ENTRY 27 Norwich Hasler 22 May 2011

If you look at the picture of the Norwich clubs lake it looks fairly placid, wait until you actually get on it, we were blessed with sunshine but the wind was gale force, it was around the 50mph mark.
I traveled up with Toby and Paul and we were all looking forward to this race, think we all changed our minds once we got out on the water, because of the balls up with the timing and placing at the last Hasler race my promotion to division 5 had been reduced to division 6, looking at some of the div 5 paddlers perhaps I was better of in  6 lol,
it was still double the distance from my previous races which I prefer and 2 portage laps around the lake then the next 2 with a portage each before the finish line.


Out on the water for a warm up and my mind changed about this race, the wind had suddenly picked up more and with the lake being exposed you felt like a pea being pushed around by someone blowing down a straw, a few hundred yards out and then a turn to come back youre hit with the full force of the wind side on, everything suddenly became a lot tippier, I opted to use the Epsilon, Im stable enough but just cant get comfy in this boat and dont like it, with a white knuckle turn and confidence knocked I wasnt too sure how this race would go, staying in was the biggest priority, a second practice turn wasn't much better, better just to shore up and wait for the race I thinks and let fate do the rest.


The start area was fairly sheltered, that was good lol but this start was backing up to the main jetty for the start, a bit manic and fraught with 18 boats trying to maneuver in place, especially as I dont feel comfortable in this boat.

My start was lousy as usual, why cant they go "ready steady go" lol instead of suddenly "go" wasnt worried too much as it was easy to get in a group and wash hang, 2 on the front went like rockets, no body seemed too bothered about catching them up, unlike my cycling days if someone got out front and thought a threat they'd stay there everyone worked together to catch them, not with this racing or at least this level, the group was a little slow so I had to pull out and was doing quite well then we hit the full force of the wind from behind, low paddle strokes now as the wind catches the paddle and try's to rip it out of your hand, the waves were quite high now with nose to cockpit being underwater when you catch a wave, not been used to that and was a little un-nerving, it was surfing now when you catch a wave, a totally new experience but fun, 

I was expecting nice calm waters at the turn, how wrong could I have been, it was like sitting in your bath in a rictor 15 earthquake, instead of 1 buoy it was 3 which prolonged the exposure to the side wind and the waves being whipped in with the wind also tried to stop your turn into the wind, it was an extreamlly ungraceful turn all made up of support strokes that somehow had some forward motion, finally got the nose into wind, phew, how I stayed in I dont know, how the hell I was going to do that another 3 times I didnt know, 

into wind wasnt too bad, head forward and low paddle, frustrating you cant get the speed but I wasnt struggling with the strength side and was easily making up distance on the others, then I would struggle with stability and loose ground and the catch up again, the second turn was like the 1st but I still stayed in, just lol,

time for the first portage, a small area to get out of then a short run and into a beech launch, would have gone ok but a K2 suddenly appeared on the left and another on the right just as the wrong time, landing space taken up completely, no choice but to wait, mmmm to gentlemanly I think, Ive gota get more aggressive and push in.

The 3rd lap was when the wind reached its maximum, downwind was surfing and reaching speeds of up to 15kph and looking down and seeing no water under the cockpit in between waves, the waves now getting higher were washing from behind and each one putting more water into the boat, mmmmm this wasnt good, I was loosing ground not because I was exhausted but just trying to stay in the damn boat, the 3rd turn was worse, turns 1 and 2 put together, someone up there liked me and kept me in, into wind with the wind whipping up the white horses this time and the nose of the boat permanatly buried underwater, was starting to notice loads of boats the wrong way up and the rescue boat busy, so did not want to go in the water in the middle of this huge lake, at the winds worse the best I could manage was 2.2 kph and couldnt get the paddles any lower, loosing loads of ground now, the 2 I had been chasing had vanished, think one had gone in and the other I dont know, that was very draining lap, the last portage and there was a few boats anchored up doing nothing and 2 club mates standing there, It looked like the race had been stopped, phew!!!!!!    how wrong, the anchored boats were from other class's and had finished, it was made clear that when finished to get out the other side and not at the portage, no choice but to get out of the boat in the water, lol try doing that gracefully, place behind had caught up and a mad dash to get in the water and off, struggled again to keep the speed in the wind and lost the place to him at the last turn, wasnt as bad as the other 3 times, I opted to take the straight route to the finish line whilst the guy in front took the longer sheltered route, it worked for him and pooped back out in front of me and left me trailing him by 50 mtrs, with 500 mtrs to go I wasnt going to be beaten that easily, this close to home it was s*d the wind and falling in, gave it everything and was catching, not quick enough, this Epsilon boat does not go any faster than the old bus Cirrus and is still like pushing a brick, with 50mtrs to go no choice but to dig even deeper, im not going to be beaten, made it by 1 second in front, long long time since Ive had ab's screaming like they were, the 100mtr saunter to the portage was like 5 miles and had nothing to even get out of the boat. Final position was 5th, under the conditions I was pleased with it, if it had been calm im confident I could have finished a lot higher.

I think it was an achievement for anyone just to have finished that race, it was an experience and a confidence builder staying in the boat as nearly a 1/3 of the entire entries had dunkings and retirements, it has helped me with stability and my blue boat feels so comfortable and stable and can even sit stationary in wobble 2 boats with no paddle, that was an impossibility 6 months ago, Im going to stay with the blue boat a bit longer and do a race in it before tackling the red boat head on, having a break from the next Hasler and concentrating hard on technique and distance training for the next race.

Congrats to team mates Spencer who won his Div 8 race to get promoted to Div 6, and young Paul getting a good finish in Div9 in lousy conditions and well done to Toby who had 3 dunkings and avoiding Davey Jone's locker, the next race has to be a CALM one, fingers crossed it is....................till next time :-)

ENTRY 26

I had a go at our club summer sprint series last week, 500mtr and 200mtr, we had the 500mtr down what we call the channel which has the concrete sides and notorious for the waves bouncing around as if in a bath tub, what can i say, what an experience, Ive never been the quickest of the line but most of the races were against guys a lot faster and 4 abreast  I was finding within 10ft i was firmly in their wash and struggling just to keep upright together with the wash bouncing straight back of the walls it was a wild rodeo, the boats nose was buffeted from side to side and a pain to keep straight, the first 50 mtrs were just a hang on before i could get the paddles working, managed a 2.36, ive done a 2.22 in calmer conditions,
the 200mtr races followed the same format and was a struggle, dont think im ever gona make a decent sprinter as I do very much prefer the longer distances, but all good experience and I stayed in the boat.


Thought that was the end of the racing for the day but Mo put me and John together for the K2 distance race, haven't done much K2 work and me and John had only done a short trip together in the winter, but this time is was going to be 5 min's practice then full on sprints for 2x 200mtrs before the distance one, took a few minutes before we could get our paddle speed to match, had a couple of good runs actually and fairly good on paddle timing, there were no official timings so a little hard to judge how we did against the faster crews, we used the old bath tub "Condor" as it was our safest bet to stay dry, all be it its like being in a washing machine sitting on the back.


We set of in the second group for the distance race, most of the younger ones were in our group and the faster ones were in the first group, the first corner was fun trying to get the tub round quick, think we pushed one crew out wide, no problem getting out front, paddle timing was good and the old bus was picking its skirt up, could see we were closing ground on the group ahead, 
We had a really good race, stability was not a problem in this boat and allowed for the first time to really get some power down, we did finish fairly high up and had beaten some of the faster crews, not bad in a tub and our first ever race together

Next Hasler race this Sunday at Norwich, not sure what Im up against for this race, The Bedford race results were really mucked up and my previous promotion to Div 5 has now been reduced to Div 6, not bothered really as its still the longer distance race which I prefer, and this race I dont have to wear a\ life jacket as the other Divisions were mandatory, I so hate wearing them whilst racing, think ill have 2 portages, ive got a faster boat to use and hopefully my non smoking may give something back to me, 

see you soon

ENTRY 25

Decided to up the stakes a little and spend some dosh and got myself a new boat, Its going to cost me a few swims im sure as its quite a few steps up the ladder, thankfully Ive got the rest of the summer to get used to it before the winter comes back, so its bite the bullet now, just wished someone would turn the heating up in the river lol

Its a VAJDA SUPERSONIC, Ive gone for the XXL as it suits my height and weight and should mean no more scraping my back on the cockpit, and ulimatly faster and hopefully a step nearer to getting to Division 3 as my goal this year, well I can dream for a bit

Fellow club mate gave the boat a quick run for me, thumbs up all-round, faster than the 01 version, very good at tracking, quick to get up to speed on the sprint and very manouvarable with one of the better shaped sprint rudders, will have to change it for a marathon one as the shape does pick up a lot of weed which is abundant this time of year, Ive had  quick try in it and definitely finding it tippy just beyond my ability at the moment, but I dont think it'll take too long, got some club mates Ive got to overtake lol.
Ive been using my other boat "Lazer" although its supposed to be a bit tippier than what I have been using Im finding it far my comfortable than any of the others as it fits nice and snug on my hips and feels more comfortable on the foot plate, I find it easier too as its a snug fit that the knees stay together a lot easier compared to the larger beam boats and therefore aids in the boat staying more stable when pushing the paddle stroke, wished id started using this boat a long time ago rather than the club boats ive been using, so dosent always mean the so called wobblier boat will be wobblier for YOU,

Entry 24 Bedford Hasler race 2011

Its been quick to come around for the my second Hasler race at Bedford, went to this one with mixed feelings as this course had been portrayed as very choppy with concrete sides to the river.

Its a pretty river and the countryside surrounding Bedford is really nice, the Bedford club otherwise known as the Vikings have really good facilities they share with the rowing club and a bar :) lol

A division 7 race for me this time, I failed to have a good warm up before the start, but Id eaten and drunk everything I should have and was as ready as I was going to be, with the word that it was a choppy river I opted to use the Cirrus again, more for the reason that the mileage Id traveled to get there I didnt want to go for a swim as I can do that at home rather than a river 80 miles away.

I have been using the Epsilon boat Instead of the Cirrus to which Ive long outgrown, getting on with it well, give me a calm river and I can push the boat quite well but the stability goes a little haywire in the rougher water and very frustrating in trying to get the power down and to get the speed I know I can get out of it, so the option to use the cirrus was more just for a safe option, I believe some others had also had the same reasoning.

Had a look back at one of my first posts last September when Mo got me to sit in the Epsilon, I described it as like sitting on a razor blade,  after the winter series it dosent feel anything like it and feels quite stable

The water wasnt as rough as I thought it was going to be, but was a bit hard sitting at the back of a diamond formation behind 3 other boats though with the cirrus as its terrible for wandering its nose and a constant input on the steering.

Didnt have the best of starts with about 5 other boats ahead of me off the line, wasnt to worried as Im always slow of the line and catching up shouldn't be a problem, compared to the winter series it is so much better being with others of the same ability as youre not left for dead, 

so tactics can be played, mmmmm its a short race with no portages, pace is going to at the top end, ask me self whats more important time or position, opted for position and was happy to sit in and get a tow in the wash and save some energy and see how it pans out, with the quick catching of other groups in front Id lost who it was leading our group, pain as I needed him in sight, so perhaps forget position and go for time will be the better option,

was just about to pass the 2 boats in front of me and the lead boat suddenly veered abruptly left, can only presume he lost his balance and slipped his feet of the tiller, pain for us behind as we got caught with him, couldnt slow enough to miss the back end of the boat in front, all stop and back up to go around, lost 2 places from that, quickly gained those back by the turn and caught 2 on the hop at the first turn with a tight turn, pretty amazing with the cirrus as it has the turning circle of a London bus, at this point I could only presume who ever i was struggling to catch or who was keeping up with me was in my race.

Down leg from the turn the water was very choppy, if I had of used the other boat I really would have struggled to have stayed upright, there was the odd boat dotted around capsized, it gave me a lousy struggle with the steering and was loosing me time, I had 2 in front and was really struggling to get on there tale and getting past their wash, try to close and the front of your boat gets sucked in, a little further out it was a struggle to get over the wash with the nose pointing skywards and the feeling of paddling up hill, tried further out 30yds away to see if it would be easier,  amazing how far out the wash can go and still be effective for wash hanging, all I managed was riding up the wash back to his boat, mmmmm gona have to remember that one, sure I can make use of that one in the future.

At the very last turn I knew it was only a short 100mtr sprint to the finish line, Id struggle to get past the 2 boats in front of me with the chop, Id drawn back up close and was gona give it a slightly wide berth for the turn and pull tight on them, the last couple of turns they had been turning wide, so worth a risk and ask the old bus one more favor for a sixpence turn, ................................why is it great plans never work out, id pulled out as wide as I dared only to have one of our teams K'2 pull alongside on the inside, B****r, I ended up getting caught in a wide turn with them, the 2 I was chasing I just couldnt catch on the last sprint, all I could manage was keeping the K2 at bay to the line.

It felt a scrappy race but earnt me a 4th with only seconds dividing all of us, and it got me a promotion to Division 5 and the medium course for my next race, pleased about that, the longer races suit me far better, but Im also acutely aware the hard work starts here now, the good bit is it has spurred me on to actually stop smoking, HAVEN'T had a cigarette since the Bedford race and no longer tied to the 20 a day.

The cirrus has to be hung up for good now, shes done me well for a slow boat getting me up to Division 5 in 2 races, 

Ill be in the faster boat for the next race so a little more time for me to wring out the the last balance bits in the rougher water and getting all the power down, who Knows may even get into Div 4 by the end of the year, gota have something to aim for ;-)

Next race in a week, having a crack at the summer series local sprints at our club, im not really a sprinter but it'll sure help my starts for my racing, but I can lift the nose on the new boat for a sprint, itll be interesting to see how the times go.

till next time

ENTRY 23 Cambridge Hasler race 2011

It was a lovely sunny Sunday morning for my first Cambridge Hasler race, managed to get a fairly good coverage by video and a cheap on board camera.

Still felt crud after the flu, had a very slow start to the Division 9 race, the rivers quite narrow at the part we were on and the first turn was a nightmare with sheer volume trying to turn in a small place, all a learning curve lol.
Managed to pull my finger out after 10 min and started to pass people,  finished in 2nd and earnt a promotion to Division 7 for my next race and the time was as fast as the Division 7 paddlers, so defiantly got a lot more stream available for when I feel better.
Did the race in the old slow bus Cirrus as Ive still been slow moving up the boats and being comfortable for a race in a wobblier boat.
Guess overall it wasnt a bad race for me, have a look at the video