On Sunday 5th January myself and four others, James, Damon, Russ and Xav woke up in the early hours of the morning to take on this challenge. This race came with many new experiences for me, it was the first race that I had been to without my mum and only the second time I had done a race where you start and finish at different places.

The race started at Elmbridge canoe club and finished at Richmond canoe club, which are roughly 13.5 miles apart. Getting on the water I didn’t really know what to expect as I was paddling on new water. As James and I approached the first portage we realised that the portage was under water and we couldn’t really see the get out. This portage was one of the most crowded portages that I had ever done, there was lots of boats on a very small set of rollers, that were even smaller due the high water.

As we continued through the race James and I began to start feeling the distance and we were starting to get tired and we were left with another crew that we finished just behind.

We finished 5th out of 13 which is where we thought we would come and we where very happy with our time.

Damon and Russ also did very well finishing in 1st place, although a slower time than ours.

Xav and his partner Zak also did very well as they raced up a division to challenge themselves.

Report produced by Jacob Parker

 Dec 23rd, 2019

Southampton Canoe Club is a registered charity and would not be here without our fantastic team of volunteers, including our volunteer coaches.

The club would also not be able to move ahead with exciting projects and improvements without some of the generous financial support and funding that we receive.

 This year we have be lucky enough to have received funding from:

 Lloyd’s Bank -£500 Matched Volunteer Giving 

Asda Community Funding (West End Store)  – just under £1,000 to fund some amazing kit for our junior paddlers

Tesco Bags for Help Scheme – £2,000 to fund the equipment for the Club’s first ever weights gym 

Local Giving and Postcode Community Trust – a £500 grant towards two stable boats for the newer, less experienced members of the club

 We are also very grateful to continue to receive donations through the Coop Card, Easyfundraising and Amazon Smile.

 Many thanks everyone for your help and support this year and we hope you have a very Happy Christmas.