With no newsletter in August, there is quite a lot to catch up on for Devizes Canoe Club!

Dragon Boat Racing

Ten DCC paddlers made up a team for the Felix Fund charity Dragon Boat Race day at Chippenham in July. The first race proved to be a learning experience in making sure you put people in the correct places in the boat in order to keep boat the balanced! With a definite lean to one side, it was our slowest race of the day with a couple of people struggling not to slip off their seats! Our second race was more successful after a rethink of who should sit where. Our fastest heat, and win, was against the Navy team who went on to win the overall competition. After lying 3rd for quite a while, our fastest time was beaten at the end meaning we finished the competition in 4th place out of 11 teams. It was a great day out and a lot of fun!

Outdoor First Aid Course

We aim to provide safe, engaging and enjoyable experiences whatever paddling activities you are doing with the Club.  Keeping our coaches fully certified is a key part of that, so eight of the team recently attended an Outdoor First Aid course run at DCC. For some it was a refresher, others an update after a longer gap and for one a new course.  It’s amazing what can be packed into two days with theory, practicals and a brain teasing test at the end.  Treating shock seemed a common theme (no hot tea it turns out, but sit down, reassure and if they get faint lay down with legs raised). One of the team, (you can work out who!) went with “man up” when it came to dealing with splinters, and there were plenty of home remedies offered to deal with blisters from prior DW entrants!  The good humoured banter aside, some great training was provided with CPR, using our defibrillator and lots of knowledge on injuries and how to treat them.  There is lots of information online and we agreed to look at options for how we can spread the knowledge among members.   Remember keep safe paddling out there and if you are ever unlucky enough to get an injury your coaches are there to help out  🙂

Recreational paddling

During the summer, there have been  trips away from the club. In May, Lechlade to Faringdon  exploring the Thames  towards Oxford; in June Wolvercote to Sanford- on-Thames and also the river Wye from  Glasbury to Whitney. Then in July, back to the Thames  from Dreadnought Reach, Reading  to Aston Ferry incorporating  the Henley straight  to watch the rowing regatta from your boat.  Thanks to Roger Edwards for organising these trips and look out at the club for details  of other recreational trips coming up. 

Thames Challenge 200km

Over the August Bank holiday weekend, Roger and Di Edwards  together with nephew Graham Edwards, Jill Priday and Jenny Jones completed, in a C2 and K2 relay team, the Thames Challenge from Lechlade to Teddington. This  new course organised by  Andrew Ingpen was open to all paddle craft and consisted of 3 stages: Day 1 Lechlade to Abingdon 64km, day 2 Abingdon to Marlow 74km and  day 3 Marlow to Teddington 62km. In total 200km, 77 bridges and 44 portages. The weather was mostly good apart from  starting on Saturday in the rain and another heavy downpour  early afternoon. The Thames began narrow and quiet at Lechlade but as we progressed downstream it got wider and busier with other craft and pleasure boats especially past Reading Festival and Windsor Castle. It was a very enjoyable challenge  and massive thanks to our support crews the Edwards family and Chris Jones.

Thames Challenge 200 Ultra

Another new event in the racing calendar. This time, a 200km non-stop race from Lechlade to Teddington which could be completed with either one crew straight through or a relay team. One DCC pair took on the challenge and were the only C2 crew to race non-stop, rather than relay. For Dan Colby and Ian Thackray it was a ‘Big Birthday’ challenge with Dan having his big birthday just a few days before the race and Ian’s big birthday happening during the race itself! Ian did receive a McDonalds birthday doughnut at 1am to mark the occasion! They completed in 25hrs 20 min, which is possibly the fastest known time to paddle the length of the Thames in a C2. This was a great event be part of, relay teams, C1s and SUPs going straight through alongside the K2s and C2, and a mass start. Another new event in the racing calendar. This time, a 200km non-stop race from Lechlade to Teddington which could be completed with either one crew straight through or a relay team. One DCC pair took on the challenge and were the only C2 crew to race non-stop, rather than relay. For Dan Colby and Ian Thackray it was a ‘Big Birthday’ challenge with Dan having his big birthday just a few days before the race and Ian’s big birthday happening during the race itself! Ian did receive a McDonalds birthday doughnut at 1am to mark the occasion! They completed in 25hrs 20 min, which is possibly the fastest known time to paddle the length of the Thames in a C2. This was a great event be part of, relay teams, C1s and SUPs going straight through alongside the K2s and C2, and a mass start.

The National Inter-Club Regatta

Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 September 2024

 We took our largest sprint team this year to Nottingham with 12 paddlers; 10 juniors – Philippe, Arthur, Fred, Mary, Jared, Simeon, Luke, Cameron, Connie & Regan (it would have been 13, but Gus had an unfortunate tree climbing incident just the week before), and 2 seniors, Charlie Mayo & Alex Sheppy.

Highlights

Boys D had a huge field of 64 competitors in the K1 200m making Fred’s win in the section very impressive indeed. Fred & Jared placed first in the Boys D K2 200m. Connie came 3rd in the Intermediate Girls K1 500m F followed closely by Mary in 4th.
Philippe won the Boys A K1 500m & 1000m and Arthur & Philippe won the Boys A K2 500m.
Regan made finals in most of his Boys A events, Alex Sheppy held up the Devizes club name in the Mens A section and Charlie managed to stay in his boat all weekend!  All results can be found here.

Promotions
Congratulations to Fred Johnson who has been promoted to Boys C, Luke Mason who has been promoted to Boys D and Mary Johnson who has been promoted to Girls D.

Dates for your Diary

Sunday 15th September – Gloucester Hasler
Sunday 22nd September – Dart Hasler
Sunday 29th September – Saltford Hasler

Please support our regional hasler races. If you have any questions or would more information please speak to Nigel Chivers or Nick Poole.