Shropshire Paddlesport Blog

As promised the updated leader board taking into account the points for Gailey. The colums are Total Points, Average (Total divided by the number of races you’ve done) and your rank.

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you - it is SHP’s very own submariners at the top of the table at the moment !

Everyone else on my list is on zero points so far so I’ve trimmed them off the list.

Yesterday’s trip to Gailey ended up being a beautiful day in the sunshine despite a whole load of administrative mucking around which ended up with at least two of our crews missing their start time and one person not being able to race at all.

This was the first race in our region since the new rules came into play, and it’s clear that the BCU are rigidly enforcing them, so to repeat them for clarity (taken from the updated Hasler rules document and the website)

Stronger rules will apply in future.
A current BCU membership card or a photocopy must be produced at race check in.  If not:
a)       paddlers ranked in divisions 1 to 6 will not be permitted to race.
b)       paddlers ranked in divisions 7, 8 and 9 may purchase an Event Ticket.
Race entries will be checked for BCU membership.   Hasler points will be deleted and the race will not count as a Hasler qualifying race for any paddler subsequently found not to have had current membership or to have purchased more than one Event Ticket in the season.
The rules will apply similarly for juniors ranked in divisions 7, 8 and 9 who must prove their membership of the Youth Section of their club.

So what this means is that:

1. If you’re an adult you have to be a comprehensive member of the BCU and bring your card along to prove this. Full stop,no argument.

2. If you’re a junior ranked in Div 7,8,9 or a Lightning paddler then you are exempt from this BUT you still have to show your membership card which shows you are a member of an affiliated club. We (Deb & I) have these cards and will be re-issuing them as soon as all the membership renewals are in (hint hint!)

3. If you’re a junior ranked higher than Div 7 then you need to be a fully comprehensive member as though you were an adult.

4. If you are in Div 7,8,9 then you will be allowed ONE event ticket if you have forgotten your membership card. For higher divisions this is not permitted.

5. If you try to mess them around the BCU will disqualify you and take your points away!

Ok, admin stuff over - what about the race?

Well it was a typical Gailey race - very bouncy on the water and at times it seemed to be more about staying upright than moving forward. There were a few swims but our club came away relatively unscathed. We had a good entry from the club and individual results stacked up like this:

Sam & Emlyn came 1st in Div 9 K2

Dave & Kate came 6th in Div 9 K2 but they were paddling a rudderless bath tub with a specially designed skeg…

Phil & Alice came 2nd in Div 8 K2

Ellie & Matt came 7th in Div 8 K2

Deb & Will came 9th in Div 8 K2

The mopheads came 4th in Div 7 K2 in their first div 7 race

Andy came 14th in Div 8 K1

Tim came 6th in U12 Lightning

In terms of club points it was a bit disappointing as there was one very fast Div 8 K2 team who were so far ahead of everyone else that no other team in Div 8 got more than minimum points and something similar happened in Div 7 K2 so we came away with 5 club points (thank goodness for Emlyn, Sam, Kate, Dave, Andy and Tim) for the event which currently puts us 8th in the table (top 8 clubs go to the final).

I’ll put the numbers into the spreadsheet and publish it over the next couple of days.

Thanks to everyone who came and raced and supported.

Before we go into Sunday’s race at Gailey just a reminder of the current club leader board.

Race results after Fladbury - 2 races in

It’s a Lambert / Jinks / Whittle / Barnes cluster at the top of the table at the moment, but lots and lots of space for everyone else to improve on their score - remember if you don’t compete you can’t earn points, either for yourself or for the club.

This Sunday (29 March) sees the first hasler race of 2009. Its Gailey which is close to home - and a great race for stable boats. Its a bit choppy otherwise - but can result in some fast times - its where Marcus & Jess got promoted last year.

Racing for the club means that we get points. Last year we got enough points to qualify for the hasler finals which were great. It would be brilliant to qualify again - BUT WE NEED BODIES ON THE WATER FOR THAT. You don’t have to be good, you don’t have to win - you just have to turn up, paddle and have fun!

Check in is 11am with div 7-9 and lightnings starting at 11:30 and divs 1-6 at 13:00 hours.

If you intend to race, or want more information, please let Deb know. I need to know:
What division you intend to race in
Whether its K1 or K2 (and if K2 who you’re paddling with)
Which boat you intend to use if you’re not using your own boat
Whether you need a race vest; the club has a limited supply of junior and senior colours for loan.

Please also remember club colours and BCU membership cards for seniors and juniors in div 6 and above.

One of the things about being based on a skinny canal is that working with *really* big boats is a bit tricky - if you try to put something like a K4 in the water at the shed then you have to go all the way up to the winding point by the aqueduct before you can turn it in that direction and if you’re going down the canal you’re limited to picking it up and turning it around by hand.

So, as a result, we don’t have K4s at SHP, however when Deb and I were at Nottingham for the coaching conference we got talking to some people from other clubs and came away with an invitation to “come down and play in one of ours”. So with her “girly rep” head on Deb set up a trip and last Sunday she, Ellie, Alice and Emily took a trip down to Burton to have a go in their K4.

As it turned out it was an absolutely beautiful day for paddling and the people from Burton were incredibly welcoming and helpful (even to the extent of lending is one of their Junior girls so that not everyone had to be on the water all the time). Much paddling was done and no falling in happened so all in all the day must be viewed as a success.

We even have pictures…

Anita won the div 7,8,9 duathlon series following a silver medal at Burton!

Well done Anita!

In Gailey news - Bruce came second in the div 4-6 series and Grace won the lightning competition, with Rose 3rd.

Apologies for the lack of blog… Andy was playing with it just before we went away and it broke. We’re now back, and the blog is mended. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.