Div 2 disaster?

Discuss past and future events
Post Reply
JimW
Posts: 570
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 2:17 pm
Location: Pinkston

Div 2 disaster?

Post by JimW » Thu Nov 30, 2017 2:41 pm

How final is the 2018 calendar now?

My intention is to cherry pick the best div 2's next year, Pinkston, HPP, Washburn, Tully, LV Legacy, maybe a few others but mainly try for PU at div 1's.

Now I notice we have Washburn and LV Legacy currently scheduled for the same weekend - that would be a disaster! We should be encouraging div 2 paddlers to broaden their experience by doing both of these not choosing between them...

I've got my fingers crossed for a last minute alteration!

Mike Mitchell
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:44 pm

Re: Div 2 disaster?

Post by Mike Mitchell » Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:48 pm

I agree Jim

Its a real shame that there is only one Slalom a year on the Legacy and thats just for one Day.
Washburn being a Two day event will be more attractive for a Div 2 paddler.

Canadian Paddler
Posts: 1480
Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 8:31 am
Location: Peterborough
Contact:

Re: Div 2 disaster?

Post by Canadian Paddler » Sun Dec 03, 2017 8:04 pm

Running an event on the Legacy is not easy. You need to ensure that the main course is on all day (£££££££), or off all day and half the Legacy is washed out, again probably many pounds as running a single raft needs the water on, and suddenly the bottom half of the course has waves and drops Fun but not fair..

Therefore you can really only run a Div 2 on the Legacy when we are running an event on the main course. So the problem then is to find a volunteer organiser, and the volunteers to run it. I know the two above are a long way from LVC, so could not run an event there, but with no organiser there is no event.

The British Open is run as a British Canoeing festival, so we cannot have the Legacy for both days of the British Open. If there was an orgnaiser, events could be run with other events on the Olympic course. If only we had the organisation team. Any volunteers?

As to the clash with the Washburn, this is within the 'managed Calendar guidelines' as not a clash, and Washburn is limited in when they can run as well. Be aware that the Calendar is approved at the ACM, so it is too late to worry now. If you see such an issue in the future, talk to the clubs involved, see if they can accomodate your desires BEFORE the ACM. as a last resort, come to teh ACM and question it there.
All spelling errors are intentional and are there to show new and improved ways of spelling old words. Grammatical errors are due to too many English classes/teachers.
Old. Fat. Slow. Bad tempered. And those are my good points

JimW
Posts: 570
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2015 2:17 pm
Location: Pinkston

Re: Div 2 disaster?

Post by JimW » Mon Dec 04, 2017 2:23 pm

I just think it highlights that the rules determining clashes don't really work for div 2.
Newly promoted paddlers probably don't travel very far, but paddlers chasing promotion to div 1 will be travelling further and I firmly beleive should be aiming to do both Lee Valley and Washburn events as part of their build up to div 1.
The 1.5 hours driving time might work OK in the south of England where there are a lot of paddlers but events in the north and Scotland rely on a large portion of entrants driving 3 hours or more to get to them. Driving time from Pinkston to either Grandtully or Fairnilee is about 1.5 hours, according to the rules we could use all of Scotlands div 2 venues on the same weekend, but we know that there aren't enough paddlers to make that viable for any of them. The Tynedale slaloms are in much the same situation, Washburn will probably always be popular enough to hold its own against say Bala, but races like Howsham or West Tanfield (or its replacement) could be seriously hampered by a clash with a race in N Wales or the Midlands.
And there is still a problem with finding appropriate water for div 2, a lot of the races (many mentioned above) are held on rapids that are little different to those that div 3s are held on, in fact some of the events hold div 3 and 4 races over the same (or slightly modified) course on the same day. That is of course essential to progression of freshly promoted paddlers from div 3, but with so many fewer opportunities for more difficult water there should be consideration given to making sure the few events on more difficult water don't clash no matter what the distance between them.

As for commenting before the ACM, I would have done if I had been aware of the clash before the ACM - I have looked at the draft calendar many times over the last few months to make sure our event was still the only one for its dates so that must have been a pretty late addition for me not to have noticed it?

I understand that there are issues with holding a div 2 at Lee Valley, and that tagging it onto BCs weekend is the only viable option even though it makes for a single day race so many paddlers won't see value for money and won't go. I would have entered the freestyle and boaterX to ensure value for money but I was ineligible because I don't have a legacy assessment already. I did try to explain to BC that having other events running but requiring LV asssessment before entering them but not organising an assessment (say first thing Saturday) was also a barrier to anyone not local to the area because it is impossible to get an assessment in advance, but they seemed to completely miss my point and told me I could arrange an assessment with the centre in advance. But these are not slalom issues, this is BC blinkeredness...

Dee
Posts: 1444
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 8:34 pm

Re: Div 2 disaster?

Post by Dee » Tue Dec 05, 2017 12:51 am

I don't think it will help you, but the currently displayed calendar does not look like the finalised one to me!
Kit Washer, Entry Clerk, Chauffeur, Reluctant Organiser, Online Entry Advocate .....
Anything I post under this user is my personal opinion; I am not posting as a member of the Slalom Committee!

Jasper
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 12:44 pm

Re: Div 2 disaster?

Post by Jasper » Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:32 pm

Can anyone advise when we those of us who could / did not attend the ACM will be able to see a fully agreed 2018 event calendar?

Post Reply