Winter paddling

It's time to dust off the earwig and the pogies for the winter paddling. The water temperature seems to have dropped in the last week, and yesterday I had major ice-cream head for the first time since March. Thankfully though, this is all due to the huge amounts of rain we've been getting. Hurley has already been on 3 gates for more days than the whole of last season, so things are looking up for a good season of boating.

This weekend we had rain of biblical proportions, perhaps too much, as everything went high, and then went even higher! Unfortunately the high-water weirs are often a little fickle and only come in for a day (if you're lucky), so you need to time it right. Shepperton, the usual high-water weir, forms a really fast wave - the best wave in the country, at the right levels. Sunday morning was supposedly the best time to be there, unfortunately this was when I was sandpapering the walls of our bedroom! When we were there on Saturday the bottom level was too low and the wave wasn't forming, and by Sunday afternoon it was apparently getting too high and turning into a hole.

On Saturday, Ed and I checked out Sunbury weir which has recently been found to produce a nice wave at medium-high levels. Unfortunately when we got there it was a bit too high for a wave, and was forming a REALLY big hole, we surfed on the river left shoulder, which formed every now and again, but mainly was difficult to stay on, and naturally we were both too scared to get right into the guts of the hole (however, I did get a lot closer than Ed, although he insists this was by accident)! We didn't spend long on the river, but it was good to try out a 'new' Thames Valley Weir. Maybe next time we'll get the right water levels.

Big Boat Bonanza - Ireland's Boater X

I've been meaning to get across to Ireland for sometime now to test the rumour that Guinness tastes better over there. Well, I managed to finally book my flights to get across the pond and, as a bonus, there was a White-Water Boater X thrown in with the weekend's Guinness-drinking partying.

Unfortunately the wet stuff (rain that is, not Guinness) had not been falling from the sky and once again the river was at really low levels. This meant that there was just one route down the race course without getting stuck up on rocks, and it meant that Jacksons fall at the bottom of the course was at the perfect level to provide plenty of carnage. However, the course was still runnable and no one was put off by the water levels as plenty of people turned up to compete in the event. The event catered for all, and there were huge numbers of club and university entrants.

The team event was on the Saturday, where teams of three paddlers raced against the clock and had to complete two tasks: rolling on the way down (quite a feat in the shallow water!) and catching a small eddy on the final fall. This was a good opportunity for those new to the river to find all the rocks and figure out where the deepest lines were. The fastest expert men were the Dutchies just beating local/international paddlers Rob Coffey, Dave Carrol and Simon Westgarth. The expert ladies event was won by locals(ish) Kim Siekermen, Kate Harris and Rosie Cripps.

Well done to the Rescue Rangers who were kept busy on both days with plenty of this:


The evening's entertainment, which was of course the main part of the event, took place in a Marquee, which was thankfully a lot warmer than the outside temperatures. The theme was Country and Western, and many people put a lot of effort into making some imaginative costumes. Cheesy and Ollie were on the decks...



...the Guinness flowed and flowed, and the party went on into the early hours of the morning.

Needless to say, the next morning was a slow start for everyone. When the Irish say 10 O'clock start they mean 12.30pm. Which was great for those with hangovers, but not so good for those that needed to catch an early evening flight! Once the event got started though, it ran quickly and smoothly. The crowd gathered at Jacksons falls to watch some fantastic carnage and to cheer on those that were still in their boats (and even some that were not) to the finish line. Contd below....

Big Boat Bonanza - Ireland's Boater X (ptII)

....Contd
I had been put in a hard heat, with local paddler Kim Siekermen. She had a good position at the start whereas I started too far into the eddy and had to push my way into the flow. Kim managed to get a good few power strokes off my chest as I was hitting the back of her boat with my paddle. I thought maybe I could go for a sneaky left line, but it was too shallow and I got stuck up on some rocks. So, Kim was out in front and I was following behind. Although Kim slowed down a little on the approach to Jacksons, I also slowed down to make sure I didn't hit the rock at the top. My line on Jacksons was not as clean as my line the day before as I scraped past the rocks on the left hand eddy, however by this stage Kim had reached the finish line and won the heat. So, out of the competition, I was left to watch the rest of the racing, it was good entertainment.

As some consolation I was beaten by the eventual winner of the Ladies' event.

Kim and Rosie in the Ladies' Expert final.


The ladies' final was apparently a battle at the top of the course as Kim and Rosie Cripps (last year's winner) sharpened their elbows and paddles and supposedly, as only girls will do, apologised to each other after each battle stroke! Kim eventually got out in front and Rosie didn't get the chance to overtake her, both paddlers got a perfect line through Jacksons and Kim kept her lead to take the win. Well done Kim.

Kim celebrates by splashing Rosie in the face with water.


Most of the fights in each heat went unseen as they happened right at the top of the course whilst everyone jostled for the best position on the start line (which was often the decider of the race), and then fought to get into the flow and down the narrow routes between the rocks. But these boys (quarter final, Men's Expert) provided the dirtiest and most entertaining fighting of the day for the crowd to spectate:



Looks innocent enough from this photo, Rob Coffey out in front with Simon Westgarth following in the green boat and Mr Red-Boat (sorry, I don't know who it was)following behind. It seems the deck-grabbing nastiness had already begun near the top of the river, although it is unclear who started it, interestingly Simons story is very different to Rob's, who to believe? :)

However, when they came into view Rob was in the lead and the crowds witnessed Simon using the 'grab-boat-and-pull' technique to get past Red Boat Man into 2nd position. Just as it looked like Rob was sure to take the win he got caught up on the rock above Jacksons, and dropped over it sideways. Meanwhile Simon got a good boof through the middle line, and then this happened:



I wouldn't like to pass judgement on whether Rob was simply throwing himself at Simons deck to rescue himself from the Jaws of Jacksons (although I'm pretty sure he wasn't very close to the 'Jaws'), or whether he was thinking something along these lines: "well, if I'm not going to win, neither is he". Either way, a fight for the finish line ensued, which momentarily involved Mr Red-boat Man as a hand once again grabbed his deck. Fortunately for him though, the other two were so busy stopping each other that Mr Red-boat sneaked to the finish banner behind them!



Fantastic entertainment!

Lots of big names were knocked out of the Men's Expert event early, including the above mentioned Rob and Simon, as well as Allan Ellard. However, Paul 'Cheesy' Robertson, who had been working all weekend on the Dagger/Palm stand, seemed to comfortably win each of his heats (although he did look a bit knackered by the end of it all) and went on to win the Men's Expert event in a final against a man in a blue boat.

Cheese wins the Men's Expert Event


Some other people won events, apologies for not knowing who these people are, congratulations if it was you!

Thanks to Shane and the guys for organising the event, it was a good one. Although, I was heartily disappointed not to have had the opportunity to carry an unbroken egg down the river (which I heard was one of last year's team-event specialities)! I was impressed to see so many beginner to intermediate paddlers throwing themselves down Jacksons, and it was also great to see so many female paddlers on the water. And, it's true, the Guinness really does taste better in Ireland.

There are a few more images here (apologies for the blurred ones - light was bad on the river and camera was fogging up in the party so I didn't get too many shots).