What a busy time we are going to have between 18th -25th of March with the WA Marathon Championships on the 18th & 19th and the Australian Sprint Championships on the 21st-25th. 

Then on the second April we have the Pinjarra to Ravenswood Race and then the Australian Marathon Championships in Geelong.

It doesn't end there as there are a lot more races leading up to the 50th Avon Descent which I expect most paddlers will be going to enter.

I'm planning to give it a go as it will my 30th or 31st Avon, and I'm hoping to get to the World Masters, but I am a little hazy to what is in store for me as I have to have radiation for my prostate cancer after Easter and who knows how it will affect me. I'm sure I will be there though. (Men - if you are over 55 have a check up).

The strong wind at Champion Lakes didn't make it easy to line up on the start line.

Photo Andrea Virág.

The Australian Sprint Championships are on the 21st-25th March.

Get your entry in now.
Entries close this Sunday 12 March
https://regattas.paddle.org.au/regattas/1202

• Progressive Racing Group
  Who's Out There
  Georgina Collin Wild Water Champ
  City Lights Race
  Sprint Regatta
  Birds Along The Way
  Coming Events
  WA Marathon Champs - Next Weekend - 18th-19th March
  Australian Sprint Champs - 21st-25th March

Progressive Racing Group - Ascot

Tuesdays - a 3.8km handicapped race

A good way to get into racing or for beginners get ready for the Avon Descent. 

Byron, Neil & Adam.

Neil, Izzy, Sam, Mark and Bronwyn.

Who's Out There

Ramon Andersson getting a master's group ready for 
the Australian Sprint Championships.

Doug Hodson and Chris Hollier in a tight Ascot Kayak Club race on Wednesday evening.

(Lovebirds in the background.)

Tuesday Race Night at the Canning Canoe Club at Kent Street Weir.

Bea Jacob captain of the K4.

Para paddler Ben Sainsbury at training in Bayswater.

Coran Longwood & Stephan Weyers getting ready for the WA & Australian Canoe Marathon Championships.

WAs Georgina Collin 

Women's Australian WildWater Champion

Sprint & Classic Events

Photo JGRimages

In the women's classic race WAs Genie Collin came 1st. WAs Nina Mueler 2nd and WAs Alex Vogel came 4th with Victorian Dita Pahl coming 3rd.

A very good result especially because Nina and Alex don't get to practise on the white water course until the event.

Other results further below

City Lights Race

The wind was coming from a different direction than the last two years so the rough stuff was more likely be on the section along the freeway instead of Perth Water so we could be in for a good or maybe bad ride after Canning Bridge.

As usual teams were sent off slowest first with 10 minutes between each grid, being three. Izzy and I were in the second grid with three teams taking off very solidly. However the pair of Muz Latham and Tim Cornish in single skis and John Breed and Steven Coward in a double ski took off not quite as quick, but slightly faster than us. To help us feel good we left two single ski teams behind.

As we moved under Shelley Bridge and turned left to go across the shallows we headed straight into the wind which got worse after paddling around the next point. Although John and Steve got a better start we seemed to be able to keep pace with them, staying about 80 metres behind. 

After clearing the areas around the convict posts we headed to Mt Henry Bridge and started to gain on John and Steven. I had plans to sneak onto their wash but when passing Julie and Kate, our chance to sneak up onto John and Steven’s wash was blown when Izzy and the girls started chatting to each other. When I saw Steven’s head turn I knew we had blown it and they suddenly put on the pace, but a kilometre later near Canning Bridge we were getting close again. Although it had been choppy along the last km of two, it was super choppy here, probably caused by the big wind waves and the tide coming in against them.

Daniel Murphy & Joel Tate at the portage.

Photo Peter Martin.

Benjamin Hewitt & Andy Heartcliffe leave the portage point a second before Peter Tomczak & Brett McDonald.

It was close racing.

Peter & Brett won by a second.

Photo Peter Martin.

 Happy paddlers Michelle and Mandy.
Photo Peter Martin.

Michelle and Mandy head out into a few minutes of rough conditions.

Photo Peter Martin.

After the bridge it was calm for about a kilometre then it started to get choppy. Within another km we had caught John and Steve and were wash riding them until it got so rough that they started to slow and we passed them by and didn’t see them again. They said later they were spun around by the wind and waves and lost contact with us.

The sun was going down on our left and some of the faster boats were passing to our right. The waves got bigger the closer we got to the portage and a few times our cockpits were completely full to the brim with water.

It was good to get to the portage point, trot around with big cheers from the crowd and get back in again. Our first attempt wasn’t so good as the wind waves pushed us towards the rocks so we abandoned that attempt and pointed the nose of the long Epic ski straight towards the waves and jumped back in again. Our cockpits were now full of weed and water and to clear the water we needed to get some speed up, but that wasn’t so easy as we had to turn a corner with the waves hitting us broadside.   

It turned out being an easier task than we thought and we were soon racing towards the Narrows Bridge with the cockpit draining more slowly than usual because of all the weed we had collected in the venturis. Although it was nice to get out of the rough, crossing Perth Water wasn’t flat calm so we still had to be alert.

With the full moon being above the Perth skyscrapers it was just a magical scene. As Grant Pepper and Alan Ribbons started passing us, they said I should be taking a photo of it. They were right, but I just didn’t want to stop and lose time so I just had to keep the amazing view in my mind which was such a highlight.

Izzy and I portage.

Photo Peter Martin.

Four teams head across Perth Water.

Photo Chad Stevens.

Grant & Alan were a little too fast for us to keep up with them.

Photo Chad Stevens.

Photo Chad Stevens.

We were happy to leave Perth Water to head towards the stadium in much calmer waters. It and the footbridge were lit up too, so it was another beautiful sight. Izzy was doing so well in the back. It was hard to know if I was pushing too hard but she didn’t complain, so I kept going. We were the only mixed pair to do the entire course, (apart from Mellissa & Derek who had teamed up with Alan Moreby in his sea kayak) so we had no mixed team to beat. 

As we turned the long sweeping bend at the Belmont Racecourse we passed Mandy and Michelle in a double outrigger and then Warren and Bruce came by, but they were too far away from us to grab their wash. A few minutes later Matt Jones and Jamie Cartwright tried to do the same, but we noticed them a little earlier and managed to get over onto their rear wash which quickly increased our speed and workload. 

We were sitting nicely behind them for some time and all of a sudden they stopped and as we passed Jamie said a fish had jumped into his ski well. We then managed to get on their side wash for about 1 km, but as we headed out of Ascot Waters they took off so fast we were unable to keep up. It didn’t really matter as we only had about 3.5 kms to go, so we just got into a good rhythm and crossed the finish line in 2:45:33.

It was another great race. Like always you never know what the conditions are going to like until you get out there. The food at the end cooked by the Swan Café was just great. Just what we needed after such a demanding race. Many thanks to the volunteers who put the race together and who were out there in the moonlight making sure things went right.  

Sprint Regatta

It started off calm for the 1000m races but it soon turned windy making lining up very difficult. 

In this race the paddlers had to turn around and line up again. 

They are finally off.

Luke Egger leads the pack in the 500m and 200m.

I have a slight lead on Adam Berta but after a late surge he beat me in the 500m & 200m. 
I had a bit more stamina in the 1000 metres and beat him.

Photo Andrea Virág.

Para Paddlers are off.

Photo Andrea Virág.

The 500m master paddlers race won by David Griffiths

Close finish for the outriggers.

Birds Along The Way

It's always hard to get a picture of this Brown Goshawk or Collered Sparrowhawk as they are not river birds, but I do see them occasionally hiding in the trees or soaring in the sky.

But they don't hang around and usually fly off before I am able to become stable enough to get my camera out and focus on it 

Whistling Kite.

Purple Swamphen.

Black Swans and the moon.

********************************

Exploring passages around Ascot Waters (Kuljak Island).

2023 Paddle Australia Canoe Sprint Championships

21st-25th March

Champion Lakes

Sandy Beach - Bassendean

This Sat Morning 7.15am

Double 4k With Portage at Sandy Beach over next two weeks. You can also do Double 4K With No Portage or 4k With or With No Portage - Options !

Australian Wild Water Champs Results