Enjoy the 1st Newsletter for 2016
Published: Wed, 01/06/16
Issue
491
7th January 2016
Message Bank
It's now time to think about the Avon Descent. If you are
a seasoned paddler you probably don't have too much to worry
about as you will be pretty fit anyway but if you are a novice
it's soon time to think about your training leading up to
the event. The Avon Descent is a iconic WA race, it's a great
race, it's a race with excitement, danger, endurance, fun,
and an event that every person should aspire to tackling.
It's also a great a confidence booster. It doesn't really
matter how low or high the water is or how fast or slow you
are, novices enjoy it whatever the conditions are like.
So why not encourage one of your friends or workmates to
give it a go. Nowadays it is probably cheaper to get into
the event than 10 years ago as there are so many, (I hate
to say) used boats available at a cheap price.
*******************************
6.00am Summer Kayaking Skills
Sessions
Around the Buoys
(at Claughton Reserve, Bayswater. No charge)
I don't usually get on the water until 6.30am
but in January and February each year I get up at 5.00am once
a week to set a buoy course and to organise the Down River
Skills around the Buoys sessions that start this Friday
at 6.00am. It is a practice session for paddlers wanting
to learn more skills by paddling a kayak without a rudder.
It's a session that no matter what type of boat you paddle
it will increase your boat and paddling skills. Everyone benefits
from having better skills.
Kayaks best suited for this session are Down
River (Wild Water) kayaks or Wavehoppers but other boats without
a rudder can be used. Tippy K1s are not suitable.
After a few weeks practicing on a Friday morning
we have a series of night races.
It takes skill to do it perfectly
*******************************
Jessica Fox and WAs Ben Pope
take out Australian titles in Tasmania
WA's Ben Pope is now the Australian Slalom
Champion. Photo Jenny Vogel.
Ben who is still under 23 has been trying
to crack the number 1 Australian spot for several years and
now the training and dedication has paid off. For a paddler
who trains on flat water most of the year the result is even
more remarkable. Well done Ben.
Western Australians dominated the junior C1
women’s event with Kira Wall taking out the under-18
age group title while Alexandria Choate triumphed in the under-16s.
Matt Dalziel a former WA paddler now living
in Tasmania won the Mens Wildwater Championships
Mens Slalom K1
1. Ben Pope AKC U23 WA
2. Warwick Draper MCC Sen VIC
3. Tim Anderson MCC
Womens Slalom C1
1 Jessica Fox PVC U23NSW
2. Kate Eckhardt DCC U23TAS
3. Rosalyn Lawrence BRCC
Wildwater Mens K1
1. Matt Dalziel Sen DCC
2. Robert McIntyre 12.48 Sen AvKC
3. Alex McIntyre AvKC
Wildwater Womens K1
1. Maddie Batters U23 BCC
2. Carol Hurst 30.57 Sen DCC
3 Kate Eckhardt DCC
WA has had several other good results at the
Championships
http://canoe.org.au/events/2016-australian-ww-and-slalom-and-schools-championships/
*******************************
Jenny is Leaving WA
Marathon paddler, Avon Descent winner, paddling
coach Jenny Bateman has a new job. She is taking a position
in Port Pirie, South Australia. Jenny who has been part of
WA paddling for many years will be missed.
Good Luck Jenny
Jenny Bateman at her training session this
morning. A great coach and an inspiration to other paddlers
is heading east.
Jenny enjoying Championships Rapid, Avon Descent
2012
*******************************
The Novice Paddler
trials an exceptional ski
Venetia was the first person to try out the
V5 in WA last weekend and she loved it and bought one straight
away. Even I hadn't tried it.
I gave the Epic V5 a work out on Monday night
at training, or should I say it gave me a good work out. Although
every other paddler was in a fibreglass/kevlar kayak or ski
more than 5.2 metres long and light as a feather the 4.26
metre plastic V5 tried its best to keep up and at times it
did. It was the paddler that let the team down!
Although this ski is not a swift racing ski
it is perect for the novice to intermediate paddlers who want
a classy, comfortable ski with all the great Epic features.
It turns so easy and if you want to turn even sharper you
can edge the ski onto its side without getting your bum wet.
Of course the longer V7 is going to be faster but if you don't
have room for a 5.2m ski in your garage or on your small car
the V5 is going to fit in with your lifestyle perfectly.
***********************************
The social paddlers
CDU customer Helen (right) and her friend
embarking on a social paddle last Sunday. Helen first bought
a Spirit CTR to get her on the water but now she loves her
faster, 11kg GT Aero which she can manage with ease and go
a lot faster!
***********************************
The serious paddlers
Monday morning Paul Burke, Neil Long and Phil
Edwards eye up the young WAIS squad as they pass them by.
The squad is gearing up for the Sprint Championships.
******************************************
10km Championships Race Date/Venue
Change
Please note: The date and venue has been changed for the
10km Marathon Championships.
New Date, New Location
Date: Sunday 10th January
Location [new]: Lake Leschenaultia ...
Enter here: https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=59596
******************************************
Australian Slalom Championships
- Tasmania
is now taking place
There is a huge contingent from WA taking
part
WA group milling in an eddy at the Australian
Slalom Championships. Photo Jenny Vogel
Alex Vogel at the Australian Slalom Championships
Tasmania. Photo Jenny Vogel
Training & Courses
Summer
Kayak DR Skills Sessions
Around the Bouys
(at 6.00am Claughton
Reserve, Bayswater. No charge)
Just bring a suitable
kayak
**************************
Bronze Medallion
at Ascot Kayak Club, sign up !!
11-15 or 18-22 Jan
Ascot Kayak Club are piloting a Bronze Medallion program with
a kayaking flavour. Jane Liddle will be the instructor on
the first program for the kayaking aspect. Royal Life Saving
are providing instructors as well. For these 2 pilot courses
RLS is not charging participants.
Here is the link to further information and registration follow
this link http://www.lifesavingwa.com.au/training/course/?id=4
if you wish to view the details.
Featured Products
It's Here...
The Epic V5
The Plastic Epic V5 and
V7
Alaine loved the V5
The V5 comes with a standard
under the stern surfski rudder, however its capability can
be further enhanced with an optional kick up rudder with no
modification needed. The kickup rudder allows the V5 to be
paddled in rocky or shallow areas.
Length: 4.26 m
Width: 60.00 cm
Depth: 35.00 cm
Weight: 20.8kg
Capacity: 127 kg
Storage: 100 L
Carbon Fiber footboard system
Quick adjustment leg length system
Fully adjustable, highly efficient Epic bailer system
Stern, bow and side handles for easy handling
Water bottle holder
Leg leash holder
Rear hatch for storage
****************************
NEW YEAR SALE
FANTASTIC OFFER
Epic V14
R/R $3995.00 Special
$2995.00 save $1000.00.
Performance model (Black Nose) 15.5kg.
2 only
Epic V14 Ultra Red Nose
12.3kg.
R/R Price $4995.00: Special $4595.00
save $400.00
****************************
Epic V10 sale
The Club (Blue Nose 17.5kg)
and Performance (Black Nose 15.5kgs) models.
Buy a blue nose Club
model for $2695.00 rather than
$3195.00 save $500.00
or the black nose Performance model for $3495.00
rather than $3995.00 save $500.00
These specials valid
until 31st January 2016 or until stocks last.
Phone 93781333 and secure a bargain.
Stories
Paula - A Novice
Conquers the Avon Descent
Back in 1999
A great feeling of pride
overwhelmed me as Paula Davis, a novice of the gruelling Avon
Descent and the last of our training group, paddled strongly
over the line, overjoyed but in tears. I could only speculate
on what she had endured in the 16 hours 30 minutes it took
her to complete it and what she was feeling at that very moment.
Some of the 1999 Avon
crew. Paula is 3rd from the top right. Ewen McGregor and Lawrence
Greed are the other instructors in the photo, bottom right.
Paula, a slight girl and one of seventeen
novices in our 1999 class had only been paddling for three
months. When she joined the group her goal had been to learn
a few kayaking skills - no thoughts of the Avon Descent! Along
the way, however, the class developed into a close knit group
and her goals changed as she got encouragement from the others.
On that sunny Sunday afternoon Paula
had achieved what a few months earlier she had thought impossible.
She had paddled 125 kilometres of varied water conditions
- shallows, trees, very testing rapids and unrelenting flat
water at the end. She had completed this without a capsize
and without an instructor by her side to show her the way
or to help her if she got in difficulty. She had paddled it
in a pink 4.25m plastic Finn Kayak, not a speedy craft, but
she had the endurance, determination and the will to keep
paddling and to finish it. As the relief and tears of joy
flowed, her emotion affected all of us who welcomed her home.
Although Paula was the last of our group
to cross the finish line our sixteen other novices had also
endured the pain and jubilation. They too had their hardship
stories to tell. Most had blisters, sore muscles and were
exhausted but they were so proud. They were all ages, different
backgrounds, different interests, different shapes and sizes
but all had the same goal - to finish the Avon Descent. Now
they no longer stood alone - united as a group, supported
by their friends, they shared an important achievement in
their life cycle.
Lunch time on route.
Paula standing 3rd from right.
Back in 1999 most novices
would paddle a 415 kayak, a Finn Kayak or an Affinity which
were only 4.25m long.
*****************************
Fox and Pope
take out Australian titles in Tasmania
Jessica Fox and Ben Pope
have kicked off the new year in style by winning the women’s
C1 and men’s K1 finals at the Australian Slalom Championships
in Tasmania today.
Fox demonstrated why she is the current
C1 women’s world champion with a dominant display in
the final.
Despite picking up a two-second penalty
for a gate touch, Fox recorded a time of 96.47 to finish 3.17
seconds ahead of Hobart’s Kate Eckhardt.
Defending champion Rosalyn Lawrence
finished third.
“I didn’t have a good race
in the C1 last year so it was good to come back this year
and put together a good C1 run in the final,” Fox said.
Eckhardt was equally pleased with her
start to the year. She surprised herself to beat a host of
more experienced paddlers to finish second.
“I was really happy to get down
a clean run. I was feeling pretty good, especially on the
bottom half of the course,” Eckhardt said
The Derwent Canoe Club paddler is making
the step up to under-23s this year following a standout career
at junior level which saw her win two medals at the ICF Junior
World Championships.
“It is a big step up to under-23s,
it is going to be really tough competition racing for selection
up in Penrith and I am excited about racing against all the
other girls in under-23s and seniors.”
The men’s K1 final followed with
Western Australian Ben Pope triumphant in a time of 78.17.
Less than a second separated the top
three with Pope finishing 0.60 seconds ahead of three-time
Olympian Warwick Draper.
Draper edged his fellow Melbourne Canoe
Club paddler Tim Anderson for silver by 0.21 seconds.
Pope said ‘being number one in
Australia feels really good’.
“It feels great, it feels amazing,
it is the first competition that I have truly won,” Pope
said.
With 2016 being an Olympic year Pope
is excited by the challenge that awaits next month where he
will look to challenge the likes of Lucien Delfour for a K1
Olympic berth.
“I am going to give it my best
shot. I am definitely going to try for it, Lucien is still
a step ahead but I am going to try and push him.”
Today will see the women’s K1 and
men’s C1 finals from 9am AEST. The C2 finals will also
be contested on the final day of racing.
****************************
Training
Course of the Week
Around the Buoys
Friday Morning
6.00am
It doesn't matter if
you miss a buoy completely
or if you go too wide
or if you are thinking
about the good times you had the night before
or you do it near perfect
practice can only make
you to be a better paddler
Race of the Week
***************************************
2015/16 Marathon Series Race Dates
10th January - Lake Leschenaultia
.
https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=59596
14th Febuary - Canning River Race
12/13 March - State Champs
25/26/27 - National Champs QLD
24th April - Pinjarra-Ravenswood
29th May - Double Barkers
5th June - Perth Paddle 50
19th June - Middle Swan Race
*****************************
IOP Downwind Races
9 January 2016
30 January 2016
20 February 2016
12 March 2016
**************************************
ADVENTURETHON
is heading to ALBANY on the 9th and 10th of January 2016.
Adventurethon is an off road multisport adventure where competitors
paddle, ride and run their way through the courses.
**************************************
WA Sea Kayak
Symposium
4th March 2016 to 8th
March 2016, Albany
Registrations close 26th
OF FEBRUARY 2016
2nd Hand Boats
Ocean Kayak Prowler 13
fishing kayak ex demo. good condition $1090.00
Ocean Kayak Scrambler
ex demo $300.00
Finn Gismo ex demo $325.00
********************
Saturday Morning Race
Times