We all survived Ironbridge
It was windy - and rainy at times but we survived. Marcus and Phil managed to paddle through Jackfield rapids in a boat with a totally dysfunctional rudder and NOT swim which was a pretty mammoth achievement; (Lincoln weren’t so lucky and all 3 K2 teams swam - some kind of bizarre eastern synchronised swimming thing I guess) . Anita and Gari were bullied into racing in div 7 - mostly because the rest if us got bored with being beaten by them in div 8. They did well, still coming second so taking home nice pint mugs despite Anita being caught in a fishing line which wrapped itself around her - still with the hook in and she was slightly concerned that it might rip out her appendix…
The four k2s in div 8 went to war with the mopheads chasing Worcester’s Ellie Andrews and Jayne Moran, but coming in second and Ellie and Matt assumed that they had third in the bag until Alice and Deb sneaked up on them. Ellie and Matt nearly left it too late for a sprint finish to get the prize but someone shouted Deb’s name from the bank and they suddenly realised that they were going to have to work to retain their place - they did it - but only by 3 seconds!
There were Shropshire 3 K1s in div 8 too - Holly made a strong start but got entangled in fishing line which stole her blades, forcing her to hand paddle for a while. This gave Andy the chance to catch up. They were both gaining ground when Holly got taken out by a div 9 k2 which pushed her into the bank. Poor Holly; the world really was out to get her on Sunday. Still both Andy and Holly were beaten by Dave Spelman who having spent a week dossing, drinking and surfing (allegedly) managed to pull a fourth place despite being half asleep at he start - only beginning to wake up when the whistle blew and the boats either side of him showered him with water.
In div 9 Maria came second which was tremendous achievement for only her second race and her first time out on r a river - and was complemented on her technique by the DW vet who won the race! Kate and Dave came fourth in the div9 k2 race, having spent a while paddling alongside Kath Nadal who had an even worse experience with fishing line than Holly, having it wrapped around both ends of her paddles and then being reeled in, across the current before she could extricate herself.
The lightnings provided some entertaining viewing but hard paddling - one of the U12s managed to pin almost all of the other boats together into a start shape. Very pretty but not hugely useful for paddling. Flo managed to escape and went on to win with a substantial margin but Cam got stuck at the back and left the others to fight it out themselves. In the U10s race Oliver had a cracking start but then got cut up by the other boats. He still managed a third but sometimes I think we’re just too polite.
All in all one first, five seconds and three thirds but Dave cleaned up on the raffle . The pink doll was particularly fetching we thought.