This week I paddled 283.34 kilometres and competed in 5 races.
That brings my total to 8737.52 kilometres since June 3rd with no days off.

If you would like to give a donation to Prostate Cancer, big or small it will be most welcome.
Go to: https://fundraise.pcfa.org.au/fundraisers/terrybolland

Well it's all been happening this week as you will see from the stories.

It's raining!

The day before it was 42 degrees and then the next day it rained and I needed a thermal to keep warm.

I think some fishermen would like to catch a fish like this.
 

Young Darters on a very hot day.

• Who's Out There
• Racing Around Buoys
• Guppy K4 Launch
• School Students take on Basic Kayak Training
• Mandurah Canals Race
• Ramon Andersson Coaching
• On My Paddle - Birds Along The Way
• Junior Development Kayak Coach - AKC wanted
• Products
• Coming Events

Who's Out There
 

Thomas Pawlowski.
You will see Thomas most mornings paddling from Ascot at a high speed.
  

Ian Quin.
Ian has been around for a while and he is always fiddling or repairing things at the Ascot Kayak Club.  He doesn't do much competition but he still moves along and he is hard to catch.
 

Donna Chapman and friend collecting fishing line hanging in the trees.

Racing Around the Buoys

Our last race of the
Wild Water Racing Around the Buoys Summer Series
is on 

David Burdett this morning at Claughton Reserve.
David wins the Race Around the Buoys yet again.
One more race in the Summer Series at Ascot Kayak Club of Sunday. Will he dominate? 
(It was a overcast at 6.00am this morning for photos. But there was no wind.)
 

Harry Langley.
Harry is close to David but a few seconds separate them.
 

Kirsten Campbell.
Kirsten is new to Wild Water Racing but she doing very well mastering the flat water moves. There is not even any pain on her face!
Watch  out ladies.

Andrew Hayden, Paddle WA President speaks to the crowd.
 

The idea of getting the K4s was Jesse Phillips. He tells the crowd how it came about and how good it will be for juniors in the future.
 

Kerry Smith with Jess next to her donated kayak.

Kerry bakes a slice for the Sandy Beach paddlers on Saturday morning. We always look forward to eating it after our race. Thank you Kerry.
 

Ray Smith with Jesse next to his kayak he donated.
 

Ray Smith who donated a kayak is an active paddler.
 

Olympian Ken Vidler, and Paddle WA Board Member shows off his donated kayak. 
 

Paddler Steve Fisher donated a Guppy K4.

There they go.

School Students take on Basic Kayak Training

What a way to have fun.

All students should have the opportunity to try kayaking.
Just to be in a kayak on a warm day, to learn a few strokes while having fun is the best. 
And if you do fall in, the warm water is there to break your fall.

Paddle WA Instructor Clare Pankhurst gets the students on the water.
 

The group is ready to learn.

The outriggers are off.
Photo Anita Haarmann.
 

Division 4 takes off.
Photo Sharon Cobley.
 

Division 3 take off.
Photo Sharon Cobley.
 

Division 1 take off.
Photo Sharon Cobley.
 

The doubles take off.
Photo Sharon Cobley.

Jayden was good at sprinting so his burst of speed meant that we could keep up with the leaders at the start but it wasn’t long before the boats either side of us and slightly ahead squeezed us out. It was either fall back or have their paddles hit our nose and cause chaos. We chose to fall back but we managed to get behind Matt Jones and Kate Martin and that’s where I wanted to stay as they were fast and close to the lead boats.

We managed to get out of the harbour still in touch with the leaders and crossed the river and back into the canals without dropping off. I must admit I was a little surprised that we were still in contact as the others were certainly a lot stronger. The group of 6 doubles were like a long juggernaut slicing the canal corners and splitting formation as we passed slower paddlers to form up again when we were clear.

It wasn’t easy keeping up, we were working hard and to make matters worse we fell off the wash of Matt & Kate several times only to have to accelerate and work harder to get back on. We were determined to stay in touch though even at the cost of breaking down.

It's tight racing.
Photo Sharon Cobley.

We weaved around other boats and down canals. By now we had lost Ray and Anne and when we came to an arch bridge that only allowed one boat to go through 2 outriggers were about to go through and a couple of other boats were approaching it.

Here Bruce and Warren hesitated so we passed them and as luck should have it we didn’t have to lose too much speed going through the archway. The group was now split and Josh and Sue and Spencer and John started to get further away but by the time we left that channel, skimmed around other paddlers and started paddling across the river to another canal on the other side we were only 3 boats lengths behind.

Our biggest worry now were the paddlers we were passing as some of them were quite fast and wanted to jump on the wash of the faster doubles. When they tried wash riding Matt and Kate who we were directly wash riding behind, their wash would create a disturbance and ruin our chances of staying on it.

Crossing the river about half way through the race.
We were still in contact with the leaders.
Photo Anita Haarmann.​​​​

When we came to a 360 degree turn around a buoy we were mixed in with several other paddlers and as we tried to round it another single ski clipped our stern so it became near impossible to turn the long V10 double. When we finally got around Matt and Kate were well ahead and Joe and Gordon in the double kayak were level with us. We lifted our pace and eventually got back on Matt and Kate and settled back in. -  Phew that was close.

As we were passing Dave Berglund and then Darryl Long they tried getting onto Matt and Kate’s wash and that is when we lost their wash and to be never to see them again. Once back in the main canal on the way home it was pretty hard work as the tide was against us but we kept plugging in and then it was time to cross the river and into the harbour and paddle our final kilometre to the finish.

As we were entering the harbour I noticed Joe and Gordon beside us. That wasn’t good. At that particular time we were sitting 4^th. As we turned right into the last canal I left a gap so I didn’t wipe them out on the rocks but they didn’t return the favour at the next left hand turn when they got slightly ahead.

On the last few hundred metres we were slightly behind them and as we caught up with single paddlers it was a fight to keep as close as we could, but they managed to keep ahead and pipped us by 4 seconds.

We were very happy with our race as we were only 1 minute behind the leaders. We beat Bruce and Warren and both Joe and Gordon are much faster paddlers than we are in singles so to be 4 seconds behind was encouraging.

Thanks to Doug and all the volunteers for putting on a good show. And many thanks to the Mandurah Kayak Club volunteers who were at each corner so we didn’t get lost.

After the race I jumped on my V10 single and went for another 14 km paddle around the canals to make up 26kms for the morning.

The leaders. Josh Kippin, John Wilkie and Harry Hewitt
It was Josh, Harry and then John.
Photo Anita Haarmann.
 

Ramon Andersson Coaching
at Bayswater
 

Up to the line.
 

Lots of paddlers on the water.
 

A Darter
I just love the colour of the bank.

An Egret with a back drop of a beautiful tree.
 

It was a very hot day and the birds knew the best place was in the shade.

Epic Paddles

Club Carbon - $460

• 737g
• Carbon fibre blade, Green oval shaft
• Fully adjustable length & feather
• Includes Paddle Bag

Expression of Interest –

Junior Development Kayak Coach - AKC

Ascot Kayak Club is seeking an expression of interest from suitable applicants to fill an exciting junior development coaching role within AKC for flatwater Kayak – predominately coaching sprint and marathon kayaking technique.

The successful applicant will:

ESSENTIAL SKILLS

• Bring specialist knowledge and experience, passion and enthusiasm to coaching junior athletes in flatwater kayak techniques.
• Be available for a minimum of 3 sessions per week (before school) and participate in a joint intra club training session on Saturday morning.
• Build a supportive squad/team atmosphere.
• The ability to coach athletes of varying skill levels and drivers for participating in the squad.
• Hold current employment Working with Children Card
• Modify current training programs to suit squad makeup and athletes with varying abilities
• Integrate with AKC and identify opportunities to participate in club activities and events.

DESIRABLE SKILLS

• Hold a current skippers license
• Have experience in down river or canoe slalom paddling
• Have experience in paddling team boats
• Current First Aid certificate
• Paddle Australia - formal coaching qualifications

AKC has been successful in developing an integrated junior paddling program with participation from athletes as young as 8 years old. Our junior program integrates both flatwater and slalom kayaking to ensure participants learn essential paddling skills. The program focuses on instilling a ‘love of paddling’ in athletes.

The Junior performance squad level is above our current junior program.

For remuneration details and more information contact AKC President –

Sue McDougall 0419 255 580  or email akcvicepresident@gmail.com