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Bevan Dashwood
Race
The Bevan Dashwood Race is probably
the most scenic race course in WA as the narrow waterway travels
through swamp and natural bushland that is only metres away.
It is also a fundraising event for WA slalom and for many
years Canoeing Down Under has been a sponsor. It is a different
race and one that I have paddled many times. Sadly today there
were only 39 adult paddlers taking part and 20 juniors.
Ann Smithton just checking
her seating position in her old DR kayak
I decided to paddle my DR kayak hoping
to beat Bevan which was quite easy this year as he didn't
race. There were 3 other paddlers though that I knew I wouldn't
beat. Mark Lawson who is paddling really well at the moment,
young Ben Pope has been competing in slalom events and although
he might not be marathon fit he was still fit, a lot fitter
than me. Then there was my old sparring partner John Breed.
The trouble is our sparring stopped about 3 years when he
suddenly got a lot faster than me and started leaving me behind
and since then he has never looked back. Another old sparring
partner from 15 years ago when we competed against each other
in the Avon was Lawrence Greed. I used to beat him and then
one year he stepped up his training and beat me by 8 seconds.
Fancy getting beaten by 8 seconds after paddling for two days,
about 11 hours of paddling, and 125kms in distance. Today
he was beside me so I had my chance for revenge.
Mick Mantell and Danny
Morton ready to warm up
The DR class took off the same time
as the Multisports, the skis, and all plastics so the narrow
river wasn't wide enough to form a long line, but I managed
to cling to the front row on the outside next to the trees.
We took off and a fast group sped ahead
I was expecting a lot of wash but it wasn't too bad and I
managed to get next to Warren Southwell in his long plastic.
Mark and Ben in their DRs were soon gone and Lawrence was
ahead of me and looking good . For a moment I was worried
as he looked as if he was paddling strong but luckily for
me he couldn't keep up the pace and started to fade. I expected
he would catch our wash, but he didn't and I never saw him
again, except meeting him going the other way.
Warren was traveling at a speed that
I could keep up with, which was a blessing for me. I was going
well but about 3 kilometres downstream, where there river
divided and shallowed I could see John Breed appearing from
behind the trees across in the other channel. I had wondered
where he had got to, as I knew he was faster, but apparently
all the wash at the start had slowed him down.
Just before Riverton Bridge the wind
gusted and got even worse after the bridge. Without a rudder
to help me keep a straighter path it became harder to keep
up with Warren, so he escaped my grasp. That wasn't so bad
but John Breed kept wide of me and I could see him passing
me by. I had been lucky to keep ahead of him as long as I
did so I couldn't complain. Pity it wasn't later.
I caught up a little as we turned around
the Shelly Bridge pylon but I was still a few boats lengths
behind Warren. After a sprint I managed to catch Warren again
but it wasn't long before I lost him, once we hit the shallows.
I didn't feel too bad about that but John was increasing his
lead. The only way I would ever beat him now was to train
harder or paddle with him in a double and be in the front
seat.
Jon Van Manan had caught me up in his
Time Bandit and passed me just before the short cut shallows.
At 67 years old he was going really well but I thought I might
have some hope of keeping up with even though I was in a shorter
kayak. Unfortunately his age didn't seem to stop his determination
and crept away. I just hope that I'm as fit as him at 67.
As we cruised through the narrow short cut channel Mick Mantell
on his Epic V10 caught up and passed, bugger not another one!
He seemed to float through the shallow while I struggled,
probably due to having a build of a jockey. The first double
K2 of Tim Coward and Izabella Choate passed before the portage.
I tried wash hanging them but they were just too fast for
me to hang on. Tim is a real all rounder as he paddles marathon,
sprint and slalom. Izabelle is one of our best slalom paddlers
but she was doing pretty well in this race.
Izabella Choate is best
known as a slalom paddler but she is just as competent in
a racing kayak
Coming up to the Kent Street Weir portage
I could see John Breed put in on the other side and Jon and
Mick about to get out. By the time I did the portage I had
caught up a little on Jon and Mick but they soon started to
pull away as soon as we got into the deep. We had now left
the swamps and entered the upper reaches of the Canning River
where the river was even narrower than downstream of the weir.
Trees were tightly woven and overhanging along the river banks.
Big and small channels, some lined with scum and weed deviated
from the main channel but a wider longer dead end channel
enticed a couple of paddlers to take the wrong turn. Surrounded
by trees and vegetation there wasn't a house in sight. We
were in a city but you wouldn't know it.
Weed that is usually carpeting the river
along this stretch on other years seemed non-existence although
there were a few metres of it which my bow pushed through
without any difficulty. It could have been the oxygen creating
stations that were helping to keep the water cleaner. I must
admit the water flowing over the weir had looked really clean.
Nothing but a few marker buoyslittered the river.
A few K1s started to catch up and pass,
then a solid pipe which was part of the oxygen plant started
to appear. To hit it your boat and paddle would come off worse.
Just after the footbridge near Masons Landing John Dinucci
in his K1 passed. I kept up for 30 seconds then he leapt ahead
like he usually does. He is pretty fast for a 63 year old
who always says he hardly trains. His muscled whippet type
frame says otherwise.
I was expecting to have met the faster
paddlers returning from the turn buoy by now but I had paddled
further than Mason's Landing before that happened. Travis
England in a K1 was 1.34secs faster than Brett McDonald and
3.04secs ahead of John Hilton.
Bronwyn Martin, like all the K1s had
started on a later grid, was going really well as I met her
going under Nicholson Road bridge. My buddy one day and my
arch rival the next, John Breed appeared from behind a cluster
of trees while rounding a corner. He didn't seem that far
ahead as the turn buoy was nearby but in reality he had created
a wide gap between us. Warren, Jon and Mick were next to meet.
They seemed much closer and although it didn't seem far to
the buoy by the time I got there the others paddling the other
way were further ahead than I imagined. As I turned around
the buoy with 3.5kms to go I noticed Chris Watson in his long
plastic PRS was only 20 metres away.
11 year old Luke Egger
just keeps going. He doesn't bother with the short course
he paddles what the seniors paddle
I couldn't let Chris pass so I had to
find a little more power but Chris found more. He was certainly
much faster than me when we paddle the same PRS but in my
DR I was keeping up. Well for a few minutes that was. Then
Chris pulled ahead and I sat behind him for nearly 3 kms but
when I knew the finish was less than a kilometre away I paddled
hard to get beside him. Being in a lighter boat I was hoping
that I had enough sprinting power to keep a few inches ahead
of him. Then when we got within 200 I started paddling faster.
My arms rotated like a whipper snipper, my legs tightened
like a cyclists going up a steep hill, and my breathing hastened
like that of a steam train pulling 50 carriages. I could feel
Chris accelerate with me but he realise the finish line was
a little upstream of the weir, which I was fine with as I
beat him over the finish line by half a nose.
Lawrence Greed (left)
and Jon Van Maanen (right) who at 67 is going like a rocket
in his Time Bandit
We paddled slowly back to the weir take
out point and was greeted by some of the faster paddlers.
Lawrence wasn't anywhere to be seen, but he will probably
have his day again, most likely when I'm in a wheel chair
and unable to paddle.
Results here: http://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=19885
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