October's Newsletter

Newsletter

Frome Canoe Club

Volume 42 Issue 10: October 2018

for her promotion to Division 2 at Cardington Slalom Read Jaz’s cracking article about the medal haul at Cardington slalom - p8.

We had some fun, didn’t we? And what a turn out! 76 of us altogether, on a day blessed with sunshine and not a drop of rain. It made a change to have a dry BBQ, although some of us

obviously missed the rain and after lunch set about remedying that! Turn to p10 for more.

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

Chairman Andy Vowell Vice Chairman Jack Smiles Treasurer John Kent Secretary Pam Dixon 16 Blagdon Walk, Frome, BA11 2YH Committee Members Rich Carter Jonathan Howell Linz Kimber Gareth McGiveron George McGiveron Ben Nicol Emma Slevin Chris Wilde

In this issue CALENDAR 3 Calendar in brief 4 Pool sessions Canoe Polo 5 Slalom - winter calendar 6 Tiverton training River Barle 7 Dart weekend River Usk SLALOM 8-9 Cardington Medal Haul by Jaz 16-18 Lee Valley report by Phil 19 What can I expect at a slalom weekend?

REPORTS 10-11 BBQ 12-13 River Frome trip by Rich OTHER THINGS 14-15 Interview with Alun 20-23 Bits and Pieces 23 Copper noseclip points 24 Is it a bird?

Send articles for the next issue to th pam@dixon.org.uk by 25 October

SmokefreeSports

Please help us to promote a smokefree club by refraining from smoking publicly at all our events.

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Calendar 2018 Weekly Pool sessions on Fridays have started.

Date

Event

Who for

Contact

3

Coaches and Volunteers meeting

Volunteers

Rich

12

Canoe Polo at the pool (contact)

All

Jack

13/14

Tiverton weekend

Passport/One Star

Pam

26

Canoe Polo (non-contact game )

All

Jack

28

River Barle

Passport/One Star

Rich

31

No early slalom in half term

Div 3 paddlers +

Chris

October

November 9

Canoe Polo at the pool (contact)

All

Jack

10/11

Dart weekend

Passport/One Star

Pam

23

Canoe Polo (non-contact game )

All

Jack

25

River Usk

Discover/Two Star

John

December 7

Canoe Polo at the pool (contact)

All

Jack

8

Slalom training - away

Div 3 +

Chris

9

River Ogmore

Discover/Two Star

Andy

15

Christmas meal at Cordero

All

Linz

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Calendar in detail - Pool stuff FRIDAY POOL SESSIONS

CANOE POLO AT THE POOL

FRIDAYS, 8-9pm .

FROME SPORTS AND FITNESS CENTRE, BA11 2SA

Twice a month we fit a canoe polo game into pool sessions: a contact game and a non-contact game.

How they work:  Find us in the Frome Sports and

Fitness Centre foyer at 7.45pm.  Bring swimming costume, towel, 

 



session charge - £3.50.

We divide up the one-hour into smaller ‘paddling slots’ so that everyone can get a go. This means that you may get 30 minutes in a kayak, but on a busy night the paddling slots will be 20 minutes.

When you pay, choose the session you want to paddle in.

You don’t need to wear a buoyancy aid or helmet (unless you are playing polo).

If you want to bring your own kayak, it must be VERY clean. Bring it in via the fire exit.

The contact game, for experienced paddlers, needs a good roll or you could be swimming a lot! These sessions are on the second Friday of the month.

October 12th November 9th The non contact game, on the last Friday of the month.

October 26th November 23rd

CHRISTMAS BREAK: NO SESSIONS ON 28th December and 4th January

We timetable the polo games into one of the paddling slots of the night. So when you want to take part, let us know on the desk when you sign in.

We provide buoyancy aids, helmets and club paddles for these games so that people are properly protected.

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Slalom - from Chris Paddlers who are going to compete next year will find that if you are able to keep up your training over the winter, then you will find yourself at a real advantage at the start of next season. This year there are more opportunities than ever to keep up that training over this coming winter.

Wednesdays at 4.30pm Chris is running a session aimed primarily at paddlers in Division 3, but those who want to work on slalom skills can come along too.

Wednesdays at 6.30pm John is running a session aimed at experienced paddlers who want to do some harder training, it will be dark so there will be less gate work and more hard paddling!

Saturday 8th December Sunday 20th January Saturday 16th February These are the dates for some white water slalom training days which Chris is running. They are aimed at paddlers in Division 2and the top of Division 3. Winter slalom kit and plenty of enthusiasm are essential. If you would like to join in please ensure you talk to Chris and give him your contact details.

The venue and format will depend on water levels, the participants, availability of gates and the weather. Venues are likely to include Symonds Yat, Shepperton, Dulverton and Llandysul.

The days will typically involve an early start, with a couple of cars going on each trip. The first paddling session will concentrate on gate work with progressive or half runs of a course. After a break for a snack and a drink we will probably then concentrate on specific moves, making the most of the white water before we drive home exhausted after lunch.

Chris will circulate specific plans closer to each date.

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Calendar in detail TIVERTON WEEKEND

RIVER BARLE

13th/14th October 8.30am at the Clubhouse Cost £40 Organiser Pam

28th October 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £13 Organiser Rich

This is a weekend training for paddling on moving water.

The Barle is a beautiful river in south Exmoor.

We paddle the section from Tarr Steps to Dulverton, a distance of 7 miles.

There are many small rapids, mini play holes to enjoy, and the scenery is stunning on this lovely stretch of river.

We paddle the river Exe on two days, and stay overnight in a youth centre at Tiverton. It is a fully catered weekend but you need to bring a sleeping bag and mat, (we sleep on the floor), overnight things and any personal paddling kit that you want to use.

You need to be a good One Star / Passport standard, have done some moving water training (eg Tiverton) and be over 10 years old.

In small groups on the water, we help you to acquire the skills of paddling on white water: • Breaking in and out of the flow • Ferry gliding • Surfing waves • Eddy hopping • Reading the river • Staying safe

You will need to wear warm stuff on the water and be able to wear a spraydeck. A waterproof packed lunch to carry in a kayak is essential too. (ie in a waterproof container small enough to go in a boat.)

It’s a good weekend if you are just starting off, and it can also be good if you want to push yourself a bit more.

We plan the groups with your skill level in mind.

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Calendar in detail RIVER USK

DART WEEKEND

25th November 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £15 Organiser John

10th/11th November 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £36 Organiser Pam A WEEKEND AWAY IN DARTMOOR, PADDLING ON TWO DAYS

The River Usk is in South Wales.

The stretch we will paddle is from Sennybridge to Aberbran, a distance of 5 miles. This is a good introduction to white water. The rapids are straight forward and are reasonably continuous grade 2.

The Dart is one of our favourites with its lovley water, challenging features and beautiful surroundings.

There are three sections we could paddle so this trip is open to most abilities, but you need to be 10+ years, be able to paddle at One Star standard with some moving water experience and be able to wear a spray deck.

Early in the trip, the hardest sections are encountered. In the space of a mile there are three successive rock ledge, the last and highest being about a metre drop. This can be portaged.

You need to bring a packed lunch for Saturday. The food for the rest of the weekend is provided.

Remember to wear warm clothes and to bring food and drink for the trip.

We stay overnight in Powdermills bunkhouse in the middle of nowhere.

It is absolutely lovely.

There are bunk beds so just bring a sleeping bag, overnight things and paddling gear.

You can borrow any club kit that you need. We just sort that out on the Saturday.

This trip is limited to 28 people.

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Cardington Medal Haul Cardington Slalom by Jaz (with some help from Chris) On 1st and 2nd September 8 competitors and 7 supporters headed to sunny Cardington Slalom Course near Bedford for the Division 2, 3 and 4 Slalom. We travelled on the Friday, and it took about 3 hours or so. Once our tents, caravans and campervans were set up we jumped on the water for a practice. I found the course tricky at first, but after some coaching I got the hang of it. The white water course is a manmade concrete channel with blocks (like the ones at Cardiff) to form the drops. It is much easier than Cardiff though. After practicing we went to my Granny’s house for dinner; I think more Grandparents should live near Slalom courses!

Saturday was race day. Most of us had a practice run, it was really busy with about 180 competitors taking part. Dad went off first and showed us all how to do it with a nice clean run. It’s a shame he was so slow, (he blamed an arm injury but I think it is just because it was nearly his 40th birthday). Dad was shortly followed by Finn, who unfortunately didn’t go clear!

Next it was my turn, I was a bit nervous because I was the youngest competitor in Division two, plus it was my first race in div. 2. I soon realised I didn’t need to have been nervous as I put in a nice fast run and only hit one gate. I was followed by Aimee who actually went faster than Jacob. He blamed that on only having a single paddle or some other rubbish like that. Toby and Otto went in the Division 3 men.

Otto paddled really well and was very pleased when he discovered that he was actually in the lead after first runs. Aicha and Maddie were next. Aicha put in a good run and with a total of 123.7 - in third place. Fingers-crossed she would stay there and earn promotion so she could join Aimee and me in Division 2.

We had some lunch, then after a long break, (did I mention that there were lots of competitors) we took our second runs. Finn took a slightly more cautious second run, but he kept it clean and fast and sailed into the lead. It was a nail biting wait for us, but Finn just went back to the camper van and relaxed – he must be a true professional. Job done…..HE WON! Jacob went faster, Aimee went slower (I think just to make sure that Jacob stayed happy), I went faster as did Otto and Toby. Sadly Otto dropped down into second, so there was not quite a Johnson brothers domination. Maddie paddled much better and Aicha hung onto third place so she is now promoted. WELL DONE! 8

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Cardington Medal Haul continued After all this Frome CC dominated prize giving! Look at the medal haul below.

Chris - 1st Vet Division 2 Finn – 1st K1M Aimee – 1st J14 Jaz – 1st J10 Jacob – 3rd C1 Division 3 Otto – 2nd K1M Toby – 1st J12 Aicha – 3rd K1W and Promoted Maddie – 1st J10 We finished the day with a practice of the course for Sunday, then eventually the biggest pizzas in the world were delivered, woo hoo! There was so much pizza we had to invite other people to help eat it and still we ate pizza for breakfast and lunch the next day.

Sunday’s course had a really tricky gate 11. It was a downstream gate which was tucked behind a rock in an eddy.

We learned that we had to go down the middle of the drop but aim towards the gate. My brother and I also paddled C2, and gate 11 was mega tricky in a C2! We weren’t sure if it was because we had paddled so hard on the Saturday, the late night, or because of the ton of pizza we had all eaten, but all of us seemed to go a little bit slower on the Sunday. We still paddled well and most of us competed in more than one class. Consequently we allowed some other clubs to collect some of the prizes this time!

We returned home late on the Sunday night pleased with our weekend’s performance and all fired up for the last couple of competitions of the season.

Ed: What a cracking report - thank you Jaz! 9

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BBQ - 9th September

Our thanks go to Gareth and Chloe for cooking all the food for us, and to Brenda, Christine and others for the preparation.

We need to remember too, the team who set up the site on the Saturday and the 10

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BBQ - 9th September

ones who stayed to take it down. This year we had so many helping hands, it made the whole event a real pleasure. Thank you everyone.

Thank you Steve and Mike for photos! More here and here.

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Symonds Yat becomes the River Frome A late summer trip

By Rich What a summer we have had! Blue skies, so much heat we were able to keep the doors and windows open all day and night. And with the absence of rain, water levels were low. So our trip to Symonds Yat is on course to be great for the new paddlers in the club.

But wait, what happened? Oh yes - we have the first two big storms to hit Britain just a few days before the trip. Great! The river level at Symonds Yat goes up by four metres, nearly over night. So not simply going over the rocks there, but going straight through the island as well. The question is do we cancel it? Or do we do the Frome instead?

Well, we have not done the Frome all summer, so that’s what we will go for.

With the water up 100mm in Frome and not the 4m in Wales, at least we had flow, but it wasn’t dangerous. The only problem we found was trees. I have not seen so many trees across the river for a long time. This made it into a bit of a jungle trip. And it caused a few swimmers as they grappled through the branches. But the undergrowth did lead to good practice on controlling of the boat.

We shot all the weirs, with some swimming as they paddled over and some dropping their paddles at weirs, then watching them float away.

As this is a four mile stretch, there were a lot of sore muscles in the group at the finish, but the pain is worth it, for such a day.

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River Frome trip continued

We started in the rain and finished in glorious sun. What else can we ask for?

Well done to all 21 of you for turning up and going with the flow, in more ways than one. A great day out!

21 paddlers and 21 points Girls : Jaz W Boys : Alex B, Finn J (1), Otto J, Toby W (2), Tom T Women: Amanda (6), Lisa, Pam Men : Alun, Christian, Ian, Jack, Jim, John, Keith (9), Lawrence, Paul (3), Pete, Rich and Simon.

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Get out there and paddle! ... Let’s hear from Alun We hear from members about their favourite bits of the club, their successes and their favourite rivers. Today we hear from Alun Jones.

Alun is one of the instructors at the Tuesday Adult sessions and has coached all through the Summer for us.

What do you like about Frome Canoe Club?

I like the camaraderie on our trips and the community spirit of the volunteers that allows the club operate and provide a positive enjoyable paddling experience for everyone.

Which is your favourite river:

I have to cheat and go with The Dart for England, the Tryweryn for Wales, the Etive for Scotland and the lower Guisane in France.

Right is Alun on the Etive in 2014.

Tell us about the boats you have owned:

I am afraid this will be a once upon time story when there was only two types of kayak ,professionally made and home made in fibre glass. With a mould from the youth and community office we made a batch of Apache kayaks at school. This was a general purpose boat.

They were soon superseded by the Snipe a slalom kayak which we competed with. Many years later I bought my first plastic craft a Wavesport X which still provides a great deal of enjoyment. My next purchase was a Big Dog for my big son. Sadly it did not survive its first Alps trip. I now have a Zet Veloc.

Tell us some of the highlights in your paddling career.

I derived many great memories from paddling the 100 mile raft race for many years. The race was from Hay on Wye to Chepstow and we maintained a stroke 14

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My advice: “Have a go - what can go wrong?” rate of 72 per minute.

I suppose my greatest achievement was winning the Marden and Chippenham race, aged about 15.

What is your most embarrassing moment on the water?

I shared a common awkward experience with many other Snipe owners around the coast who like me found themselves vertical on a wave as the nose of the boat hammered into the sand and broke off the front eight inches of the boat.

What’s the happiest moment on the water?

I was always very happy to get off the raft after 100 miles.

Local rivers: which is your favourite section?

I think the Frome is difficult to beat without travelling for more than two hours. It has plenty of features to keep paddlers interested.

Any final gems?

My advice is to have a go! What can go wrong?

Ed: The photo above is Alun on the recent Frome trip at Cliffords Mill weir. His face is a picture, if you can make it out!

I did enjoy reading about the 100 mile raft race and the stroke rate of 72 per minute. How ever did you keep that up? I also smiled at the comment about getting off the raft!

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Lee Valley - 15/16th September The British Open Weekend, Lee Valley, by Phil Lines After a brilliant couple of days at the British Open last year, the date for this year’s Open Weekend had been in the diary for some time! It’s a great event that runs over the Saturday and Sunday at Lee Valley White Water Centre; basically a weekend that is all about slalom! The bonus for us this year was that as well as competing in the Division 2 / Open race on Sunday on the Legacy course, Jacob got a “paddle-up” entry to the British Open “Prem” race on the Olympic Course as well.

So, with his K1 and the club C1 on the roof, we dragged the caravan through rush -hour traffic to Waltham Abbey and pitched up. Lee Valley is a lovely venue, just off the M25. Set in landscaped grounds, the facility sits around a training lake with a couple of conveyor belts feeding up to the mighty Olympic Course, and the smaller (but still more than I could handle!) Legacy Course. The event takes over the whole centre, with trade stands, entertainment and catering dotted around.

This year’s event was a little lower-key because the big names from the GB team were off training in Rio, but still a lot to see.

The British Open race happens over both days - heats 1 and 2 on Saturday and then the semi-final and final on Sunday. The latter is really exciting, with the final 10 battling for the best time over just one vital run- so much to be won or lost with just a single stroke. So this is what Jacob was up against- racing against the best of the best on arguably the biggest course in the country!

Being a “Prem” race, there is no official practice, so we nervously got Jacob on the water, and up the conveyor. Pre-race ritual; stretches, peptalk, hydration, quick fist-bump and he was in the zone and away.

Given the size of the challenge, he was cool as a cucumber. I, on the other hand, was a gibbering wreck!

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Lee Valley continued We’d agreed that the goals were clear for run 1: finish in boat, the right way up, and ideally getting all of the gates. He handled himself remarkably well - not only getting all the gates, but actually finishing a good way up the field at 71 out of 101 runners. Lots of the Prem racers were out for glory, so a lot of missed gates along the way. With confidence under his spraydeck, the second run was 16 seconds faster but came at a cost, with an extra 2 touches, but even so as others improved their runs he held an impressive 82nd place in a Prem race - beating my “keep your hair dry” pep-talk!

Finn and Emma had joined us through the day and in the evening we headed back to the caravan for dinner, then back to the course for a training session in the failing light on the Legacy. It was a challenging course set for the following day, which set quite a few swimming! Jacob had a good go in C1 and K1, and Finn had a great session cracking some tricky moves in preparation for the next day.

So, Sunday arrived, and a very different feel to the race - gone was the polished setup of international qualifying, and back to the familiar camaraderie of a volunteer slalom. Finn was competing in the Div 2 K1, and Jacob in Div 2 C1 and Open K1. This is always a difficult race to get results - many of the competitors race regularly at LV, so for us travellers it’s unfamiliar water!

First up was Jacob, racing the club C1. A solid kick-off, with a clear run but inevitably second to Tom Merrifield, his nemesis from Taunton. Then Finn in Div 2 K1. Raw time was 3rd fastest, but some unfortunate touches pushed him down to 8th- still very strong given the competition, and hard to defend on second runs. Then Jacob in the Open K1 category, placing him 3rd behind a couple of 17

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Lee Valley continued Prem paddlers. The afternoon held a lot of excitement.

Jacob’s C1 run took him into first place.

Finn was on for a blistering run (smashing the moves he’d practised the night before) but at one of the final gates his tail caught a boil which pushed him wide and caused him to miss a gate, leaving him in a final 13th place - still very creditable for his first race on this course. Slalom is such a brutal sport sometimes, and the best of performances can be sidelined by something so slight. Equally, Jacob was unable to top his first-run time, having been judged to have “half-headed” a gate, and held his third in the Open category.

All in all though, great paddling from both boys. Quite a few comments came my way that “Frome is giving an impressive showing” at a number of events - credit well-earned by paddlers and coaches alike, #GoFrome!

• Slalom language…. Penalties are 2 seconds added to your time for touching a

gate, or 50 seconds for missing or incorrectly sequencing a gate, so “fast and clean” is definitely the strategy. The whole of the paddlers head and a part of the boat must pass through the gate at the same time, and a “half-head” will incur the full 50s penalty if the whole head is not seen to pass through the gate. Catastrophic!

Ed :is this the ‘half headed’ gate for Jacob?

What a great article!

Thank you Phil. Yes indeed, Frome is doing well in slalom at the moment this is the best the club has done in years.

And Phil adds this about the venue:

For anyone who fancies trying out Lee Valley, there’s a good campsite about 10 minutes away in Sewardstone- or the Premier Inn just down the road if you’re less adventurous!

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So what can I expect at a slalom weekend...?

A bit more from Phil There’s been a real growth in slalom paddling in FCC over the past couple of years, and no one can have missed the results that this is bringing in terms of prizes and national rankings. Chris and John have shared a few articles from a Coach’s perspective, so I thought I’d share my experience from a “slalomnewbie’s” perspective. As a Slalom-Parent, I’ve had to grow up mighty-quick and learn what to do and what not to do! So, from my very rapid and very-muchongoing upbringing in the sport, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learnt!

1. Some slaloms fill up quickly. Keep an eye out for the key ones and enter online to avoid disappointment. Don’t be afraid to ask Chris and John they’ve been there and done it, so use their experience!

2. Take lots of snacks, food, drink and chairs. Catering and facilities can be variable from the 5-star treatment of Langham Farm to almost nothing, so be prepared!

3. Whatever happens, whatever you need, be prepared to ask. Slalom is a community and people will help. At one race, when Jacob’s boat was snowed-in, his closest competitor offered to share boats. Don’t expect it, but that’s a measure of the sport, people will help.

4. Slaloms are run by volunteers. Please help whenever necessary, or it is very difficult to run events. It’s natural to be nervous of judging or other roles, but let people know it’s your first time - they will understand and be supportive.

5. Don’t expect things to run on time. Generally time runs away and timings may slip back, but sometimes (rarely!) the opposite happens and you need to be prepared to have your paddler on the water in good time.

6. Aide-memoir - photograph the start list in the morning on your phone so you know when to be where. Better be on the water early than rushed and stressed!

And the two big takeaways…

• Always give positive feedback- your child knows if they’ve not done well, they don’t need a reminder! However, they might need a reminder that “they smashed gate 7” or just that they tried their best.

• Keep it fun- as Joe Clarke (Olympic GB Gold Medallist) said, “If we’re not enjoying it, then why are we doing it..?”

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Bits and Pieces What are they doing?

Is it a different game at a pool session?

Looks like they are tying people up in knots but no, they are replacing the ropes to hang the pool boats.

We now have a complete suite of new ropes and we know no boats will fall down now.

Thank you Ben, Jack, George and Gareth.

Your comments and views are important.

Keep talking to us!

Keith recently brought three questions forward to the committee for consideration, which inspired the committee to say to all members, via the newsletter, that the comments and views you have are important. So keep talking to us! You all know who to contact, and how to find us!

You might be interested to know that Keith asked about overhanging trees at Langham Farm, the possibility of improving access to the water at the pool at Langham Farm and what can be done about the amount of metal obstacles in the river at Market Yard.

The committee’s response is that we have always worked with the Farmer at Langham Farm to improve the site and we will continue to do so. We do agree about the access near the container, and are thinking about it, but as yet no solution! As for the metal obstacles at Market Yard - yes we periodically do remove stuff from the river and it looks like another work day is needed!

Thank you Keith, from the Committee.

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Bits and Pieces Latest news from the 29/30th Nene slalom Finn took First place in Div 2 on Sunday.

Otto got the First J14 in Div 3, and overall 5th place.

Ben W and John also competed and their results will follow when we get them.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL PS Finn got Second place on Saturday and so is getting close to a promotion. Bring it on…!

DUCK RACE Four young members helped to rescue 1000 plastic ducks and earned the Club £50 in the process.

THANK YOU - Alex, Maddie, Treya and Maddie.

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Bits and Pieces GLOW SWIM SAFETY COVER Six members turned out recently to provide the safety cover for 135 open water swimmers at Vobster Quay.

It was so nice to see Christine there too - but she was one of the open water swimmers, not one of us!

This year our safety skills weren’t needed really, except one person needed a lift back from the far end of the lake and she hung onto Rich’s boat for help.

THE SAFETY TEAM: Ian, Steve, Tom, Pam, Gareth and Rich.

Ed: Vobster Quay is a disused quarry, in the Mendips. It is a stunning place tranquil and beautiful, now used as a Swim and Dive Centre. So paddlers aren’t able to go there. The night of the Glow swim was stunning - an enormous full moon shone, the water was warm, it was peaceful and calm till the swimmers started, and then in the darkness the water came alive with thrashing and crashing, and with the eerie glow on swimmers heads bobbing up and down, it was truly a ghostly experience!

Welcome to a new member with a different boat!

Martin Bacon paddled this coracle in a Wednesday sessions just recently. This is actually his second attempt on the water. First time round earlier in the season, he had a very wet ending. “All due to the wrong paddle” he said.

So with a new improved paddle on this outing all went well.

Incidentally, Martin built this coracle himself.

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Bits and Pieces 7.30pm at Cordero Lounge in Frome

COPPER NOSE CLIP POINTS

Book with Linz. £5 deposit needed.

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Keith Haines Emily Taylor

18 9

Josseph Whittington

9

Steve Taylor

6

Ian Jones

6

Amanda Meadon

6

Jacob Lines

5

Aicha Masrour

5

Paul Walford

3

Jos Maxey

3

Jonathan Howell

3

Sam Knapp

3

Gareth McGiveron

3

Liam Taylor

3

Andrew Lyall

3

John Kent

3

Libby East

3

Christine Lines

3

Toby Wilde

2

Finn Johnson

1

CONTACTS Chairman: Andy Vowell 07584 069432 Vice Chair: Jack Smiles smiles93@gmail.com Treasurer: John Kent jfkent@blueyonder.co.uk Secretary: Pam Dixon 07740 472982 pam@dixon.org.uk Head Coach: Rich Carter 01373 864623 Youth Rep: George McGiveron

george.mcgiveron@gmail.com

Volunteer Rep: Emma Slevin emma.slevin@hotmail.co.uk Kit: Jack Smiles smiles93@gmail.com Safety Officers: Linz Kimber and Rich Carter Welfare Officer: Pam Dixon 07740 472982 For borrowing kit, the local keyholders are: Andy V - 07584 069432 Pam D - 07740 472982 Jack S - 07891 291809 Ben Nicol - 07872 608549

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No it’s a ..... thing.

From Chris: I spotted this sculpture made from old kayaks down by the canal in Bath. Has anyone got any other good examples of new uses for old boats?

Ed: do send them in if you have any!

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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