Racing and competing is a fun way to spend some time and we encourage all members to give it a try outside of recreational paddles and sessions. Kayaking and Canoeing offers many disciplines for the sport, such as flatwater sprint and marathon, white water paddling, touring, slalom and many more. At our club we focus on and train for flatwater sprints and marathons, and as such we compete across these two disciplines
Sprint
Sprint competitions consist of a weekend at a regatta lake, at Holme Pierrepont National Water Sports Centre, in Nottingham. This is a weekend away which can involve participation over a range of distances, in k1 (one person kayak) and crew boats (two and four person kayaks.). This includes 200m, 500m and 1000m sprint distances. As well as this, we camp at the campsite next door over the weekend, enjoying the weekend as a club event.
Marathon
Marathon races happen periodically and often all throughout the year, the summer hosting the Hasler Series and the winter is the Winter Series. These occur on Saturdays across the year and are a great day out to paddle, see new places and compete in various divisions and distances; Divisions: 9-7 ~ 6.5km/4 miles Divisions: 6-4 ~ 13km/8 miles Divisions 3-1 ~ 20km/12 miles. These races can be completed as part of a crew (k2 – two person kayak) or alone (k1 – one person kayak). They can also include portages, or obstacles at which you are not able to paddle through. These can be artificial, such as cones and tape or even locks and weirs where you would get out and carry the boat to the get in point.