The wildwater racing season starts again in earnest after a quiet few months with the Lune WWR this is the first of 6 races to be held in the north of England over the next few weeks, so a busy time for Duddon wildwater race.
The Lune Wildwater race is a sprint of about 500m down the river and finishing just past Devils Bridge in Kirby Lonsdale. Upon arrival the river was paddled to assess water levels and check for hazards, a tree had been washed down river and was now blocking the river right on the racing line so the start of the race had to be moved downstream to cut the hazard out.
The river levels started to rise after the training run and the river was assessed again before the start of the first race. More safety was put on the rapids under Devil’s Bridge and the race went ahead as planned. The racing line kept changing as the water levels got higher and this caught some of the less experienced paddlers out, meaning that the safety boats at the finish line were kept busy fishing out capsized paddlers.
Water levels kept going up and by the start of the second run they were about 500mm higher than when we first got on the river doing the practice runs. As the river got higher some of the rivers features were washed out so the racing line was easier to see however it did make it faster so less thinking time.
Most paddlers had got the hang of the river & conditions by the second run this meant that all the fastest times were put in on this run, there were still a few capsizes but no-where near as many as the first run.
There was a team race contested between 5 teams which Duddon also won, while the timekeepers sorted out the final positions, Duddon had yet another fantastic day taking 10 firsts 3 seconds and 1 third.
Male Results; Female Results;
1st under 8 Ryan Bentley 1st under 14 Victoria Longstaff
1st under 10 Connor Bentley 2nd under 14 Ruth McKenny
1st under 14 Owen Wilson 1st under 16 Nadine Merrick
1st under 16 Brandon Wilson 1st under 16 C1 Emily Longstaff
2nd under 16 Harvey Petcher 1st under 18 Rhiann Taylor
3rd under 16 Stuart Allison
Paddler of the day goes to Lee Bentley who was racing in a wavehopper in the most testing conditions he has raced in, he never managed to successfully complete the course but never stopped trying, that is all any coach can ask for, well-done Lee.
A fantastic days racing was had by all and attended by 5 clubs from the north of England.
The Lune Wildwater race is a sprint of about 500m down the river and finishing just past Devils Bridge in Kirby Lonsdale. Upon arrival the river was paddled to assess water levels and check for hazards, a tree had been washed down river and was now blocking the river right on the racing line so the start of the race had to be moved downstream to cut the hazard out.
The river levels started to rise after the training run and the river was assessed again before the start of the first race. More safety was put on the rapids under Devil’s Bridge and the race went ahead as planned. The racing line kept changing as the water levels got higher and this caught some of the less experienced paddlers out, meaning that the safety boats at the finish line were kept busy fishing out capsized paddlers.
Water levels kept going up and by the start of the second run they were about 500mm higher than when we first got on the river doing the practice runs. As the river got higher some of the rivers features were washed out so the racing line was easier to see however it did make it faster so less thinking time.
Most paddlers had got the hang of the river & conditions by the second run this meant that all the fastest times were put in on this run, there were still a few capsizes but no-where near as many as the first run.
There was a team race contested between 5 teams which Duddon also won, while the timekeepers sorted out the final positions, Duddon had yet another fantastic day taking 10 firsts 3 seconds and 1 third.
Male Results; Female Results;
1st under 8 Ryan Bentley 1st under 14 Victoria Longstaff
1st under 10 Connor Bentley 2nd under 14 Ruth McKenny
1st under 14 Owen Wilson 1st under 16 Nadine Merrick
1st under 16 Brandon Wilson 1st under 16 C1 Emily Longstaff
2nd under 16 Harvey Petcher 1st under 18 Rhiann Taylor
3rd under 16 Stuart Allison
Paddler of the day goes to Lee Bentley who was racing in a wavehopper in the most testing conditions he has raced in, he never managed to successfully complete the course but never stopped trying, that is all any coach can ask for, well-done Lee.
A fantastic days racing was had by all and attended by 5 clubs from the north of England.
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