Shepperton Div 2/1 - 1st/2nd March

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:08 pm

The entries are gradually increasing from a trickle to a flood (well almost), but for those that have forgotten, the last date to avoid late entry charges is fast approaching.

ALL entries received after WEDNESDAY 20th FEBRUARY will be charged the late entry fee. I will waive this for entries received before that date.

Please note: NO LATE ENTRIES AFTER 10AM ON SATURDAY. NO LATE ENTRIES AT ALL ON SUNDAY. You have been warned!

For the many people who can't find the entry fees on the front page of the canoeslalom.co.uk:

Division 1 (Sunday only):
£15.75 (late entry £18.00)

Division 2 (Double Event):
Senior £18 (late entry £22.50)
Junior £13.75 (late entry £17.75)

Looking forward to seeing you all

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:45 pm

Btw - Late entrants should expect to judge, so get those entries in asap!

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:07 pm

Any further entries received will now have the late fee added! I will publish start list and timings etc within the next couple of days.

btw for those that are interested, the water levels have dropped somewhat so it looks as though we will only have the two side spills, so if anyone out there knows how to do a rain dance........

Munchkin · Post by **Munchkin** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:00 am

If you know how to do a rain dance please don't! I am a bit scared of this event as it is my first 1/2 and I swam when I was in the Div 3/4 event

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:24 pm

Munchkin - at least we have some nice hot showers!

All - Start lists are up on the front page of www.canoeslalom.co.uk - many thanks to Nick - they only include on time entries - late entries will be added later.

Munchkin · Post by **Munchkin** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:55 am

Thanks

I will be armed with a drysuit too!!!

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:57 am

An organisers plea

Please when you send in your entries:

- Send them on a proper card not a scrappy piece of paper or and email with only half the information
- Look up this year's bib number (don't leave it to the organiser)
- Check the current fees
- Fill in the card properly (date of birth is required if you are paddling as anything other than senior) and sign it
- If your entry is late then pay the late entry fee, better still get it in on time.

It really isn't hard to fill in a card with your correct details and put it in the post with the correct money in good time. It IS hard to sift through everyone elses mess because they're too lazy to do it themselves.

I have spent at least 3 full days sorting out YOUR entries. So, please, for the next event remember that whilst your error might seem minor, add it to everyone else's and it's a lot of work for the one at the receiving end.

D

PS Apologies and grateful thanks to those who have taken the trouble to get it right - there are a few of you.

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:42 pm

Water is currently on 2 sidespills and 2 gates; let's hope it stays that way.

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:14 pm

We are hoping to be able to run gate judges exams on Saturday so please take the opportunity to have a go if you haven't done before.

Kev.S · Post by **Kev.S** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:40 am

1st one of the season out of the way, the weather held out well, despite earlier predictions which made it all the more pleasant.
A big thank you to Dee and her team for a good weekend.

Munchkin · Post by **Munchkin** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:07 am

Thanks for everything and for convincing me to enter when I tried to pull out!

Dee · Post by **Dee** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:10 am

Your welcome, glad you "enjoyed" it.

Neilo · Post by **Neilo** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:37 pm

It was my first 'proper' slalom and I loved it. Brilliant water, challenging course (well for me anyway), and sunshine too (at times).

Certainly, thanks go to all those involved in the organising and running of the event. Not an easy task, I suspect ! So, thank you.

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 2:24 am

This was my first proper comp since 2004 and I reckon any of my spidey cobwebs have been well and truly washed away by the Shepperton Serpent! I had a really great paddle, thankyou. However, this is because I am able to paddle on this grade of water. But I felt very sorry for many of the Div 2 paddlers.

IMHO, the Saturday Div 2 course was more like a Div 1 course and the Sunday course was more like a Prem course! The amount of swimmers, rollers and 50's says it all.

The stagger below the side spill (6 to 9) and the final one (16 & 17) were very silly and not at all conducive to a flowing and testing route through the gatelines. To cap it off it was not even close to a 100 second course and was way too long even if you did not get washed away on any of the three sluice crossings!

Forcing the hand of so many Div 2 paddlers to paddle round the bottom of the main flow 2 or 3 times must have produced some pretty stupid times - and not through any fault of their own either! If I was a div 2 paddler I think I would be pretty hacked off if I had driven many miles to be confronted with that. There must have been several who simply elected not to paddle it at all. I will be interested to see the Div 2 results as these should support my view that it was simply too much and too long. Great organisation and, personally, a very enjoyable weekend but zero points for course design! Anyone agree/disagree? If you agree, maybe it will make course designers think twice in future. If you disagree, maybe you can point me to a similar Div 2 course to support your view

Carlr · Post by **Carlr** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:09 am

I would agree that gates 6 to 9 were tight for a kayak and C1 and impossible to go clear for a C2, maybe it should have only been a 3 gate stagger giving a little bit more room to manouvre, But as for the rest of the course it wasnt to bad and made quite good use of the water. It is about time that a Div 2 was held on bigger water (as in days gone by) and will give Div 2 paddlers a better understanding of Div1 courses and bigger water and can only help to improve the paddling standard. As for crossing the main sluice 3 times at least you had an option to go low if you wanted to. Well done to all those that swam and came back for more.