When: Sunday June 20^th 2010, 10 to 16:00

Where: Whitewater The Canoe Centre, Shepperton marina, TW17 8NS

What: See the largest collection of Canoes, kayaks, sit-On-Tops, Inflatable canoe and kayaks. Try all the boat out, at our quiet river side location.

How to find the show:

Driving Directions: M25 Exit jctn 12. Then on to M3 exit jntn 1. At roundabout take the 6^th exit (lower Sunbury “local traffic”). Follow Green Lane to the river Thames, Turn right at river. Onto Fordbridge road, Go 1.5 miles, Felix Lane is on your left. Turn down Felix lane. Marina entrance is on your right. Post Code TW17 8NS:  Tel 01932 247 978

Parking & facilities:

The parking for this event is free; please arrive at the marina entrance where a parking attendant will show you where to park. Toilets are located in the marina complex and will be open all day.

What will be there to see?

Nearly all of the UK’s manufactures and importers of kayaks and canoes will be present with the majority of the boats they produce/bring into the county. Kit manufactures will also be present along with training and course provides. Our on site shop will also be open all day.

Can I get some instruction?

Yes! There will be qualified instructors on the water all day; there will also be several introduction to paddling course going on through out the day. Introduction to Paddle Sport. The emphasis is on safe practice, fun and enjoyment. You will cover Equipment, basic paddling, forwards and backwards, turning, stopping & journeying.
Click here for more information.

How do I take a boat for a paddle?

If you would like to take a boat for a paddle please do, this again is totally free.  Before you choose a boat to paddle report to “Show Control” here you will need to fill in a waver form and collect a number. Once you have done this you are free to paddle, simply take your numbered card to a manufacture, and choose the boat you would like, hand over your numbered card and go for a paddle. When you have finished paddling take your boat back to the manufacture you collected it from, they will give you your card back you are then free to go and start again! If you would like to save time and pre fill out the waver form you can download it HERE please bring a copy with you.

How Old?

The day is open to anyone, and we encourage all your family and friends to attend. If you would like to paddle and are under the age of 18 you will need guardian to keep an eye on you on the water.

Food and drink:

Addlestone Canoe Club will once again be on hand supplying hot and cold food & drinks. All served at a very reasonable price.

News: For up-to-date information please keep an eye on this page as well as the face book page http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103733259662320&ref=mf

For any exciting developments.

Manufactures Confirmed:

Kayaks: Jackson Kayak, Pyranha, Venture Kayak, Dagger Kayaks, Eskimo, Perception Kayaks, Wave Sport, Valley Sea Kayaks, Big Dog Kayaks, Necky Kayaks, Robson, Liquid Logic

Open Canoe: Old Town Canoes, Venture Canoes, Mad River, Nova Craft Canoes, Robson, We no nah, Bell

Sit-On-Top: Perception, Islander, Feel Free, Ocean Kayak,

Inflatable’s: Gumotex

Squarerock – For providing prizes and Demo boats
Ophion – For providing a paddle as a prize
WWTCC – For providing many prizes
Pyranha – For sending down a box of goodies
Nookie – For posting out some kit and nookie condoms!
KayakoJacko – For providing the bibs for the event.

Finn, Mandy, Jo Meares for helping me sort out registering everyone.
Craig and Pikey for helping to Judge and score.
Mike for helping time-keeping, being really enthusiastic and helping with scoring.
Rob, Pikey, Mongo and Amy for taking photos with my camera.
Craig for bringing down Jackson Demo Boats.

And everyone who came down and got involved!

I hope everyone enjoyed the event, I had a brilliant day, and due to everyone being relaxed and helping out, it wasn’t stressful to run the event and even managed to get some time on the wave myself, really couldn’t have done this event without everyone’s help so big shout out to all the supporters, sponsors and helpers.

The sun was out, blue sky, a perfect 3 gate level for competition and fun. 50 people down at the weir during the day and a good few made it to the pub afterwards, lots of friends made and old acquaintances renewed, and after the tragic events of the week preceeding in Scotland, I really wanted this event to be even more about smiles and fun and just generally getting everyone on the water and enjoying themselves as a tribute to someone who never paddled without a smile on her face, and I’m humbled to say from the feedback from everyone I think we managed that.

I think 6 comps was a little bit too much to ask, especially expecting people to get big boats down to the weir as well so unfortunetly as we were running a bit late (mainly because we had more people than I expected, and a bit of general kayaking faff) I had to drop the Big Boat Comp. I hope the rest of the events were enough for everyone

The Old Gits comp featuring old-skool moves was won by Mally, best move being an old-skool paddle throw, glad your paddles are easy to spot! Freestyle pairs was thoroughly entertaining with some very impressive synchronised moves, especially from Sam and Pikey who managed a synchronised blunt and Helix, but the move that got the most points was a double kiss from Jo and Flic to the judge.

The Spin-to-win competition saw an interesting array of styles and techniques, from elegant clean spins to the brute force approach (Rob). Some notible efforts from Nicola, Robin and Jo meares, but the top 3 were in a notch above (might have to exclude sponsored paddlers from that next time).

The knock-out-comp was an interesting event, something I invented to try to level the competition and allow everyone to compete at their own level and stand a chance of winning. At registration each paddler was asked to name their 4 best moves, 1 that they could definetly do on the wave, 2 that they thought they could do and 1 which would challenge them. 4 moves, 4 rounds, you got 2 attempts to do the move to be able to move through to the next round. This lead to a lot of novices choosing basic moves like front surf and spining, and the more advanced (or cocky) paddlers putting blunts (or Helix if your name is Pikey!). This lead to a few suprise early exits and we saw a range of paddling abilites in the final round. Only 6 people managed all 4 moves they had named, and there was a short final to decide the winners, but in the end there was almost nothing between the top two and as the event was supposed to be fun and not about technical marking, we stopped it there and moved onto King of the Wave.

3 minutes of carnage on the wave saw 4 people on the wave in the final moments, then we were down to 2 with Matty paddleless holding onto Flic’s deck and trying not to get flushed off the wave but in the end Flic Triumphed to be Queen of the Wave!

At Prize giving we had some fantastic prizes courtsey of the above sponsors, Changing mats, dry bags, books, t-shirts, boardies, hats, key rings, condoms, stickers, roof bar protectors, an Ophion Paddle and paddle gloves (which keep your paddle dry )

The novice prize went to Louise for really impressing with her determination and really trying in the pairs and knock out comp. The special prize of the Ophion paddle went to a Junior paddler, Gabriel Metcalf for getting stuck in and not playing the safe option on the knock-out-comp and impressing with his determination and almost getting a Trick-woo in the last round.

I hope this event inspires others to go out and attempt to do something similar, it was pulled together in just 6 days, after a few emails a few post online with a nice glossy looking poster and a lot of support from the community. It would be great to see more like it and I’m sure the support will always be there, bring on the next event… Hurley BoaterX anyone?

Old Gits Comp
1st Jonathan Males
2nd Chuckey
=2nd Gordon Hoddinott
3rd Jacko

Freestyle Pairs
1st Felicity Meares and Jo Meares
2nd Josh and Sam
3rd Sam A and Pikey

Spin to Win
1st Sam A
2nd Rob Harris
3rd Matty Nicolas

Knock Out Comp
1st Sam Anderson
=1st Matty Nicolas
3rd Pikey
4th Rob Harris
=4th Nicola Beeby
5th Ben West

King/Queen of the Wave
1st Felicity Meares
2nd Matty Nicolas
3rd Dale Mears

King of the Rodeo
Gabriel Metcalf

Novice Award
Louise Royle

Photos – Dave ‘Scout’ Wortley, Rob Harris, Mongo, Pikey and Amy Bowditch.

Facebook Photos

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/album.php?aid=164056&id=507807426

Flickr few more than on facebook. (low res, if you want high resolution please PM me)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30267298@N05/sets/72157623717638609/

If you want to use any of the photos on your blogs etc, please link back to the albumn they came from. I really welcome any feedback from the event and hope to run another one like it some time.

Scout

PS Matty Swam….

Details all found HERE!

Symonds Yat -15/16 May 2010

To celebrate thirty years making gear for paddlers, Palm Equipment invites you to come for a paddle at a new and unique event taking place this May.

Set on the stunning river Wye between England and Wales, Symonds Yat East will play host to a very special paddling weekend that will bring back the feel of the Grand River tours of the 1980’s.

“ Over the past thirty years we have helped families and friends, young and old onto the water, as well as supporting those at the leading edge of the sport.” explains Palm’s founder Andy Knight “This is what the 30 year anniversary Big Paddle event is all about, and we’d be delighted for paddlers from all branches of the sport to come along”.

Over the weekend Palm will be providing shuttles to several stretches of river, as well as a variety of unique guided paddle trips and of course as it’s a birthday party there will be free gifts for everyone! Amongst the activities on offer will be nature tours, multi sport challenges, free ‘have a go’ and demo boat trials, and coaching sessions from some of the best in the business. There may even be a return of the legendary Paddles Up!

The Big Paddle is a non-profit event to bring the paddling community together in celebration of our sport. All proceeds will be invested directly back into the paddlesport community, and Palm will make an extra donation to the rivers access cause for every paddler who attends.

No matter what paddlesport means to you, whether its fishing, bird watching, slalom, whitewater, stand-up-paddleboarding, or a new challenge altogether, this event will have something to offer.

The Big Paddle!

Well if that’s the case here at Whitewater we would like to help you, in your hour of chilly need.
Log yourself on to our on-line shop Then go Shop!
After you have chosen something, many things maybe?
Proceed to “Your Shopping Cart” at the bottom of this page there is a section called “Redeem a discount Coupon”
If you enter in here tvfspecial you will receive an extra 5% discount on top of the normal 10% you would normally receive.

This offer will expire on February the 1st 2010, but until then Happy New Year all, happy shopping, happy paddling, hope to see you on a river / weir somewhere soon. If you have any questions regarding this offer please give us a call on 01932 247 978.

Cheers for now
Pete

Whitewater the Canoe Centre
Shepperton Marina
Felix Lane
Sheppeton
Middlesex
TW17 8NS

Tel: 01932 247 978
Fax: 01932 241 368

Weekend of boating, coaching, competitions and celebration!

Boat demos – New Burn and Molan plus all the old favorites

Courses on the river run by top coaches for all abilities..only £25 per session.

Fluidskills will be doing some courses over the weekend Click Here

Caron Geal and Sara James will be running an Intermediate Ladies River Running course Click Here 07803610722
(We hope to announce other courses in the next couple of days.)

Mitchell Blades and Predator Headcams on site for testing and filming

Peak UK will be on site with a range of gear

Evening talks/films including ‘Adventures with Chris’ – a celebration of the life of Chris Wheeler, presented by Mark R and friends.

Competitions – Rodeo and Boater X, lots of different categories, juniors welcome plus pro and ancient boaters!

The Evening will see some talks, films, prizes and dancing (there may be some drinking as well).

More info here… http://www.pyranhafest.com/

Cheers

Gareth

Jackson Kayak Villain River/Creek Boat 2010

Cheers

Gareth

Click here to view the embedded video.