points.

Congratulations to Norwich Canoe Club first time winners of the Hasler Final. With seven gold medals, four silver medals and Tim going home with a bronze won in the Division 1 race, they were only six points shy of the maximum possible.

Thanks to everyone at Reading CC for a really successful event. I love you all.

Tell Chad

Races at Royal Wey, Tonbridge, Nottingham, Longridge not to mention Poznan, Ostroda, Gudenaa and Crestuma. Wot has everyone been doing all summer?!

Box End Quadrathlon - 2nd August

This was an "off-road" Quad.

• Starting with a 750m open water swim,
• 4.4km kayak with 2 portages,
• 15km (3x5km loops) mountain biking on a soft grassy and often rutted course
• and finishing with a 5km run on the same track.

This was my first solo multi-sport event and was chuffed to finish 17th out of 42 competitors in a time of 1hr09, with the 12th fastest time in the paddle leg. Interestingly the top finishers were also by far the best paddlers! So if you can swim a bit, manage an hour + cycle and then still finish a 5-10k run, then forget the triathlon and take the next step up.

Next up the real deal in Pembroke on 12 Sept.

Guildford Lions Raft Race 2009

The raft race ended at The Waterside centre on Saturday. Here are some pics of the event. Lots of fun! http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/calum.shaw/RaftRace2009?feat=directlink#

Post-script to Reading Hasler Marathon

More to talk about? Clearly there are more ways to make a race less predictable than anyone bargained for.

1. Allow the home side to shoot the weirs
2. Allow home side to use different portages
3. randomise the results.

You couldn’t make it up.

Reading Assessment and Hasler Races

According to some, the reason football is the most popular sport in the world is down to it being unpredictable. There's the offside rule to start with and then as only a few points (aka goals) decide the winner, the team that wins isn't always the best team. Really, it’s true; Games Theorists who think about these things say so.
Perhaps Reading Canoe Club has come to the same conclusion. Contrast Saturday's assessment race with Sunday's Hasler race.

The assessment race was run with the new international circuits. The competitors can be seen by a stationery spectator and maybe this has some merit as round and round they go. But come on, be honest, isn't it just a little boring to watch? And counting the number of DNF's perhaps too tedious for many of the competitors.

And so how to add the element of unpredictability? DSQ those that don't pay attention to the briefing! Good try but apparently the selectors weren't looking for an ability to recall minor details. I'm not sure whether teams are allowed to bring along a pacer to international events either but that is another story.

In complete contrast, Sunday's divisional races were held over a there-and-back course. From the club house to a big buoy 2km upstream for the short and middle distance races and somewhat further for the longer course. Back down past the club to turn around the island to finish for the 7,8,9 paddlers. And this is where it started to get interesting for the 13 and 19 km races.

Unpredictable element number one: the race went behind Caversham Lock across a recreation ground on a mega-long portage. Bare feet? I would have stuck a pair of hiking boots in the back of the boat had I known!

The paddle continued on down to Kennet Mouth and up to a portage at Blakes Lock where we have unpredictable element number two: a jetty there to taunt us (as it was reserved for the return leg) while some struggled, others patiently waited to put in on the tiny piece of water 3 or 4 foot below. There followed a short loop with lots of potential to get lost while absorbing Reading's industrial heritage along the way. Back over Blakes Lock, back over Caversham Lock (puff puff puff) to finish outside the club.

Now I'm sure the best paddlers did win through and it was only those at the back of the race (like me) who got held up at the portages but it was a thoroughly enjoyable Sunday outing nevertheless. I have no doubt that Sunday's paddlers will have a lot more to talk about that those that raced on Saturday. Vive la difference!

Hastings 1066 Marathon

The 1066 Hastings Race was once again held at Tonbridge (does anyone remember the Rother?) After the usual daft start where there is only enough room for seven boats before funneling down after 100 metres or so to where there is only room for a group of four, the course continued with the usual long and short laps up and down the sides of the island. The long and middle distance races in the afternoon then visited the downstream leg on the Medway for the first time since 2005. Why can I remember this? Perhaps it’s because a young Mark and I beat Sage in 5/6 doubles! Since then I think the lock has been re-fitted and there is now a canoeist-friendly jetty rather than the long drop down over a metal walkway. So worth another visit Sage? Shame I got tipped in on the last leg of the island before the finish because (a) I wasn't doing too badly considering the poor start; (b) I was overtaken by none other than one of the Ealing Oiks. No for a change I'm not being rude, you just had to be at the Wey Regatta to understand and (c) I’ll get my revenge on Maidstone when they visit us on June 28!

Some results
Tom came 4^th in Div 9 on first outing in his lovely new boat. Oscar, bravely racing up two divisions in Div 7 came 8^th
Amanda in the pink Tor and now on the dizzy heights of Div 6 came 4^th
Hazel came 3^rd, Ed came 4^th and Mike 9^th in Div 5.
Jack on his first outing in div 4 came 3^rd. OK he was disappointed as there were only two others in the race, but while the veterans still think he's cute and will give him a wash, in this race the gloves were off and he was left inspecting the bankside flora on more than one occasion.
Dean seamlessly integrating his sprint training with a 20km paddle once a week came 1^st in Div 1.