2017 4 newsletter

Newsletter

Frome Canoe Club

Volume 41 Issue 4: April 2017

The MIGHTY MARKET YARD SLALOM - 30th April See p5 and more information is here.

Chris is the organiser for this one.

RIVER SESSIONS START w/b 17th April

TWO TRIP REPORTS BY YOUNG PEOPLE: Henry’s Frome trip - see p10 Finn’s Barle trip - see p14 Do have a read - they are both brilliant articles!

Course dates are published now.

Pick up a leaflet at a club session or look on the website.

P19 has a summary.

First Mini slalom 21st April, 6pm at the clubhouse Frome Canoe Club is affiliated to British Canoeing and is a Registered Charity (Number 1104728) 1

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THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Graham Warnecke Vice Presidents Richard and Jane Arney Jim and Catharine Croft Chairman Andy Vowell Vice Chairman Gareth McGiveron Treasurer John Kent

In this issue CALENDAR 3 Calendar in brief 4 Avon Loop 4 Exeter Loop 5 Langham Farm Fridays 6/7 Wednesday club sessions 19 Courses SLALOM 5 Market Yard slalom 6 Mini Slalom 8-9 Slalom at FCC 12-13 Report by Chris W: Dulverton slalom 16 Llandysul slalom

Secretary Pam Dixon 16 Blagdon Walk, Frome, BA11 2YH

REPORTS 10-11 River Frome Trip by Henry L 14 River Barle Trip by Finn J 15 Work Party pictures

Committee Members Rich Carter Jonathan Howell Linz Kimber Tracey Lemon Stuart Miles Jack Smiles

OTHER THINGS 7 Cutting the cost of paddling 17 River Frome Pictures 18 Caption Corner 18 Copper noseclip points 20 Hydraulic jetty on the way

Kit Officer Jack Smiles

SmokefreeSports

Send articles for the next issue to th pam@dixon.org.uk by 27 April Please help us to promote a smokefree club by refraining from smoking publicly at all our events.

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Calendar 2017 Date

Event

Who for

Contact

1/2

Symonds Yat Div 2/3 slalom

Ranked paddlers

John K

3

Slalom Monday training for adults starts

Experienced slalomists John K

12

Last 4-5pm slalom on Weds

Young slalomists

Chris W

17

First Monday 6-7pm slalom

Young/inexperienced

John K

18

Tuesday Adults-only sessions start

Adults

Pam D

19

Wednesday sessions start

All

Pam D

21

First mini slalom

All

John/Chris

23

Exeter Canoe Loop

Passport/One Star+

Stuart M

28

Langham Farm Friday

Passport/One Star+

Rich C

29

Children’s festival - tasters

Non members

Pam D

30

MARKET YARD SLALOM

All

Chris W

6

Work party at Langham Farm

All

Andy V

7

CIWW

Two Star standard

Andy V

8

Passport course starts

Participants

Pam D

12

Langham Farm Friday

Passport/One Star+

Rich C

14

Winchester slalom

All

Pam D

April

May

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Calendar in detail AVON CANOE LOOP

EXETER CANOE LOOP

9th April Meet Market Yard: 8.30am Cost £3 Organiser: Stu Miles

23rd April Meet Market Yard: 8am Cost £15 Organiser: Stu Miles

This is a trip downstream on the River Avon and then back to the start on the Kennet and Avon canal. This way we do a loop.

This is to be a canoe trip so get your kneeling pads out!

Last year we got on in Exeter and paddled downstream on the Exe to Countess weir via Salmon Pool, and then back on the Exeter Ship Canal.

You can paddle in a canoe or kayak, both are fine. This trip is good for young and old, experienced and notso-experienced.

But there are other ‘loops’ we could do, and Stu will choose. Whatever we do it will be flat with some weirs.

Bring a packed lunch and if it is cool also bring plenty of warm gear to paddle in.

We will be in open boats and so we can take barbeque, champers on ice, and the odd canapé. Only joking - no champers or canapés. But we do stop at a pub on the canal section for hot chocolate/coffee etc.

WEEK-NIGHT RIVER SESSIONS START W/B 17th APRIL   

Probably a distance of about 7 miles with a small portage between the river and the canal.

Mondays - slalom training Tuesdays - Adults only Wednesdays - all the groups (slalom/polo/fun and games/ open boats)

To find the get-in you need to head to Okehampton Street in Exeter. Find the Royal Oak Inn, EX1 2NP, and you are very close to the car park we meet in. This car park is right next to the river - hey presto! The get-in!

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Calendar in detail LANGHAM FARM FRIDAYS We are aiming to put some Friday sessions into the calendar again this year. 7pm-9pm.

So far these ones are set for April and May: 28th April 12th May 26th May Find the other dates in the Calendar on website.

If you want to borrow club kit, we need to know in advance so that we have enough kit there. Rich will load up the trailer on Wednesday before each session.

MINI SLALOM st

21 April 6pm-8pm At the Clubhouse A chance to take part in a friendly competition and get some early practice in advance of the Market Yard slalom. Don’t be put off if you have never done slalom before - we will help you to get started!

Everyone is welcome.

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The sessions are for people wanting to use the moving water to progress their skills. It is not going to be a general fun session.

Everyone is welcome.

Cost £2.

As always, the normal procedure at Langham Farm needs to be observed.

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Wednesday sessions are busy! Lots to choose from!

Fun and Games for young people 8-10 year olds: come at 6.30pm 11-13year olds: come at 6.45pm 14+ year olds: come at 7.00pm

Slalom training

Canoe polo

All ages: come at 6.45pm

All ages: come at 6.30pm

Ability to wear a spraydeck is recommended.

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Open boating

Adult-only group

All ages: come at 7.15pm

Come at 7.45pm to get on the water at 8pm.

Last year we had less congestion in the clubhouse by having set queuing times. It worked well. The registration time gives you about half an hour to get changed, choose your kit in the kit room and select a boat.

Please try to come as close as possible to your registration time. Getting to the clubhouse extra-early does not speed things up. It may in fact have the opposite effect!

All club sessions at the clubhouse cost £3 per person per session.

Cutting the cost of paddling at FCC Here are two ways of cutting the cost of your paddling sessions:  PaddlePass: You can buy an annual pass for £60 and this entitles you to

paddle at club sessions as often as you like in the week (when sessions are going on) for a whole year. Good value for money if you are a regular!  Upfront Card: Buy 5 sessions up front (£15) and get the sixth session free!

And lastly - if you would like to volunteer and help us at club sessions - do let Pam know.

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Slalom at Frome Canoe Club

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Wednesdays 4pm-5pm, from now through to 12th April Mondays every week from 17th April

Wednesdays every week from 19th April Friday 21st April

Sunday 30th April

Sunday 14th May 20th and 21st May Friday 2nd June Sunday 4th June Sat 10th / Sun 11th June Friday 30th June Sunday 9th July Thursday 3rd August-Sunday 6th August

These sessions are already happening - Chris is coaching them.

Training starts with John at Market Yard. Juniors at 6pm-7pm, where the focus is on learning the strokes and positioning to negotiate the gates.

Adults/more experienced paddlers at 7pm-8pm, where the focus is on fitness. *New to slalom – Juniors at 6pm. Adults at 7pm.

7pm-8pm. Training at Market Yard within the normal club session. *New to slalom – come at 6.45pm

* First Minislalom at Market Yard 6pm.

A 12 gate course. Prizes include most improved over the series of 3. * Frome Market Yard slalom Divisions 4/Open.

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 a higher division.

North Walls Slalom at Winchester. Another race like Market Yard.

Ogmore Divisions 3 and 4 at Bridgend in South Wales. Two separate races, one on Saturday and another on Sunday.

Second Minislalom at Market Yard 6pm.

No training as such but this is the day we put up the course ready for Langham Farm the following weekend.

Langham Farm Slalom. A Double Division 3 and 4 race near Rode which we organise.

Third Minislalom at Market Yard 6pm.

Grand Team Event at Market Yard.

Llandysul River Festival. More about this later.

You can find out more about canoe slalom on www.canoeslalom.co.uk 9

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River Frome - 5th March River Frome Trip

By Henry Lines Many people were expecting it to be a very quiet trip because the River Axe race was happening on the same day, until in the morning we received a text message from John saying that the race was cancelled (for Juniors) due to high winds. When we all arrived at the Club, we took about an hour to get kit ready and boats on the roof because more and more people turned up for the Frome trip! So in the end it was a lot busier than we thought.

We squeezed into a few cars and vans, with roof racks about to collapse because of so many boats, and then we set off for the Creamery. We unloaded the boats from the roof and dragged them across the field while the drivers drove the cars to Langham Farm. They took a long time to do this because Rich had to jump in the river to remove a massive piece of plank

stuck under the bridge and because they were worried about getting the cars stuck in the muddy field. While we were waiting for them we dragged the boats across the field and took a look at the colossal weir (Creamery weir) that only people like Rich, Christian and Mark are crazy enough to paddle. We sat in our boats and watched them shoot the weir and then we set off.

At first, there were a couple of small rapids because the river was quite high but as the day went on we began to get used to it and the day got easier and easier.

We could have done it a bit harder, but it was quite difficult sometimes for some of us less experienced paddlers. The first weir had mountains of white water on the bit we normally climb down. The reason that we couldn’t kayak down on the right is that somebody put metal spikes at the bottom. We got back on after it, and a couple of minutes later 10

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River River Exe and Frome Exeter continued Ship Canal Nikki had the first swim of the day.

Maybe she was getting a bit too hot in her boat!

The Rode weir was easy. You didn’t need to stop and push yourself over because there was lots of water. I managed to get attacked by a log on the weir and then got stuck in a tree but got out without receiving any points! And Nikki crashed into the canoe so she got three more points.

After Nikki got back in her boat, we had a paddle down some moving water and then we got to the next weir, (Beckington) which is the slide weir.

The slide weir was pretty much a wide diagonal chute into a small stopper and everybody paddled this. Kenny even managed to stay upright in the canoe. After that we had some lunch while Rich C stood at the top of the weir supervising some people who wanted to have another go. There were also people like Jacob, Otto and Finn playing in the stopper. Jacob tried doing something in the stopper but when Rich C had a go he ended up having to roll back up. He got his first point for this!

We then paddled down to the final weir at Langham which normally is a good foot above the water. Today it was under water. Most of us paddled over, except the confident ones who paddled down the rapids and under the bridge. Some of us got out, but the boys and Rich C stayed in, and my brother, Jacob, dared Rich to do a stern-squirt in the fast water under the bridge which resulted in Rich swimming and getting three more points!

From there it was pretty much easy but fun paddling and then we came up to our next weir, which was a small drop which most people did.

Overall it was a very enjoyable trip and at the end we had a sticky toffee cake that my mum made. We loaded all the boats back on the cars and went home feeling very tired.

Shawford weir next, was really big and quite a few people walked it, but this was really hard to skip because of the barbed wire blocking the path. Some people went over the weir and pretty much everyone made it except for Kenny in the canoe, who gave it a really good attempt and got down but then tipped at the last moment.

18 paddlers and 13 points Boys: Alfie, Finn, Henry, Jacob, Liam, Otto Women: Emma, Nikki, (6) Pam, Sarah Men: Christian, Graham, Kenny (3), Nik, Phil, Rich C (4), Rich H and Steve.

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Dulverton Slalom - 12th March Dulverton Slalom, Sunday 12th March

By Chris Wilde After the fun, sun and frivolities of Saturday, Sunday dawned overcast but better than forecast. The one downside of this was that the river had dropped to a slightly less than ideal level. This meant that gate 18 which had been an upstream on Saturday, suddenly had a new paint job and made an already long downstream stagger sequence all the way from gate 12 even longer, faster and generally trickier!

Alfie and Toby took their official practice runs and discovered that gate 15 which was a downstream gate in an eddy had become a lot more difficult in the lower water conditions. We had a good look at the course and spotted the line; head left and make sure you get the left of the V of the wave then with a bit of luck you can hop through the eddy and sail through the gate.

First runs came around soon enough and it I was the first of the Frome paddlers on the start line. My first race of

the season, beautiful surroundings and a few Division One paddlers to pitch myself against in the ‘open’ competition. An enjoyable, fairly speedy and miraculously clear run later and I got given a 5 second handicap for apparently going too fast or something like that.

John followed me down the course. All I saw of it was the last few gates as I caught my breath, so I can’t tell you too much more about that one.

After a short delay to allow a group which was trying to rival FCC’s record for “the most paddlers on the Barle at once” to paddle through and try to demolish the gates and next up it was Alfie on the start line.

A steady and cautious start saw Alfie cleanly through the top sequence and onto the tricky up-down-up-up sequence which was gates 8 to 11. Expertly Alfie broke out, dropped an edge on the way out of the eddy and with a dip of the tail (of the boat that is!) and he was set up for gate 10 and onwards. Sadly the nemesis of the tricky gate 15 struck and resulted in a 50 second penalty.

Toby followed Alfie down the course, 12

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Dulverton Slalom continued taking a steady but purposeful approach he stormed through the early part of the course and onto the tricky crunch move. I held my breath, Toby held his nerve, nailed the line and flew through gate 15. On through the rest of the course and it was a good solid 1st run.

Onto the C2’s and John and Andy tackled the course with their experienced and focused approach. I will say that getting a C2 down an increasingly shallow course and coming out with both paddlers, paddles and boat all intact is not the easiest task to achieve. The nemesis of gate 15 struck again. From the bank it may have looked as if John had forgotten about his crew mate (maybe you weren’t paddling hard enough Andy) as he took a big stroke and leant forward resulting in a split (only one paddler crossing through the gate line) and a 50 second penalty.

Lunch consisted mostly of pot noodles and thoughts turned to tactics for second runs. I chose to go flat out, resulting in me going about half a second slower. John decided to save his efforts for the C2. Alfie narrowly avoided a capsize and failed to repeat his killer move on gates 8 and 9, and Toby momentarily forgot the order of the numbers one to eleven. This left only the C2 to run and a clean and clin13

ical approach saw them get rid of the 50 second penalty leaving them in a solid 5th position.

Boats loaded, muddy kit stowed and with the few rays of sun in the rear view mirror we headed home tired but chuffed to bits with having had a fun and successful start to the slalom season.

Dulverton Results (Saturday) ‘Open’ Teams 6th FROME FLYERS, (John Kent & Andrew Lyle, Chris Wilde, Jacob Lines) 141.5 seconds 11th Frome Juniors plus Oldie (Alfie Lee, Toby Wilde, Chris Wilde) 275.9 seconds 12th Frome Juniors (Finn Johnson, Otto Johnson, Jacob Lines) 301.9 seconds Dulverton Results (Sunday) Open K1M 4th Chris Wilde 84.3 seconds (including a very unfair 5 second handicap!)

15th John Kent 100.0 seconds Division 3 K1M 10th Toby 120.7 seconds 13th Alfie Lee 182.7 seconds Division 2/3 C2 5th John Kent / Andrew Lyall 121.8 seconds Go to p16 to read Chris’ plans for Llandyssul Slalom 22nd and 23rd April.

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Finn’s Day on the Barle, 19th March The scenery surrounding the river made you feel like you were in some sort of Jurassic park movie. There weren't many capsizes, only three occasions - Liam got two and Jacob got one after he was pinned on a rock and eventually capsized when Jack and John helped him.

River Barle Trip

By Finn Johnson At first we thought that we were off to Symonds Yat on Sunday but we soon came to realise that we would be going to Exmoor to paddle the Barle. This was because the water at Symonds Yat rose 2 metres over night. In our family we thought that the Barle was a myth because we had tried four times to go but had never succeeded.

We finished off the trip in Dulverton after paddling through the slalom site at the last rapids.

At the very end Jacob, Otto and myself attempted our first roll in the river. Luckily for us we all came back up...

We all arrived and unloaded the boats at a place called Tarr Steps - a medieval clapper bridge, built out of huge stone slabs, weighing up to two tons each.

Overall, the trip was very good for people who haven't done much white water before and gave them a new experience. Thank you to the club for organising a great day out on the river Barle. I had a brilliant time and judging by everyone's smiles at the end, so did they.

We all set off, with a school party as our audience, straight into rapids which woke people up pretty quickly.

19 paddlers and 11 points Boys: Alfie, Finn, Jacob (5), Liam (6), Otto Women: Emma, Izi, Kath, Pam, Men: Christian, Jack, John, Kenny, Lawrence, Nik, Phil, Rich, and Steve and Stu.

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Work party at Market Yard, 25th March

What a lot we got done! Gutters cleaned, bank dug out and soil removed, jetty repaired, changing room floors pressure washed, seal launch finished and (tested

later in the day), winches finished, windows cleaned, and so on! Tea and cake all through the morning brought some thinking/chatting time! THANK YOU everyone!

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Llandysul Slalom Continued from p13.

This from Chris about Llandysul slalom, 22nd and 23rd April: Next up on the slalom calendar for me (and the rest of the Wilde gang) is the double division 2, 3 and 4 race at Llandyssul. This is about a two and a half hour drive, but well worth it in my opinion. The division 2 and 3 races are run on the river Teifi, which is a fun stretch of grade 2 white water. The division 4 is run on the flat water of the lake. Being a ‘double’ race means that there is one race on each day over two different courses.

There is camping on site (we will take our caravan) and various accommodation within a minute or two’s walk in the town of Llandysul. If anyone wants to join us please come along. I can’t transport any people on this occasion but I am happy to help with coaching, general encouragement, transporting boats, feeding and watering people etc. etc., please just let me know!

SOME NATIONAL SLALOM DATES Llandysul 2/3/4 Market Yard 4/0 Winchester 4/O Ogmore 3/4 Langham Farm 3/4 Cardington 2/3/4 Symonds Yat 2/3

22/23rd April 30th April 14th May 20/21st May 10/11th June 3/4th Sept 15/16th Oct

COACHES A safeguarding course 12th April, 6pm-9pm This is a ‘minimum standards for Active Coaches’ requirement. Let Pam know if you need to do this one.

Have you seen the new displays on the notice boards at the clubhouse?

It was Chloe’s idea to signpost the young paddlers who come on Wednesdays, to know what to try next … what to move onto … what to progress to from ‘Fun and Games’.

Have a look and let us know what you think. Feel free to make suggestions about what else to include.

And for those of you who like a bit of fun - how many of these can you find on the boards? Answers to Chloe (or Pam) .

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Pictures from the River Frome trip

And GUESS WHO THIS IS 17

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Bits and pieces Just practising for my Swan Lake audition!

.. 8 ..9..10.., coming ready or not!

Send it in to Pam!

Sarah Rowland-B Kenny McDonald Jacob Lines Otto Johnson Ian Jones Nikki Webster Liam Taylor Bartek Hora Rich Carter Steve Taylor Finn Johnson Tim Snook

11 9 8 6 6 6 6 5 4 3 3 3

Jonathan Howell Binkie Heather Nik Palmer Jos Maxey Phil Lines Jack Smiles

3 3 3 2 2 1

Points are awarded: 3 for a capsize and swim.

2 for a rescue. 1 for a roll.

And the committee has decided that the winner of the Copper noseclip from now will be recognised by a piecing to be worn all year round. We recommend the shop in Frome in the Market Place (A Fule) as a we know she does a good job.

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COURSES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Passport

Discover

An introductory 6 week course for the under 14s. Mondays, 6.30-8pm

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

It is a 10week course, designed for under-14s. Mondays, 6.30pm- 8pm.

Start date - 15th May

Two courses in 2017, starting

8th May and 19th June

OTHER COURSES One Star A course for beginners in the Adultonly sessions on Tuesdays. It usually takes about 4 weeks to complete the syllabus. Ask for more info.

Tuesday evenings. Test dates will be arranged when paddlers are ready.

Two Star Canoe and Kayak A 4 day course spread over three weekends. This progresses you from One Star to intermediate level.

Saturdays 13th May, 20th May and weekend 17th/18th June.

Test 2nd July

Three Star White water kayak course on three days. Flat water skills on 18th June and 10th September. The moving water sections on 22nd October.

Safety and Rescue - FSRT A course spread over a weekend where you learn the ins ands outs of rescues. Lots of wet work!

20th/21st May

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

July 30th

It’s easy to join a course: Email Pam with your request (and to check there is space). Your name can go on the booking sheet and then pay when you are next at a club session.

For more information about courses, and for info about the syllabus, look on the web site. Download an application and post to Pam. OR email her to book your place.

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CONTACTS Chairman: Andy Vowell 07584 069432 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 Rep: Tracey Lemon Volunteer Rep: Jonathan Howell Kit: Jack Smiles smiles93@googlemail.com Safety Officer: Rich Carter Welfare Officer: Pam Dixon 07740 472982

New hydraulic jetty is on the way Andy and Rich have had three meetings with the Environment Agency (EA) recently and the good news is that they have secured an agreement to install a new hydraulic prototype which has been developed by Weber UK, and was on display for the first time last April at the NEC. This jetty will be able to go up or down at the flick of a switch so that we never need to worry about water levels. The EA is specifying that the new jetty should replace the old one, but Andy is currently negotiating for an agreement to position the new hydraulic jetty upstream of the existing one. This would double the jetty space for our busy Wednesday club sessions and all the work, Gareth, Christian and Jack did in the work party wouldn’t be lost.

What do you think folks? Isn’t this brilliant?

For more information about the company and our project look here.

More news next month, as the project unfolds!

www.frome-canoeclub.org.uk

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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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