Regatta Summer is here, following a breezy April regatta the sun shone in June on the band together regatta, Very Hot conditions on Saturday followed by an increasing headwind and rain on the Sunday. A strong team of eleven paddlers arrived in Nottingham plus a fantastic supporting contingent with several making their season start at this band together regatta, where paddlers of the same ability race together regardless of age, rank or on the Sunday gender. There was some really close racing and some fantastic results, with all of the Southampton Paddlers making a major final, special attention should be paid to Beth winning the Band 6 500m K1 and Jacob and Charlie winning the Band 4 1000m K2. Matt, Xav and Jack should also be congratulated on taking James into their K4 as a charity case and they helped him put in his best sprint performance for years, winning the Band 1/2 K4 500m. Fletch turned in some impressive performances with new K2 partner Kit, coping with the rolling dumbbell and has been invited to race again! It is unusual to see heats and finals in K4 events but our girls K4 saw Poppy and Beth bookended by two from Wiltshire Youth CC, one of whom Molly, had even come to train with us at our recent training camp, cruise to a sixth place in the major final in a time of 2.20. Nathaniel, Fletch, Andre and Kit crossed the line 2 seconds later – however they did win the start! It was all capped off with a great club BBQ on the campsite on Sat night and despite Jack and Matt hiding from each other for over 20 mins not understanding that one has to be the seeker a great time was had by all. Congratulations To Poppy and Beth on their promotion’s to Girls C.

Saturday 25th August was a sunny day when we arrived at Longridge with a good turnout of Southampton paddlers. The weather seem to mean that one or two people felt the need to test out how cold the water was! But we had some great results with some podium finishes: Isiah coming first in both his U10M and Hody races, Duncan 1st in Division 7 K1 and Jacob coming 2nd in Division 4. We had 3 k2 boats in Division 3, and 3 podium finishes: 1st went to Leon and Igi, 2nd to Richard Kent and Guy and third to James and Russ in what must have been a really tough race.

Well done to those receiving a promotion: Nathanial to Division 8, Duncan to Division 6, and Jacob and Russ to Division 3.

Thank you Poppy for helping me complete my first 8 mile race and I am looking forward to racing with you again at the Sprints and Pangbourne.

All the K1 races were on the Saturday meaning people were tired by the end but we had good results. Xav made all A finals in band 3, his 4th in the 1000m was his best result. I also made all the A finals in band 3 and got 3rd place in the 1000 and 200. Jack had good results in his first Boys B regatta making final 2 in band 3 for 200 and 500. Andre and Nathaniel raced the under 12 mens 200m mass start and both made it to the final and they both raced over 500m with Andre coming 3rd and Nathaniel 8th the first time he raced his cougar. Beth and Poppy also raced the 200m mass start with over 30 starters, it was a tough field but Beth made it to the 2nd race and Poppy the 3rd. It was also the first time Beth had raced her cougar and she raced her 500 heat well to make final 1 in band 6 with Poppy also racing well in the tough headwind to make final 2.

On the Sunday we had much better conditions for the K2 races. Xav and Jack teamed up to take two 3rd places in the 1000m and 500m. I paddled with paddlers from other clubs to take the win in the 500m and the 200m races. Andre and Nathaniel raced really well in the Hody races to take 2nd place in a really tight finish. Beth and Poppy paddled together well in the wobbly boat and achieved really strong times in both of their heats.

Overall it was a great weekend of racing for Sou with us coming joint 2nd in most races won over the weekend.

It has been an amazing weekend for Southampton Canoe Club. Saturday was the Hamble River Raid. We took 6 K4 boats with crews of mixed abilities. The first 4 K4 finishers were SOU paddlers, with Matt, Dan, Xav and Jack having the fastest boat of the entire race! It was such a fun day and the weather was shining.

Sunday was the first Hasler of 2018 at Basingstoke canal. Lots of SOU paddlers went and we had 15 podium finishers! With Isiah topping the under 10 boys, James G, Beth and Charlie coming in first in Divs 9,8 and 7 and all earning promotions. Tina and Nathaniel came first in Div 8 K2. Poppy and I won Div 6 K2 with a 5 min lead getting Poppy promoted to Div 6! Matt came first in Div 2. There were many more top 3 places and we are still waiting on some promotions to be confirmed. It has yet to be confirmed but Southampton must have won overall!

A great job team, let’s see if we can repeat it at Reading this weekend!