April Newsletter

Newsletter

Frome Canoe Club

Volume 37

Issue 4 April 2013

P10 for report

Warren here, on Graveyard

P13 for report

Ben Nicol at Shepperton weir Frome Canoe Club is affiliated to the British Canoe Union and is a Registered Charity (Number 1104728) 1

FCC ‘THROWLINE ’ CLUB MAGAZINE

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Graham Warnecke Vice Presidents Richard and Jane Arney Jim and Catharine Croft Chairman Alun Jones Vice Chairman Gareth McGiveron Treasurer John Kent Secretary Pam Dixon 16 Blagdon Walk, Frome, BA11 2YH Committee Members Arthur Belbin Rich Carter Jonathan Howell Stuart Miles Kath Norton Sally Smiles Kit Officers Tim and Sally Smiles

In this issue CALENDAR: details

3 4 4 5 6/7

Calendar in brief River Frome Get Training Grand Team Event Wednesdays start again

SLALOM MATTERS

8/9 13

Slalom 2013 Report from Shepperton

REPORTS

10 12 15

The Tryweryn weekend The Llugwy ` Clearing the River Frome

SPECIALS

16 17 19

Courses Bits and Pieces Points

Send articles for the next issue to pam@dixon.org.uk by 27th April 2

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Calendar 2013 Date

Event

Standard

Contact

7

River Frome trip

One Star/Passport John K

17

FIRST WEDNESDAY SESSION

All

Pam D

21

Sunday Slalom training

All

John K

26

First Friday session

Adults

John K

28

Sunday Slalom training

All

John K

1

Passport course starts

Beginners

Pam D

4/5

Open Boat Weekend

All

Stuart M

7

One Star course starts

Beginners

Pam D

12

GRAND TEAM EVENT

All

John K

15

Discover course starts

Improvers

Pam D

18

Winchester Slalom Div 4

All

John K

19

Women and Girls into Slalom

Females

Pam D

26

Open Boat trip

All

Stuart M

2

Set up Langham Farm slalom

All

John K

4

Two Star course starts

Improvers

Pam D

8/9

LANGHAM FARM SLALOM

All

Arthur B

23

Go Canoeing Day

All

Pam D

April

May

June

Strict adherence to the Club’s code of conduct is expected at all times on club events .

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Calendar in detail GET TRAINING

River Frome: 7th April Meet 9am at the Clubhouse Cost £3 Organiser - John Kent

Two Sunday mornings At the clubhouse, 10 till noon Cost £2

The River Frome is lovely in April! But it still could be cold.

 

We’ll be paddling the Langham Farm to Iford stretch. It is the section with the Zoom Flume! Maybe some walking; maybe not.

21st April 28th April

John leads these sessions on the Sunday mornings, 10am tillnoon. He says “Complete beginners are really welcome. This is your chance to find out all about how slalom works and no-one will mind if you don’t know much! Come to find out how it is done. Come also if you are an experienced paddler and need to get fit again!”

Meet at the clubhouse and get changed. Sort out all the kit we need and then get going.

We’ll be back around 3pm.

Bring lunch and warm clothes.

Ideal for beginners and open boats.

These two sessions lead up to the

Look here

Grand Team Event 12th May

The calendar on the website has details of all the club activities

and John will help you get ready for it.

And then after that is

Winchester Slalom 18th May Get all your canoeing things from the Family Adventure Store at Hilperton.

BA14 7PJ

John will be taking a team, so sign up on the sheet at club sessions if you are interested. This slalom is just right for beginners!

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Something for everyone to get involved in!

This is a really good event!

And suitable for ALL club members - beginners, experienced and the in-betweeners!

It’s easy! Teams of 3, race together through the slalom gates.

Start thinking about your team!

Who’s in it and what’s it going to be called?

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Club sessions

Young

People

from 8pm) ing (7- m) choose n i a r t lom 7-8p  Sla nd games ( na pm)  Fu lo (7-8 ners course o P e o n egin rse  Ca rt - a b provers cou o p s s a  P an im cover s i D 

  

also running from 7.30-8.3 0pm

More fun and games Introductory se ssions Open boating

Not-so-Y o

ung choose fr om  Slalo m trainin g  Adu lts only g (7 to 8pm) r oup (8 to  Cano 9pm) e Polo (7 to 8pm)

The first few weeks may run to slightly different times because the evenings are shorter. We just have to manage.

And a note about the Polo area, if you need to pass through the polo area, please wait for Jack to signal you though.

Canoe polo in the first hour!

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More about Club sessions What do I do?  On the door, pay and sign up for the group you are going to join.  You get a coloured bib.  Get changed in the changing rooms and then go and collect all the kit you

need. Someone will help you if you are not sure what to choose.  Put the bib on top of your buoyancy aid. This helps the instructor for your

group to find you. Go and wait in the car park with the rest of your group.  When your instructor is ready, carry your boat carefully down to the jetty

and get in. Remember the steps are steep and sometimes slippery so take great care. Get someone to help with your boat so that you share the load. And at the end of your session, put all your kit away.

What do I need to bring?  £2 entry fee.  A change of clothes for the water. You will need warm clothes for the

first few weeks. Some old trainers or wetsuit boots. A towel to dry yourself after your shower. If you have a wet suit, bring that. Bring any other canoeing kit that you may have.  Remember you can borrow paddles, spray decks, buoyancy aids etc., from the club.

At the end of my session  Bring your boat and paddle back up from the river.  Dip your wetsuit and boots in the two drums by the store door.  PUT AWAY ALL THE KIT THAT YOU HAVE USED. We all have to look after

our kit, and things won’t dry if left lying on the floor. Not only that, we will be knee deep in kit after the second week! (The mind boggles!)

A new Wednesday session rule: If the water is above the jetty, no one gets on the water without permission from Rich, Arthur or John.

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Slalom 2013 First of all some things to remember:  Newcomers usually start in Division 4. When you do well, you get promoted.

You build up your skill, and work your way up to bigger water and tougher competition. In Division 4, where you start, it won't be too hard - a rush of water from a weir, or moving water in a stream, (or flat with the likes of Market Yard). When you get to Division 1 it will be big and tricky!  The aim is to run a rapid river course marked by "gates". A "gate" is two poles, suspended over the water. Green and white gates are negotiated in a downstream direction, red and white gates upstream. And the object is to get though the course as fast as you can and without touching the poles.  A touch is penalised with 2 seconds added to the competitor's time. So if you touch a pole with anything – paddle, boat, buoyancy aid, helmet or yourself - a 2 second penalty is added to your time.  If you miss a gate out, or go through in the wrong direction, the penalty is 50 seconds.  Each competitor takes two runs, and the best run counts.  Five classes compete: Men's and Women's Kayak, Men’s and Women’s Canadian Singles, and Canadian Doubles.  Some events include team races, teams of three boats work together for the fastest possible time.

For newcomers to slalom our first ranking race this year is not until 18th May. However, we have the Grand Team Event May 12th (an in-house event). We have arranged two Sunday morning sessions (see P4) and then weekly on Wednesdays where you can improve your skills and your fitness.

Weekly training starts on 17th April, in the Wednesday club nights, 7-8pm, and for the experienced paddlers there is training on Tuesday evenings where you will be pushed just that little bit harder.

Some more things to remember:  Entries go on Entry Cards. You can get help to fill those out.  If bibs are not being used put the number you have been given on your boat.  The race starts in number order, so be there when your turn comes.  Try to get through all the gates - in the right order!  When you've finished, you have to wait for two more people to finish before you get off. This is to provide safety cover.

You can find out more about canoe slalom on www.canoeslalom.co.uk 8

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Slalom 2013 GET TRAINING AND LEARN THE RULES (table below has dates)

Found on Super(inexperienced) kayaker blog

Sunday 21st April

Training at Market Yard 10:00 to 12:00. A chance to kick-start your training or get some practice before the Team Event

Sunday 28th April

Training at Market Yard 10:00 to 12:00. Your last chance to get some training in before racing next Saturday.

Sunday 5th May

We expect to be racing at Bala this weekend so training may be cancelled.

Sunday 12th May

The Grand Team Event. Your chance to have a bit of fun racing with two other team members. Details next month.

Saturday 18th May

North Walls Slalom at Winchester. This is a Division 4 race and is held on flat water so is ideal for your first race. There is also an Open race for those who are already in higher divisions.

Weekend 25th/26th May

Llandysul Div 2/3. We will be making a camping weekend of this race in West Wales. If you got promoted at Winchester you can enter this one.

Weekend 8th/9th June

Langham Farm Slalom. This is a big event in our calendar and we organise the whole slalom.

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Tryweryn weekend - 16/17th March Before we start, can we consider the question: if you lose your paddles, do you get any points? Here’s how it goes: Jack and Mark were seen dicing with death, clambering over the slippery rocks at Cobden Falls in order to rescue an orange set of Werners and return them to their owner. Without this help, there would have been one stranded paddler above the drop. You could say this was a rescue couldn’t you? And a technical rescue carries 2 points! But this was on the Sunday. What happened on Saturday? put him out of action on the Sunday.

SATURDAY: Forget the chit chat about getting to the river etc, let’s just get straight to the point with the interesting bits!

Jack Overhill swam at Fingers. He was approaching Fingers, having successfully negotiated Cafe Wave but took the next drop too far on the right, so that the wave hit him, pushing him into the wall. Boat and person parted company Jack managed to get out and watch as his boat went on for a bit longer. However this placed him in the perfect position to rescue Bex’s boat which appeared at that very moment.

Arthur swam at Chapel Falls and his boat went for a long ride. He was also seen to have a ‘high’ moment (brace) in the stopper and apparently said to himself “I need to get out of this”. And he did.

Rich Norman did several rolls on the Saturday morning. He said “My rolls were all done while playing so they don’t count.” However when pressed, he said “Oh OK, at the top of the Graveyard, I tripped over my paddles so, yes that’s one point.”

Carl was seen to put in a roll. Place unidentified.

Jack abandons boat!

Jonathan went for a long swim on the Graveyard. He hurt his leg which sadly 10

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Tryweryn weekend - continued Is that Kate’s boat? ... Carl’s onto it!

four months and so to take on the mighty Tryweryn was brave to say the least. But the Tryweryn won, 2:0 (Fingers and Ski Jump got her.)

Gareth was warming up on the very top section, sometimes called the training section. We’re not exactly sure of the precise detail but as he leant gently against a random rock for support, he flipped over and bashed his glasses into his face. A big, big bruise resulted, which gradually changed though all the colours of a rainbow over the weekend. It didn’t stop him though, and he continued as far as Miss Davies Bridge where alas he took another swim, and his boat went for a very long ride.

Ellie, Mark, Jack (S), Warren and Rich all had a points-free morning.

So that was the morning.

The afternoon saw a gentle run down to Bala on the Lower section. Bouncy water all the way down with no real tricky bits till right at the end. However people were cold so we blasted down, on each other’s tails, with Jack in the lead setting a punishing pace. Kate called it the Tupperware Party Run.

Kate, an old hand now, clocked up two swims on the upper section: Ski Jump and Miss Davies Bridge.

The Mill Falls at the end are impressive and need to be taken with care. Unlike last year, we had a 100% pass rate, (of those who went over it), the rest of the party taking a sneaky little leat to avoid disaster.

Alun did a sneaky little roll on the Graveyard.

Bex can be forgiven for her two swims. She hadn’t been in a boat for

See P19 for a bit more

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Sunday 16th March - The River Llugwy No release at Tryweryn today so to the Llugwy, an easier river. The snow was falling fast, it was freezing and a few just wanted the buns and chocolate in Plas y Brenin. But Rich wasn’t having any of that. Anxieties mounted when we saw Rich N putting on his elbow pads. Was this river that bad? No. The Llugwy is indeed a beautiful river, set in the most picturesque surroundings, and with the backdrop of snow covered hills today it was truly spectacular.

Low water and rocks gave us few challenges till we got to Cobden Falls. The lead-in rapid started with a small tricky drop and Bex swum here losing a shoe.

Ellie also swam but in the flat water after the drop. Then some rock dodging and on towards the falls right by the hotel.

It was here that Arthur lost his paddles.

He was directing the action above the falls and all of a sudden there was frantic waving, with semaphore instructions, followed by Jack and Mark clambering on rocks to try to find said lost item.

Arthur says that it was Bex’s fault (he was telling Bex the route at the time).

Bex is having none of it. And nor are the rest of us. So that’ll be 2 points and then the matter is closed!

The rest of the journey was uneventful except perhaps staring in awe at three massive drops! They are Pont Cyfyng, and are absolute monsters. Beautiful, but not for us today. You would need to be mad to do them! So we portaged them to finish the last short section before the get-out.

We needed to get over a small drop and make a swift left turn into a pool to avoid the main falls, which we were not doing today as the rocks and low water made it very interesting. Ellie gave everyone a big fright when, having done the small drop she then got perilously close to the edge of the actual falls. “Just checking them out” she said! Kate checked out the fish population instead. She misunderstood an instruction and leant upstream. Bad move. Swim! Throwline action by Gareth saved her.

From the archives: Neil on Pont Cyfyng, top drop, in 2002 12

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Shepperton Slalom 16/17th March By the Nicol Family The first test of form beckoned, following many cold winter training sessions at Market Yard together with conditioning training at the gym. It was time to dust off the Nicol tour bus in readiness for the new season.

Shepperton Canoe Club is a predominantly slalom club and runs a number of ranking slalom events throughout the season ranging from Divisions 1 through to 4. So there is something available for all levels of ability. During the winter they also ran a number of mini slalom events on a turn up and paddle basis, so no preplanning was required. Ben took advantage of one of these in February, which provided a good foundation for the year ahead and an understanding of what the course might look like. There is a Division 3-4 event in June just after Langham Farm, so if you enter there and get promoted there is a good opportunity to try your hand at different water conditions. The site is just within the M25 ring in SW London. The course is just below a weir and the water level is controlled by a number of sluices. Camping is available on site for the hardy but many opt for B&B. We have four Div 2 K1 paddlers at the start of the season but only three were able to enter this event so the coach and his two apprentices made their 13

weekend travel arrangements with the support crew of Sam, Peter and Alex Nicol, Hannah Burgess, Roxy, John Bartlett and Lorraine Lyall.

Saturday Heavy overnight rain on the Friday meant that the water levels would be good for the Saturday with three sluice gates open plus a good flow over the spillways. A total of 154 paddlers competed on the Saturday, with 33 in Division 2 K1. High numbers limited the free practice, so the most had to be made of the official practice runs. The Div 1 paddlers were first to go and many ended up missing gates and some swimming. So how would our Div 2 paddlers fair? Andy was first to go, setting a steady pace, with minimal penalties. Chris was next up.

It didn’t quite go according to plan with a number of missed gates. Finally it was Ben’s turn which included a temporary pin on a rock resulting in a missed gate. Lunch beckoned and Andy, satisfied with his run, retired to the pub for a family lunch.

With continuing rain during the morning the conditions underfoot were slowly turning to something resembling the Somme. Chris had a similarly frustrating second run, but Ben improved with much better time and no missed gates, which elevated him to 10th place.

Continued over

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Shepperton Slalom continued run and potential time savings identified for the second run.

Following a short lunch break the Div1 men duly completed their second runs. Next up were the Div 2 ladies, with one of the younger competitors coming too close to a stopper, capsizing, getting stuck then needing rescue.

However the boat did not fare so well, being stuck for twenty minutes and folded two thirds of the way up the back deck. It was eventually recovered by a series of hooks and poles! Following a quick conference by the judging committee the wise decision was taken to cancel all further runs with only first run scoring.

Sunday

Saturday

Sunday Following another wet night we arrived to see that the water levels had risen by over 2 feet with no sight of the rock which had captured Ben on the Saturday. Consequently two extra sluice gates were opened with the threat of more needing to be opened. It was left to the two apprentices to fly the flag for Frome. Overall, there were slightly fewer entries but an increase to 46 Div 2 K1 men paddlers, so competition was going to be strong.

Once again many paddlers struggled with the course layout and water levels which were rising constantly. Ben’s official practice was curtailed with a swim on the ferry glide across the wave.

Chris’s first run using a borrowed boat was much better than Saturday’s effort, with no missed gates and a few touches. Ben took a more conservative approach to the wave which had increased since practice with steady first

In conclusion, a good start to the new season in very challenging and wet circumstances. Those who competed are now looking forward to their next challenges at Matlock at end of April and Bala Mill in early May. Pics on the website

Position

Name

Best Run Time

Best Run Penalties

Best Run Total

Points

10

Ben Nicol

150.43

12

162.43

727

14

Andy Lyall

180.70

2

182.70

606

31

Chris Bartlett

246.12

208

454.12

91

Position

Name

Time

Penalties

Total

Points

16

Ben Nicol

170.64

14

184.64

583

24

Chris Bartlett

195.34

18

213.34

361

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River clearing with a difference Rich said “Bring a bow saw”.

Ah well George doesn’t do bow saws - it’s a chain saw or nothing.

Or rather two chainsaws, a can of petrol, one of oil and plenty of ropes. We headed for Woolverton.

When we had last paddled the River Frome in early March, it had been a bit difficult in two places - a blockage below Woolverton Weir and one at the packhorse bridge below.

Today, our portage at Woolverton weir unexpectedly turned out to be the first trim of the day! George got started. Up the tree in a flash, to slice off an overhanging branch on the LHS which has stopped us from descending the weir over on the left.

This was actually a bit of a bonus because Rich had not planned to do this one!

Then on to the place where the angler gave Rich a hard time on the last trip.

The team started tentatively with gentle saw cuts, but when that didn’t work, all three of them simply jumped in and wriggled the heaving mass till things came apart. (See back page for photo.)

Then on to the packhorse bridge. By the time we’d finished, two arches were absolutely clear, so our next run, whenever it is, will be ‘straight through the middle’ (to coin a frequently heard phrase on the Scotland trips! ) 15

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For more information about courses, pick up a leaflet from the club, or look on the web site. Download an application and post to Pam or email her to book your place.

COURSES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Passport

Discover

An introductory 7 week course for the under 14s. At the Market Yard during normal club sessions.

Wednesdays, 7-8pm.

Start date - 1st May

This follows on from the Passport course and develops your skills.

It is a 12 week course, designed for under-14s. Wednesdays 7 - 8.30pm.

Start date - 15th May

OTHER COURSES Two Star Canoe and Kayak A course over 7 weeks on Tuesday evenings. This progresses you from One Star to an intermediate level.

Tuesdays, 4th June - 16th July

One Star Two courses this year, for beginners.

A 4 week evening course Tuesdays, 7th-28th May OR A weekend course - 13th/14th July

Three Star White water kayak course 3ist August/1st September And the moving water sections on 13th October

Safety and Rescue A course spread over a weekend where you learn the ins ands outs of rescues.

6th/7thJuly

Aquatic First Aid An 8 hour course covering incident management, resuscitation etc.

August 10th Ask if you need a 16 hour course.

Open Boat Skills New this year. A course over two days to learn canoe skills.

Open to members only.

4th/5th May 16

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Bits and Pieces Hello! Look who’s here!

It’s Dylan, eyeing up the poles!

‘Let’s get him started early then shall we?’

Ed: OK Andy and Lou, we know you like canoeing but isn’t this a bit premature?

From the Hartford courant.

Andrew at the Shepperton Slalom. You can see the full force of the water here!

Open boat skills weekend Look out for the open boat weekend 4/5th May Stu’s in charge!

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Bits and Pieces YOUNG PEOPLE Kath and Stu are your YOUTH REPS. They are there to answer any of your questions or listen to any of your suggestions.

Catch them on a club night or message them on fb.

YOUNG PEOPLE

Wednesday sessions need

Young people,

please ask your mums and dads if they will help us on Wednesdays.

Look out for the Passport and the Discover courses.

Passport lets you join our river trips and Discover is the one to do after Passport. P16 has the details.

And any questions ask Kath or Stu. They can help you.

We need parents to help in the kit room before the sessions start and then afterwards to help put kit away.

It’s easy and we will show them what to do!

Manoeuvre of the month Arthur plays in Chapel Falls Chapel Falls WINS! 18

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Market Yard bank work - 24th March. Jack, Mike and George.

Bits and Pieces

The usual! Three get on with the work and the others direct from afar!

Well not true actually! A large team had spent 4 hours clearing the stretch upstream. Thank you, Team. It does look good!

Kate Johnson Bex Tanti Keiran Clark Kath Norton Scott Hunter Gareth McGiveron Arthur Belbin Ben Nicol Ian Jones Rich Heal Hazel Cottle Ellie Howell Jack Overhill Jonathan Howell Chris Bartlett Rich Carter Linz Kimber Alun Jones George McGiveron Rich Norman

18 9 6 6 6 6 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1

Carl Gilder

1

Last word from the Tryweryn weekend Gareth‘s eye did look bad on Saturday and worse on Sunday!

But he didn’t need to visit A&E. And it’s just about better now.

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Paddlers and Points Girls: Ellie (3) Boys: Jack O (3) and Rich N (1) Ladies: Bex (9), Kate (13) and Pam Men: Alun (1), Arthur (5), Carl (1), Gareth (6), Jonathan (3), jack S, Mark, Rich C (2)

CONTACTS Chairman Alun Jones 01373 823513 Vice Chair: Gareth McGiveron Treasurer: John Kent 01225 765168 jfkent@blueyonder.co.uk Secretary: Pam Dixon 07740 472982 pam@dixon.org.uk Head Coach: Rich Carter 01373 864623 Youth Reps: Kath Norton and Stu Miles Volunteer Reps: Jonathan Howell and Sally Smiles Kit Officers: Sally and Tim Smiles

We get up to some funny stuff in the name of canoeing!

See P15 for what’s going on here.

PLANS HAVE NOW BEEN AGREED FOR WATER-ZONE TO FIRST FLOOR OF CLUBHOUSE

www.frome-canoeclub.org.uk

Follow us on facebook

Check out the photos of club events on the website.

Engineers have been consulted and we have the go-ahead! A super-duper hot tub is to be installed, upstairs at the far end of the room, accessing the water and drainage from the gents room below.

The supplier of the tub, Avril Pools Ltd, can start the installation straight away.

Canoeing and kayaking are “Assumed risk” – “Water contact sports” that may carry attendant risks. Participants should be aware of and accept these risks, and be responsible for their own action and involvement.

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