Heading home Wednesday night.

Photo Isabel Coobe.

A big weekend coming up. 
For the sea kayakers they will be heading south to Albany for the sea kayak festival.

For the sprinters they will be heading to Champion Lakes for a regatta.

For marathon paddlers they will be competing in the 28km City Lights Race on Sunday evening.

For the ski paddlers they will be chasing the afternoon swells.

For the really keen paddler they will be sprinting, marathon paddling and having fun on the ocean.

• Who's Out There
  Murray Marathon
• Josh Kippin
  Paddle Australia Wild Water Champs
• Mandurah Canals Race
• Dolphin Akuna
• Coming Events
• Sprint Regatta
• City Lights
• Sea Kayak Festival
• Basic Strokes Course 
• WA Marathon Championships

Who's Out There

Jordy Hamer & Mark Pracilio.

Mark is trying out his new kayak.
Looks like his hair is still dry!!

Peter and Bronwyn Martin fighting it out at the PRG session on Tuesady. Bronwyn beat Peter.

Zoe and Sharon Cobley. 
Come on mum you are letting the team down!

Murray Marathon

The Massive Murray Paddle is an amazing 5 day / 415km

paddling adventure race down the Murray River.

The wonderful paddlers that race the MMP415, also raise funds to assist local charities or community-driven programs.

​We have three paddlers from WA competing:-
Jeannette Busch  and Veronica & Anita Haarmann. 

Jeannette, Veronica and Anita ready for the big paddle.

Anita and Jeannette are on their way.

The WA Marathon Championships are only a couple of weeks away and the Australian Canoe Marathon Championships are at Easter.

Josh Kippin

Achievements in Marathon

Marathon National

• 2022 – 1^st Open K1 & Open K2  (Brendan Rice)
• 2019 – 1^st Open K1, 2^nd Open K2 (Jesse Phillips), 1^st Open Short Course, Marathon Paddler of the Year
• 2018 – 2^nd Open K1, 2^nd Open K2 (Logan Dutton), 
  Marathon Paddler of the Year
• 2017 – 1^st Open K1, 1^st Open K2 (Brendan Rice), 
  Marathon Paddler of the Year
• 2016 – 1^st Open K1, 1^st Open K2 (Matthew Dean), 
  Marathon Paddler of the Year
• 2015 - 4^th Open K1, 2nd Open K2 (James Morfitt)
• 2013 – 1^st U23 K1, 3^rd Open K1, 5^th Open K2 (James Morfitt)
• 2012 – 2^nd U23 K1, 6^th Open K2 (Simon Roll)

Josh Kippin going for another win at the up-coming Australian Marathon Championships in Geelong.

International – World Marathon Championships

• 2022 _ Portugal - 13^th Open K1, 18^th K2 with Brendan Rice
• Short Course K1 - 20th
   
• 2019 – China, 16^th Open K1, 13^th Open K2 (Jesse Phillips)
  6^th Open K1 Short Course,
• 2018 – Portugal, 20^th Open K1
• 2017 – South Africa, 9^th Open K1, 14^th Open K2 (Brendan Rice)
• 2016 – Germany, 20^th Open K1
• 2013 – Denmark, 17^th U23 K1
• International – River
• 2019 – Sella Descent, Spain – 15^th Overall, Open K2 (Brendan Rice)
• 2016 – Berg Marathon, South Africa – 8^th Overall, Open K1
• 2014 – Drak Marathon, South Africa – 5^th Overall, Open K1
• 2013 – Lowveld Croc Marathon – 2^nd Overall, 1^st U23 K1
• 2013 – Fish Marathon, South Africa – 13^th Open K2 (Simon Roll) 
• 2012 – Fish Marathon, South Africa – 6^th U23 K1

The 2023 Paddle Australia Canoe Wildwater Championships 
4 – 5 March.
Sprints will be held on Saturday 4 March at Penrith Whitewater Stadium 
Classic will be held on Sunday 5 March at Penrith Whitewater Stadium 

This will be a selection event for the 2023 ICF Wildwater Canoe Championships for the Junior, U23 and Senior Team. 

Training on the Penrith white water course and getting ready for the Wild Water Chamionships 4-5 March.

WAs Nina Mueller will be taking part.  

WAs Nina Mueller above and below is the current female Wild Water Champion.

Photo John O'Sullivan.

Photo Lawrence Greed.

Mandurah Canals Race

Getting ready.

Div 4 is off.

Photo Nick Cobley.

Div 3

Photo Nick Cobley.

Div 1 & 2

Photo Nick Cobley.

Mandurah Canals

Chris Watson and I teamed up again to race the Mandurah Canals. As always the Mandurah Paddling Club members were stationed on the course to make sure the 90 racing paddlers kept on the right winding track that went in and out of the canals.

As we lined up with all the other doubles, the last grid to leave, I was wondering which boats we would be able to keep up with. As we took off I couldn’t believe that after 100 metres we were the 4^th fastest boat and the only ski paddlers ahead of us were Paul and Francis who are so much faster than us in their K1s. We had no hope of keeping up with the young pair of Connor Jacob and  Finn Caruana or the mixed pair of Sharon Cobley & Pete Tomczack who were in kayaks -  unless they fell out. We could only dream. 

As we gave chase Paul and Francis were only a boat length away, close enough to give us the confidence to lift the pace and get onto their wash, which we did. So long before we entered the river we were sitting nicely behind them.

It wasn’t long before we had crossed the river and were back inside the canals passing the slower paddlers from other grids. We kept as close to Paul and Francis as we could. Where they went, we went. The aim was to keep on their wash as long as we could to take advantage of the faster pace. With Warren and Bruce behind us, who were also stronger paddlers than we were, we just had to hang on.

Crowds of singles were bunched up near the Brindabella Crescent narrow bridge, 4.6 kms into our race so I was a little concerned we might lose Paul and Francis if the bridge entry was too crowded. Although paddlers were thick they were quite spread and we were able to slip through the gap of the bridge with only one single beside us. 

For a moment we lost the wash of Paul and Francis, but after a sprint we were soon back behind them cutting corners and weaving in and out the faster singles in the 2^nd division. We caught up and passed Darryl Long just before crossing the river section. Then we caught up with Peter Pawlow and  Dave Burglund who wash rode us for a while.

Doubles are off.

Photo Nick Cobley.

We chase Paul & Francis.

To my delight we were still behind Paul and Francis as we crossed the river and entered another canal which had the turn-around buoy near the end of it. Some of the singles we passed latched onto Paul and Francis for a while, and their wash created a turbulence that wasn’t as smooth and made our task behind that little bit harder to keep on the wash. 

At the turn-buoy (about 7.4 kms) we took a slightly different path to Paul and Francis as we only had the small river rudder on so turning was going to be a little harder, but with a good lean we came around quite well and then sprinted to get back onto their wash again. 

We caught up with Bernard Hoffman who took a lift on the side of Paul and Francis. After crossing the river again and back in the canals I’m sure there were shallow spots when we came up to other channels meeting the main one, as it seemed we struggled more.

About 2.2 kms from the finish we caught up with Grant Pepper who also took the opportunity to wash ride. I don’t think that Paul and Francis realised that Chris and I were sitting on their wash but they soon found out when Grant started talking to me. By the time we reached the river again we had lost Bernard, but Grant was still in front. As we started crossing the river a few boats ruffled the water and then I heard a clang. I wasn’t quite sure what it was but Chris said his footplate had slipped forward. Now with less consistency in our paddling we suddenly lost Grant and the wash of Paul and Francis, but our concern now was to keep ahead of Warren and Bruce which we did but they weren’t too far behind. It was a great race – we loved it. 
Paul and Francis beat us by 23 seconds and we were 7^th fastest boat over the line. We were also pleased that the fastest single was only 1 minute 22 seconds ahead. Not bad for two old blokes, well one old and one not quite as old!

The young guns Connor Jacob and Finn Caruana are the fastest and are home first.

Photo Nick Cobley.

We managed to wash ride Francis Nolan & Paul Paardekooper nearly all the way.

Photo Nick Cobley.

Grant Pepper.

Photo Nick Cobley.

Terry & Chris.

Photo Nick Cobley.

Warren & Bruce.

Photo Nick Cobley.

Bernard Hoffman.

Photo Nick Cobley.

Results here:

https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=306616&did=371649

This Dolphin Featured in Last Weeks Newsletter 
is Named Akuna 

Name Akuna. Sex Female. Age Adult. 
First recorded 2009. Note Mother of juvenile dolphin Nala who died in November 2019 during an outbreak of the Cetacean Morbillivirus, juvenile dolphin Super who disappeared early 2022 after being observed in poor health and with injuries, and new calf born in March 2021 who was euthanised due to severe injuries from entanglement with fishing gear.

Latest calf’s name is Kaya born 2022. 

Kaya

2022_545 DolphinWatch_Finbook_Perth_WEB.pdf (riverguardians.com)

City Lights, March 5th

https://www.webscorer.com/register?pid=1&raceid=302990

RACE TIMETABLE
Riverton:
4.00 pm Registration Opens (Note: No race entries at registration – must enter online)
5.00 pm Race Briefing – All participants must be present
5.30 pm Race Starts – slower teams first

Ascot [at end]:
8:20 pm First paddlers due at finish line
8.00 pm Food available
9.30 pm Presentations and Prize Giving [will take place even if some racers not finished] 

LiveLighter Sprint Regatta #5
4th March | Champion Lakes Regatta Centre

The fifth and final sprint regatta of the season is on this weekend, before the 2023 Australian Canoe Sprint Championships (held in WA).

First race: 8.00am

WA Sea Kayak Festival
3rd-6th March | Rotary Youth Camp, Albany

The 2023 Sea Kayak Fest will be located in Albany at the Rotary Youth Camp.

Basic Skills Course
12th March | Kent St Weir, Canning

Paddle WA is pleased to present a series of Basic Skills Courses, that are completely free thanks to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries!

Course Details
Location: Kent Street Weir Park 
Time: 9am - 12pm 
Equipment: included (kayak, paddle, life jacket) or bring your own

The Basic Skills Course is an introduction for people who wish to learn to paddle either a kayak on inland waterways, designed with the aim of giving you the confidence to enjoy the excitement and challenge of paddling. After the completion of the course, a certificate will be emailed to you. 

Register in the link below, and and queries can be sent to marketing@paddlewa.asn.au

Register here:-

Courses and Programs (paddle.org.au)

WA Canoe Marathon Championships

18th & 19th March

Are You Carrying Your Kayak or Ski Legally?

Be aware when carrying a double ski. It can attract a $1000.00 fine 

Generally speaking you are allowed 1.2 metres from the tail lights, more accurately 60% of the wheel base. 

Red flags should be used.

At night a red light must be attached.