Gosport District Scout Council

Gosport Kayak Regatta

By Adrian Durrant

On the 20th of July 2003 the annual Gosport kayak regatta was held after the quality of the previous southeast Hants regatta and the entertainment by explorers at the district sports day it always looked to be a great day out.

Arriving early to help set out the course the weather was superb and the water wasn't too cold!

The troops started arriving gradually marking their areas putting up tents and such like then leaders going and registering their teams. (Well done to the admin sorting that rabble out!)

In the morning we started with the important races, which went towards the "Ron Fry trophy", these were the singles and doubles races for scouts and explorers being split into age groups. These races were all very different we had some scouts for whom it was their first go in a kayak to others who were quite experienced BCU 4 star paddlers. The races were all very well contested and their were no problems only the a few capsizes but that's expected. Well done to everyone who took part. After these races were finished we stopped for a lunch break so every one could relax before the afternoons fun events kicked off. These events are varied but mainly include a lot of people getting very wet making a lot of work for the safety boats. These races were competed across the lake and then back.

They did:

Chariots

Two kayaks with two people sitting on the back of the cockpits holding the boats together as the third person stands one foot in each cockpit paddling over. This usually ended up with the two kayaks splitting and the person standing up doing the splits very funny to watch!

Passenger carry

One kayak with one person paddling while the other person either sits or lies on the back of the kayak. Generally most people end up swimming!

Dragon Boats

Using one double kayak one person sit in each cockpit then one person sits on the front back and in between the cockpits making 5 people on the kayak all of which must paddle but depending on the size of your paddlers the heavier the harder it is because you take on a lot of water most boats end up underwater and they don't paddle very easily underwater!

Tug o' war

This was a new event for this year, which didn't really hit off very well. Two teams of 6 must try and pull the rope whilst paddling, as a normal tug of war but on water. The two anchormen have the rope tied to the sterns of their boats so they just paddle like crazy! Very tiring for the anchormen but with some refinements could be a very good event!

Leaders doubles race

This event was competed by 5 teams in two heats. The leaders had to paddle across the lake and back.

Heat 1

Carl Pettit + Fiona Durrant

Some unworthy leaders who we cant remember.

Won by Carl and Fiona well done.

Heat 2

Allan Davy + Ken Greenwood

Mark Elbourn + Adrian Durrant

Amy Chambers + Alison Pettit

Due to Allan and Ken not being able to stay in a straight line got themselves and Mark and Adrian Disqualified! So well done to Amy and Alison!

Also during the day the slalom competition was being competed the rules were simple you have to make it through each of the gates with out hitting any of the poles, you must go through at least 3 of the gates backwards and get back to the start in the quickest time. Any post hit was a 5 second penalty. This is usually a very good event for practising how well you can control a boat.

After all the events had finished and the boats were sponged out and put away the results were read out and pennants were awarded to the top three in each race. Then the points were read out for the "Ron Fry trophy" which was retained by the 5th Gosport Sea Scouts for yet another year.

(Other results to follow)

Overall a very good day! The weather was superb! Extremely entertaining for all spectators, especially the fun events. Thanks to Mike for arranging everything and Ken for the use of his boats and all his help on the day.

Roll on next year!

For those who enjoyed the events who may be new to kayaking Gosport district are very lucky, because in Gosport we run the BCU awards from basic 1star to higher level 4 star and canoe safety tests for more information on up and coming courses contact Ken Greenwood (courses organiser) or visit www.kenskayaking.itext.net