Here is a cheeky little video from the weekend posted on Youtube by Mike Mayberry. It is a cool video showing just how fun the weekend was.
Enjoy
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
British White Water Rafting Championship picture fest
On a cold weekend in November 20 teams did battle to be crowned champions of the Monkey Island. The Welsh weather did it's best to dampen the spirits but the water was high and the weekend, well, legendary. Enjoy some of the snaps from the weekend, check back later on for a detailed report.
As the teams prepare to do battle ... "can we just do one more shots like this?!"
2008 British White Water Champions - Raft Club
2008 British White Water Champions - Girls with Guns!
Time trial fun
Big splashes on the time trial
The Buxton Birds with the face of determination
'Yak attack' with his North Wales chums
Not one of them are looking at the cameraman?!
Team Deif splashing all the way to the line
Ash and the crew speed to the line
The Buxton Birds looking slick
The local boys show the line on the time trial
The Raft Chicks showing the more experienced Buxton Birds the racing line?!
More head to head antics at the top of the course
The Beast and the Firestarters gurning all the way to the line!!
Poppa leighton getting stuck in on the head to head
Dodge, duck, dip, dive and avoid the poles, the five rules of slalom!
Richie P, the man pape, zulu and the rest of their internet chums?!
That's the way to do the slalom
Flash, aahhhh! slo-wer than the rest of us! Well he moved pretty quick to dodge this one!
Girls with Guns styling the slalom course
Raft Club Accepting there prize at the party night
Buxton X-treme (or is that busom X-rated?!)
None of the Young Guns Came in Fancy Dress!!
Old man Blue shows us all how it's done at the early morning endurance demonstration
The Beast and the Firestarters race through the last drop
Splish, Splash, Splosh
There is 15 feet of raft under there somewhere?!
All photos courtesy of Jason Pacey Photography
As the teams prepare to do battle ... "can we just do one more shots like this?!"
2008 British White Water Champions - Raft Club
2008 British White Water Champions - Girls with Guns!
Time trial fun
Big splashes on the time trial
The Buxton Birds with the face of determination
'Yak attack' with his North Wales chums
Not one of them are looking at the cameraman?!
Team Deif splashing all the way to the line
Ash and the crew speed to the line
The Buxton Birds looking slick
The local boys show the line on the time trial
The Raft Chicks showing the more experienced Buxton Birds the racing line?!
More head to head antics at the top of the course
The Beast and the Firestarters gurning all the way to the line!!
Poppa leighton getting stuck in on the head to head
Dodge, duck, dip, dive and avoid the poles, the five rules of slalom!
Richie P, the man pape, zulu and the rest of their internet chums?!
That's the way to do the slalom
Flash, aahhhh! slo-wer than the rest of us! Well he moved pretty quick to dodge this one!
Girls with Guns styling the slalom course
Raft Club Accepting there prize at the party night
Buxton X-treme (or is that busom X-rated?!)
None of the Young Guns Came in Fancy Dress!!
Old man Blue shows us all how it's done at the early morning endurance demonstration
The Beast and the Firestarters race through the last drop
Splish, Splash, Splosh
There is 15 feet of raft under there somewhere?!All photos courtesy of Jason Pacey Photography
Friday, 17 October 2008
Ladies and Gentlemen... introducing...
Welcome to one of our new features, here you will find out what makes each team member tick, what they have done and where they have done what they have done?!
The first in the series is...
This is Adam Norfolk, 28, the front left monster on the mens team.
Occupation?
Firefighter
Where do you live?
Nottingham
Time on the water?
Kayaking for over ten years now and rafting for four of them.
So then, what do you bench?
Probably only around 85kg's! I'm built for endurance (I hope..?!)
See ya!
The first in the series is...
This is Adam Norfolk, 28, the front left monster on the mens team. Occupation?
Firefighter
Where do you live?
Nottingham
Time on the water?
Kayaking for over ten years now and rafting for four of them.
So then, what do you bench?
Probably only around 85kg's! I'm built for endurance (I hope..?!)
Why you love rafting?
Coming from a kayaking background, I love the team aspect of being in the raft from route discussions (or arguments?!) to mass celebrations! I feel it helps with motivation, on a grey winters morning there's no worst feeling than your team mate dragging you out to beast you for a session, but there is no better feeling than when it is done!
Places you've travelled?
All over Europe, Kayaked in Canada, New Zealand, Zambia and Uganda. Rafted in Korea and Ecuador so far. Bosnia is on the cards for next year, all going well with selection in November mind!!
One thing you hate about travelling?
Although I love to see new places and paddle new rivers the down side to travelling is the living out of a suit case and being cramped in to the same hotel room to save money. We had three hotel rooms between 14 of us for the first five days in Korea...squeeeeze!
One place you'd love to go back to?
I would love to go back and paddle the Zambezi in Zambia, it was my first big water experience and one I would never forget. It would be legendary to race a raft on there!
One place you would love to go?
Hmmm, that's a tricky one. I would love to explore some big rivers in northern Canada multi day stylee! I'd also love to get to Chile before they dam all the rivers!
What are your top three experiences whilst paddling/travelling
and three of your worst?
Coming from a kayaking background, I love the team aspect of being in the raft from route discussions (or arguments?!) to mass celebrations! I feel it helps with motivation, on a grey winters morning there's no worst feeling than your team mate dragging you out to beast you for a session, but there is no better feeling than when it is done!
Places you've travelled?
All over Europe, Kayaked in Canada, New Zealand, Zambia and Uganda. Rafted in Korea and Ecuador so far. Bosnia is on the cards for next year, all going well with selection in November mind!!
One thing you hate about travelling?
Although I love to see new places and paddle new rivers the down side to travelling is the living out of a suit case and being cramped in to the same hotel room to save money. We had three hotel rooms between 14 of us for the first five days in Korea...squeeeeze!
One place you'd love to go back to?
I would love to go back and paddle the Zambezi in Zambia, it was my first big water experience and one I would never forget. It would be legendary to race a raft on there!
One place you would love to go?
Hmmm, that's a tricky one. I would love to explore some big rivers in northern Canada multi day stylee! I'd also love to get to Chile before they dam all the rivers!
What are your top three experiences whilst paddling/travelling
and three of your worst?
I lived in Leeds when I first started paddling, we were out every weekend playing in our kayaks. One weekend we found one of the best waves in the country, we paddled it after masses of rain on two consecutive sundays in glorious sunshine.
I will never forget the view you get after about 20 minutes on the walk-in to the Zambezi river, you get to see the first three rapids in all there glory and the sounds are unforgetable.
The joy and elation of crossing the finish line in Austria having just beaten Russia to the head to head crown, thats why the team aspect of rafting is good!!
On one paddling trip in the lakes I managed to get myself stuck in a weir, probably my own fault, I followed the wash of my friends boat and ended up five feet off course. I managed to get myself out after a couple of scary uncontrollable minutes.
It was 8am, snowing and very cold as we rocked up at Hurley weir during our Devizes to Westminster raftathon. This is the worst I have felt in a boat, ever. After some words of encouragement and a bit of food I started to come round a couple of hours later!
After an awesome two week trip exploring the source of the River Nile, we boarded our plane back to blighty. Unfortunately, though, after a 17 hour unscheduled stop in Kenya we returned home nearly 60 hours later and a little tired.
I will never forget the view you get after about 20 minutes on the walk-in to the Zambezi river, you get to see the first three rapids in all there glory and the sounds are unforgetable.
The joy and elation of crossing the finish line in Austria having just beaten Russia to the head to head crown, thats why the team aspect of rafting is good!!
On one paddling trip in the lakes I managed to get myself stuck in a weir, probably my own fault, I followed the wash of my friends boat and ended up five feet off course. I managed to get myself out after a couple of scary uncontrollable minutes.
It was 8am, snowing and very cold as we rocked up at Hurley weir during our Devizes to Westminster raftathon. This is the worst I have felt in a boat, ever. After some words of encouragement and a bit of food I started to come round a couple of hours later!
After an awesome two week trip exploring the source of the River Nile, we boarded our plane back to blighty. Unfortunately, though, after a 17 hour unscheduled stop in Kenya we returned home nearly 60 hours later and a little tired.
See ya!
Monday, 7 July 2008
Europa Meisterschaft 08
Here is an article from the teams very successful trip to the European Championships in Austria, taken from Canoe Focus magazine.
Pas close up, laying the hammer down
The british rafting teams have been together for over three years competing in the last two World Championships in Ecuador (2005) and Korea (2007). This was to be their first European Championships and hopes were high as the teams travelled to Austria to compete against the best in Europe. The competition was held Wildalpen which is situated in Central Austria 2 hours from Vienna, it is a small mountain village with a population of 500 people, Raft Racing has been in the village since the 1970's, with commercial trips being run on this section of river. It is a snow melt river with crystal clear drinkable waters.
Raft racing competitions are split into four categories, a time trial, a head to head sprint, a slalom and an endurance with medals being awarded for each discipline and points going forward to crown the overall champion. This week saw two types of competition the 4-person (R4) and 6-person (R6) events being held at the same venue for the first time, this meant it was going to be a long week for the teams with five days of competition ahead of them.
On the first day of competition, both teams made a good start in the R4 event placing highly in the time trials, the ladies medaling in 3rd, the boys however missed out by .09 of a second coming in 4th! The ladies were off first in the evening head to head finals on one of the fairest sprint courses seen at recent championships. They showed there potential by cruising through the early rounds against the Hungarian and Danish teams. They then faced the Czech Republic girls, the home of Raft Racing, in the semi finals. After trailing into the first drop, the girls regained the head of the race by taking a sneaky line in the rapid and over powering the Czech Ladies as the boats clashed above the drop. This left them cruising for the line and into the finals to met the Slovakians. The girls started on the slower of the lanes but with all the hype of the previous rounds they managed to fight there way to the head of the race and lead into the rapid and to the line for Britains first ever European title.
The girls as a six flying down the sprint course
The floodlights came on for the mens finals as they faced the flat water racing Hungarian team in the first round, after a fierce coming together from the start the men managed to power ahead and hold on, pulling away to the finish line. After styling their way past the Italians the boys managed to hold off the same sneak line move, the girls had used, from the Czech men, proving too powerful they took the side hit but came out on top into the drop and down the rest of the rapid. On the walk back up to the top the mens fanbase had increased in size as the crowd were willing them on to 'kapow' the Russians. The gun went and they were off, surging ahead after a brief coming together and away for Britains second ever European title, all be it two hours after the first! The time was about 10:30 now and the beer tent was beginning to fill as the teams changed into something a little warmer ready for tea and medals! They entered the tent to a standing ovation as the rafting heavyweights acknowledged what had been achieved. A moment that all of them will remember for a very long time. Then it was time for a sing-a-long to the National Anthem as both teams took to the top of the podium.
The boys with their medals, Sprint Champions of Europe
With the added pressure of leading the R4 competition as they headed into the next two events, the teams had the advantage, choosing the fast lanes for the endurance race and leading the field down the sprint section and onto 15km of pain! The ladies looked strong, keeping the lead for the early part of the race, surrendering it when the Slovakian ladies, cruised past and off into the distance, the ladies held off a determined effort from the Czech team to take the silver medal. The boys were involved in an epic race with all 13 teams never more than a couple of metres apart, after dropping down the field they managed to claw there way back up, parking in front of the Germans on a tight corner then opening up to pass the Austrians and back up into 5th.
The start of the endurance race, le mans style
A glorious view of the mens endurance, the opening stages down the sprint site
The girls holding off the challenge of the Slovakian girls
The slalom course involved a nasty cross over a big hole, a tricky gate 10 made sure you had to cross the hole! The ladies were up first and after a strong smooth run were disappointed to find themselves down the rankings as unsportingly teams opted missing a gate to stay out of the hole. The ladies grouped together and changed the plan and another strong run took them into 3rd. The boys had two solid rides with big crosses over the hole, their second run was the quicker but with one touch they finished in 8th place.
The girls in deep discussion trying to amend the errors of the first slalom run
The girls body popping on the trickiest gate of the slalom course
The overall results for the R4 competition, the ladies after medaling in nearly every round ending in 2nd place and the boys held on for 3rd. An awesome result for both teams as once again they took to the podium along with the big names of raft racing in there first R4 competitions.
The R6 competition then begun, the teams were on a mental high after the R4 competition, but drained from three days hard work, most of the bigger nations had different teams competing in the different classes showing the scale of raft racing in Eastern Europe. The highlights included the ladies almighty battle with the Netherlands in the head to head quarter finals, the girls fought from top to bottom even having the dutchies sideways at one point but just couldn't pass before the line. The boys had one of there best slalom runs ever being super tight and fast across the hole finishing in 5th. The girls showed good strenght on their endurance race starting from near the back of the pod, they managed to fly past Europe's elite to medal in 3rd! The overall results left the girls in 4th place and the boys in 9th, two very strong results as these teams progress up the rankings.
The mens 6 in between gates on the slalom course
The girls lining up a down on the flatter part of the slalom course
The teams are unfunded in their quest for world domination so unfortunately struggle to compete internationally more than once a year. They raise money to help cover costs by holding raft racing days yearly and are supported for team kit and clothing by some great local companies. The teams would like to thank Peak UK, Reed, Run and Jump Clothing, Major Sporty, Current Trends UK Ltd. and the National Watersports Centre. If you would like to know more about the teams or raft racing visit www.britishraftteam.co.uk
Pas close up, laying the hammer down
The british rafting teams have been together for over three years competing in the last two World Championships in Ecuador (2005) and Korea (2007). This was to be their first European Championships and hopes were high as the teams travelled to Austria to compete against the best in Europe. The competition was held Wildalpen which is situated in Central Austria 2 hours from Vienna, it is a small mountain village with a population of 500 people, Raft Racing has been in the village since the 1970's, with commercial trips being run on this section of river. It is a snow melt river with crystal clear drinkable waters.
Raft racing competitions are split into four categories, a time trial, a head to head sprint, a slalom and an endurance with medals being awarded for each discipline and points going forward to crown the overall champion. This week saw two types of competition the 4-person (R4) and 6-person (R6) events being held at the same venue for the first time, this meant it was going to be a long week for the teams with five days of competition ahead of them.
On the first day of competition, both teams made a good start in the R4 event placing highly in the time trials, the ladies medaling in 3rd, the boys however missed out by .09 of a second coming in 4th! The ladies were off first in the evening head to head finals on one of the fairest sprint courses seen at recent championships. They showed there potential by cruising through the early rounds against the Hungarian and Danish teams. They then faced the Czech Republic girls, the home of Raft Racing, in the semi finals. After trailing into the first drop, the girls regained the head of the race by taking a sneaky line in the rapid and over powering the Czech Ladies as the boats clashed above the drop. This left them cruising for the line and into the finals to met the Slovakians. The girls started on the slower of the lanes but with all the hype of the previous rounds they managed to fight there way to the head of the race and lead into the rapid and to the line for Britains first ever European title.
The girls as a six flying down the sprint course
The floodlights came on for the mens finals as they faced the flat water racing Hungarian team in the first round, after a fierce coming together from the start the men managed to power ahead and hold on, pulling away to the finish line. After styling their way past the Italians the boys managed to hold off the same sneak line move, the girls had used, from the Czech men, proving too powerful they took the side hit but came out on top into the drop and down the rest of the rapid. On the walk back up to the top the mens fanbase had increased in size as the crowd were willing them on to 'kapow' the Russians. The gun went and they were off, surging ahead after a brief coming together and away for Britains second ever European title, all be it two hours after the first! The time was about 10:30 now and the beer tent was beginning to fill as the teams changed into something a little warmer ready for tea and medals! They entered the tent to a standing ovation as the rafting heavyweights acknowledged what had been achieved. A moment that all of them will remember for a very long time. Then it was time for a sing-a-long to the National Anthem as both teams took to the top of the podium.
The boys with their medals, Sprint Champions of Europe
With the added pressure of leading the R4 competition as they headed into the next two events, the teams had the advantage, choosing the fast lanes for the endurance race and leading the field down the sprint section and onto 15km of pain! The ladies looked strong, keeping the lead for the early part of the race, surrendering it when the Slovakian ladies, cruised past and off into the distance, the ladies held off a determined effort from the Czech team to take the silver medal. The boys were involved in an epic race with all 13 teams never more than a couple of metres apart, after dropping down the field they managed to claw there way back up, parking in front of the Germans on a tight corner then opening up to pass the Austrians and back up into 5th.
The start of the endurance race, le mans style
A glorious view of the mens endurance, the opening stages down the sprint site
The girls holding off the challenge of the Slovakian girls
The slalom course involved a nasty cross over a big hole, a tricky gate 10 made sure you had to cross the hole! The ladies were up first and after a strong smooth run were disappointed to find themselves down the rankings as unsportingly teams opted missing a gate to stay out of the hole. The ladies grouped together and changed the plan and another strong run took them into 3rd. The boys had two solid rides with big crosses over the hole, their second run was the quicker but with one touch they finished in 8th place.
The girls in deep discussion trying to amend the errors of the first slalom run
The girls body popping on the trickiest gate of the slalom course
The overall results for the R4 competition, the ladies after medaling in nearly every round ending in 2nd place and the boys held on for 3rd. An awesome result for both teams as once again they took to the podium along with the big names of raft racing in there first R4 competitions.
The R6 competition then begun, the teams were on a mental high after the R4 competition, but drained from three days hard work, most of the bigger nations had different teams competing in the different classes showing the scale of raft racing in Eastern Europe. The highlights included the ladies almighty battle with the Netherlands in the head to head quarter finals, the girls fought from top to bottom even having the dutchies sideways at one point but just couldn't pass before the line. The boys had one of there best slalom runs ever being super tight and fast across the hole finishing in 5th. The girls showed good strenght on their endurance race starting from near the back of the pod, they managed to fly past Europe's elite to medal in 3rd! The overall results left the girls in 4th place and the boys in 9th, two very strong results as these teams progress up the rankings.
The mens 6 in between gates on the slalom course
The girls lining up a down on the flatter part of the slalom course
The teams are unfunded in their quest for world domination so unfortunately struggle to compete internationally more than once a year. They raise money to help cover costs by holding raft racing days yearly and are supported for team kit and clothing by some great local companies. The teams would like to thank Peak UK, Reed, Run and Jump Clothing, Major Sporty, Current Trends UK Ltd. and the National Watersports Centre. If you would like to know more about the teams or raft racing visit www.britishraftteam.co.uk
Devizes to Westminster 2008...in a raft!?!
Moments before the start, only 31 hours 53 minutes and 10 seconds to go!During the Easter of 2008, the men's team took part in one of the worlds toughest canoe races, they however took part in a raft, fools!
The British Raft Team thought it would be a good idea to spend the Easter Weekend cruising towards London in the sunshine. The end product was anything but ! This was the Devizes to Westminster, at 125 miles it is the worlds longest non-stop canoe race, the coldest Easter for forty years and we had a time limit to stick to!
After the organisers accepted our entry and after we had gathered all our available friends for the weekend to help support us we were ready for the off. We did have a motive to complete the race, as we were raising money for the Sport Relief charity.
The early stages were flat and hard work, but with stunning scenery
One of our lovely snow storms on day one, this was mixed with sunny spells and hail!We were able to set off before the official start time as the raft is not designed to go at any speeds considered fast! We cruised the first 30 miles or so having the odd hail storm and swan attack which left Pas screeching and the rest of the boat in hysterics. Newbury, 34.5 miles was our first big food stop. Our support crew greeted us with bowls of pasta and warm drinks as the evening drew in. After a lengthy stop of around 9 minutes we were off and heading towards Reading where we would hit the Thames and hopefully some flow.Luckily the winds died down overnight meaning we had good reception for our radio which helped keep the spirits high as the temperatures plummeted. We plodded on to reach Reading at 4:30am.
The start after our hold at Reading, it was 5:30am and the boat was covered in ice, what better way to start a day. One hour later it dropped to 4 below!After the weeks rain the Thames had some flow which was aiding our paddling speed, we were now nearing 4mph as we headed down to the big Thames weirs and morning light. The winds stayed away but as we pulled into to Hurley, 66.5 miles, we were in the middle of a snow storm. By now we had been paddling for over 20 hours and were all feeling very good, apart from a few minor aches, we were just bored! Knowing we had to carry on for maybe another 15 hours! Our spirits were raised as we past under the M25 and reached the 100 mile mark, knowing we were insight (somehow) of the finish. Teddington, 107.5 miles, was going to be our final food stop before we paddled on the tide towards Westminster Bridge. Here we had an extended rest of just over 11 minutes before the food and drinks were snatched out of our hands and we were thrown back in the boat by our support crew.
As the evening drew in for a second time the heavens opened up as we passed through a thunder storm and torrential rain. The final few bridges seemed to be getting further apart as we approached the end, finally finishing at 8:20pm, completing the 125 mile epic in a time of 31 hours 53 minutes and 10 seconds. Half of the field had to abandon in one of the hardest DW events since the beginning 60 years ago.
The team would thank to thank all of our support team members. Ruth, Alli, Kat, Dunny, Kiwi Matt, Nezza, Besty and all of family Cox for their hard work leading up to the event. Our sponsors who helped us during the event Budget Car Rentals, Peak UK and Run and Jump Clothing.
The team and support crew, thanks to everyone who helped to make this adventure an achievement.This mission did have a purpose, we were raising money for Sport Relief, we have so far managed to raise over £1000 and are still collecting. See the donation page at www.mysportrelief.com/britishraftteam
World Championships - Korea 2007
Here is the blog from last years World Championships held in Korea, written daily as the teams enjoyed wireless internet in their army style camp.
Captain pas with our flag
The Girls and Boys teams have arrived in Inje, after a mammoth 16 hour flight via Dubai. The teams are settling in to great hotel accommodation with a very local breakfast/buffet consisting of rice and spam with a side of water melon. Plans for the day are to investigate the river, which at the moment is in need of a lot of rain. Fingers crossed for the flood like conditions we had been enduring in the UK for the past week.
Today was spent by the river, recovering from the journey and acclimatising ourselves to the water and the weather. Both teams paddled the upper section of the river in which the sprint and slalom events will take place whilst the others ate, swam and relaxed in the heat of the day. The rumors about the water levels were true, some sections were a walk and the rest were a scrape.
Well it has finally rained here and things have changed a lot, yesterday the river was very clear and very low where as today the river is a very dirty brown colour and very ... well unfortunately low still but hey my rain dance is progressing well. We have spent the day working on the balance of the raft because of an injury to stapes the night before we flew, we have had some big changes to make. He broke his foot in two places and was unable to travel so he has been badly missed. Fortunately we have the best reserve ever in "senour Bob" so things have not taken too long to get flowing. So with the aid of some video work we are looking forward to the up coming challenge.
The boys trying to be men!
Today saw the registration of the teams and the first team captains meeting. The boys team with the loss of Stapes found a late reserve in the form of Bryony's dad Martin, having never rafted before he is hoping he won't get called upon, but is enjoying the freebies that come with being a competitor! Pas attended the first captains meeting which almost turned into a brawl (not really) there was heated discussions however with the organisers thinking of moving some of the events six hours away, driving by night as the venue has no accommodation, then driving back to finish the event!! The problem is that the sponsors want it in Inje but due to the severe lack of water some of the events cannot take place here!! It's all up in the air at the moment, all we know is that the sprint will be here and it will start on Saturday, so it's all training until then.
The night before the big event, the teams were escorted to the local stadium and led around the track by groups of school children before being treated to local displays and fire works.
The girls at the opening ceremony
We were treated to a very local display at the opening ceremony
Mens teams with our own team of local supporters!
First day of the competition and us Brits proved to be on top form. Today saw the time trial sprints followed by head-to-head races down the sprint course. The last couple of days has been a bit sketchy with not much rain to feed the river, so a longer sprint course was set with a start on the flat. Much contention arose, as the start wasn’t staggered to suit the flow so teams in the left hand lane always won. Unfortunately, both the GB men’s and ladies teams were started in the right hand lane based on our time trial times. First up, the girls had an awesome time trial resulting in 5th place. This meant for some reason that we were up against the Canadian girls who had come first. Maybe this pushed us harder than ever, and led us to gain the fastest recorded time of all teams unfortunate enough to land the right hand lane! We came in with 5th place overall out of 13 teams – a much improved performance from our 9th place in Ecuador. Our time was only 2 seconds behind Canada! The men’s team looked really strong battling over the rocky river and gained 15th place in the time trial, just getting them into the head-to-head races. First up they were against Slovenia who placed 7th. As the count down began, unlucky Slovenia put in an early paddle stroke. The boys had not seen this and raced their best, however, the judges did see the false start, which led to automatic disqualification of Slovenia! The boys were just about ready to get off the river when they were told to get back for their second race – against the bongo banging Brazilians. On the start line they sang hip hip hooray to rival the Brazilian’s ritual chanting and praying. The boys were placed 8th overall with Brazilians eventually taking the win after a further two races. In the ladies event, Canada came first, New Zealand second, Czech third, Slovakia fourth and us in fifth!! Out of 13 teams. In the men’s Brazil were first, Japan second, Slovakia third and Italy fourth. We are all really pleased with the results and look forward to tomorrow’s slalom competition further down the river. - Bring on Slalom.
Girls on the sprint course, charging
The boys powering down the sprint course
Slalom
Well what a day for British rafting! Today brought the slalom, using a tight technical piece of the river the course was set and the teams were out bright and early discussing lines and tactics. The ladies were up first, the decision was made to go steady and clean, the buzzer sounded and a good solid run of the course resulted in one touch and a good line on the killer drop of the day the Devils Slot, landing them with a respectable seventh for the first round. The boys were up next and up against some serious competition. Powerful, controlled paddling saw them clinch an excellent eleventh place for their first run. The girls had been watching intently and decided to make a risky move and change their tactics for their second run. The pace was upped and a faster riskier move was pulled off on two crucial gates. The boys put in another very strong performance and the teams settled to wait for their results to come throughI was the first to hear the girls result. Unbelieving I checked and rechecked, then screaming down the steps, jumping from boulder to boulder I yelled THIRD!!!!!! We were so happy our first medal as a team, tears and laughter, hugs and screaming, general pandemonium broke loose. The scene was repeated when the boys turned up twenty minutes later. So a very proud team was up on the podium watching our flag being raised along side the Kiwis and the Czechs – best in the world. The guys held onto their eleventh, which puts them at eighth overall, the girls with that awesome result are now sitting fourth. All to play for, the endurance tomorrow BRING IT ON!!!!!
Here a look at a sequence of the girls on the squeeze during their slalom run
The girls fashioning their new silverware
Endurance
Final Stage of the competition today. The Endurance a head to head timed run down 13km of challenging white water, this stage accounted for 40% of our overall score. After of lack of water in Inje the event officials had all fingers and toes crossed for a delivery of water for this final part of the event. The gods must have been on our side, as the night before the event the heavens opened and gave us a heavy dose of water. So much so we could move to the upper section of river to a much steeper part of the river. On arrival to the river our hearts sank as the upper section was still missing water, we got on for a practice run, only to find the river level rising under us. A pool drop type of river meant heavy rapid sections very capable of flipping or pining a raft, on the practice run, 2 rafts had a pin situation, as luck had it they came off with out too many problems. A few classic drops provided vertical falls, perfect to attempt the raft boof!. We arrived at the top of the course, GB Mens team in a heat against Czech Republic and Australia, GB women against Germany and Slovakia. The mens team set away first winning the sprint start, GB had started well, unfortunately this was closely followed by a unlucky route choice allowing Czech and Australia, to move a head. Czech team now had clean water and moved away, GB mens team knew they needed to over take the Australian team to keep a top 10 result. Sure enough with greater power and route choice GB moved past Australia with a small clash of paddles, to come 2nd in their heat with a good time, very hopeful of a good placement. GB Women's Set off next with Slovakia moving away in to first place only make a poor route choice and be taken by GB. After moving in to the next rapid GB took on a lot of water slowing their raft massively, slovakia saw the opportunity and sneaked back into pole position, this set the format for the rest of the race with Slovakia coming in first followed by GB then closely followed by Germany, a very close tight finish showing the similar strengths of all these teams. After this testing race both teams were greeted by loyal supporters (mum and dad Great Britain and Mr Goo the driver) with cold beers ready to celebrate a successful race. Teams now only had to hope for a good overall placement.
The men ready to pounce on the Australians during the endurance
The ladies pushing on during the endurance
On arrival back Head quarters, both teams where elated to discover we had achieved more than they had expected. GB Women's coming in 6th place on the endurance giving them 5th place over all, GB men coming in 10th place on the endurance achieving a final placement of 8th overall. With the Women having 13 teams in total and the mens having 29 Teams in total, Great Britain certainly made a big impression on International Rafting, for such a small country our Mens team managed to finish above such counties as USA, Canada, Slovenia, Australia and Mexico.
A successful day was followed my much celebration that evening as you would expect...
A little bit of 'blue steel' at the closing party
Bring on 2009.
Bryony with flag
Captain pas with our flagThe Girls and Boys teams have arrived in Inje, after a mammoth 16 hour flight via Dubai. The teams are settling in to great hotel accommodation with a very local breakfast/buffet consisting of rice and spam with a side of water melon. Plans for the day are to investigate the river, which at the moment is in need of a lot of rain. Fingers crossed for the flood like conditions we had been enduring in the UK for the past week.
Today was spent by the river, recovering from the journey and acclimatising ourselves to the water and the weather. Both teams paddled the upper section of the river in which the sprint and slalom events will take place whilst the others ate, swam and relaxed in the heat of the day. The rumors about the water levels were true, some sections were a walk and the rest were a scrape.
Well it has finally rained here and things have changed a lot, yesterday the river was very clear and very low where as today the river is a very dirty brown colour and very ... well unfortunately low still but hey my rain dance is progressing well. We have spent the day working on the balance of the raft because of an injury to stapes the night before we flew, we have had some big changes to make. He broke his foot in two places and was unable to travel so he has been badly missed. Fortunately we have the best reserve ever in "senour Bob" so things have not taken too long to get flowing. So with the aid of some video work we are looking forward to the up coming challenge.
The boys trying to be men!Today saw the registration of the teams and the first team captains meeting. The boys team with the loss of Stapes found a late reserve in the form of Bryony's dad Martin, having never rafted before he is hoping he won't get called upon, but is enjoying the freebies that come with being a competitor! Pas attended the first captains meeting which almost turned into a brawl (not really) there was heated discussions however with the organisers thinking of moving some of the events six hours away, driving by night as the venue has no accommodation, then driving back to finish the event!! The problem is that the sponsors want it in Inje but due to the severe lack of water some of the events cannot take place here!! It's all up in the air at the moment, all we know is that the sprint will be here and it will start on Saturday, so it's all training until then.
The night before the big event, the teams were escorted to the local stadium and led around the track by groups of school children before being treated to local displays and fire works.
The girls at the opening ceremony
We were treated to a very local display at the opening ceremony
Mens teams with our own team of local supporters!First day of the competition and us Brits proved to be on top form. Today saw the time trial sprints followed by head-to-head races down the sprint course. The last couple of days has been a bit sketchy with not much rain to feed the river, so a longer sprint course was set with a start on the flat. Much contention arose, as the start wasn’t staggered to suit the flow so teams in the left hand lane always won. Unfortunately, both the GB men’s and ladies teams were started in the right hand lane based on our time trial times. First up, the girls had an awesome time trial resulting in 5th place. This meant for some reason that we were up against the Canadian girls who had come first. Maybe this pushed us harder than ever, and led us to gain the fastest recorded time of all teams unfortunate enough to land the right hand lane! We came in with 5th place overall out of 13 teams – a much improved performance from our 9th place in Ecuador. Our time was only 2 seconds behind Canada! The men’s team looked really strong battling over the rocky river and gained 15th place in the time trial, just getting them into the head-to-head races. First up they were against Slovenia who placed 7th. As the count down began, unlucky Slovenia put in an early paddle stroke. The boys had not seen this and raced their best, however, the judges did see the false start, which led to automatic disqualification of Slovenia! The boys were just about ready to get off the river when they were told to get back for their second race – against the bongo banging Brazilians. On the start line they sang hip hip hooray to rival the Brazilian’s ritual chanting and praying. The boys were placed 8th overall with Brazilians eventually taking the win after a further two races. In the ladies event, Canada came first, New Zealand second, Czech third, Slovakia fourth and us in fifth!! Out of 13 teams. In the men’s Brazil were first, Japan second, Slovakia third and Italy fourth. We are all really pleased with the results and look forward to tomorrow’s slalom competition further down the river. - Bring on Slalom.
Girls on the sprint course, charging
The boys powering down the sprint courseSlalom
Well what a day for British rafting! Today brought the slalom, using a tight technical piece of the river the course was set and the teams were out bright and early discussing lines and tactics. The ladies were up first, the decision was made to go steady and clean, the buzzer sounded and a good solid run of the course resulted in one touch and a good line on the killer drop of the day the Devils Slot, landing them with a respectable seventh for the first round. The boys were up next and up against some serious competition. Powerful, controlled paddling saw them clinch an excellent eleventh place for their first run. The girls had been watching intently and decided to make a risky move and change their tactics for their second run. The pace was upped and a faster riskier move was pulled off on two crucial gates. The boys put in another very strong performance and the teams settled to wait for their results to come throughI was the first to hear the girls result. Unbelieving I checked and rechecked, then screaming down the steps, jumping from boulder to boulder I yelled THIRD!!!!!! We were so happy our first medal as a team, tears and laughter, hugs and screaming, general pandemonium broke loose. The scene was repeated when the boys turned up twenty minutes later. So a very proud team was up on the podium watching our flag being raised along side the Kiwis and the Czechs – best in the world. The guys held onto their eleventh, which puts them at eighth overall, the girls with that awesome result are now sitting fourth. All to play for, the endurance tomorrow BRING IT ON!!!!!
Here a look at a sequence of the girls on the squeeze during their slalom run
The girls fashioning their new silverwareEndurance
Final Stage of the competition today. The Endurance a head to head timed run down 13km of challenging white water, this stage accounted for 40% of our overall score. After of lack of water in Inje the event officials had all fingers and toes crossed for a delivery of water for this final part of the event. The gods must have been on our side, as the night before the event the heavens opened and gave us a heavy dose of water. So much so we could move to the upper section of river to a much steeper part of the river. On arrival to the river our hearts sank as the upper section was still missing water, we got on for a practice run, only to find the river level rising under us. A pool drop type of river meant heavy rapid sections very capable of flipping or pining a raft, on the practice run, 2 rafts had a pin situation, as luck had it they came off with out too many problems. A few classic drops provided vertical falls, perfect to attempt the raft boof!. We arrived at the top of the course, GB Mens team in a heat against Czech Republic and Australia, GB women against Germany and Slovakia. The mens team set away first winning the sprint start, GB had started well, unfortunately this was closely followed by a unlucky route choice allowing Czech and Australia, to move a head. Czech team now had clean water and moved away, GB mens team knew they needed to over take the Australian team to keep a top 10 result. Sure enough with greater power and route choice GB moved past Australia with a small clash of paddles, to come 2nd in their heat with a good time, very hopeful of a good placement. GB Women's Set off next with Slovakia moving away in to first place only make a poor route choice and be taken by GB. After moving in to the next rapid GB took on a lot of water slowing their raft massively, slovakia saw the opportunity and sneaked back into pole position, this set the format for the rest of the race with Slovakia coming in first followed by GB then closely followed by Germany, a very close tight finish showing the similar strengths of all these teams. After this testing race both teams were greeted by loyal supporters (mum and dad Great Britain and Mr Goo the driver) with cold beers ready to celebrate a successful race. Teams now only had to hope for a good overall placement.
The men ready to pounce on the Australians during the endurance
The ladies pushing on during the enduranceOn arrival back Head quarters, both teams where elated to discover we had achieved more than they had expected. GB Women's coming in 6th place on the endurance giving them 5th place over all, GB men coming in 10th place on the endurance achieving a final placement of 8th overall. With the Women having 13 teams in total and the mens having 29 Teams in total, Great Britain certainly made a big impression on International Rafting, for such a small country our Mens team managed to finish above such counties as USA, Canada, Slovenia, Australia and Mexico.
A successful day was followed my much celebration that evening as you would expect...
A little bit of 'blue steel' at the closing partyBring on 2009.
Bryony with flag
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