Bedford river Festival Invitation Slalom - Slalom Event

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:14 pm

The Bedford River Festival is a Bi-annual event attracting more than 200,000 people to enjoy the spectacular Victorian Embankment that runs through the heart of the town. This year, on the 12th and 13th July, will be the 30th Festival and it will doubless be bigger and better than ever.

Over the years more and more different attractions have been featured. In the last Festival in 2006 this extreme sport lawfully took place for the very first time anywhere in the UK:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFv-7quvaBE

As slalom coach at Viking Kayak Club, obviously a regular river user in the town, I have been asked if I would like to "showcase" canoe/kayak slalom during the Festival. This seems to be a fantastic opportunity to get the discipline in front of a very large crowd that would be restricted only by the available viewing area. This post is to establish the degree of interest before proceeding further with the organisation.

So far, VKC has obtained a "window" during the weekend for a slalom event to take place. The venue will not be the Cardington slalom course that most of you know from Interclubs as this is not in the town centre. Instead, I am proposing to use our original slalom venue, predating Cardington, of Duckmill. In summertime with low water conditions this is no more than a duckpond! However, if the two sluice gates are open, the water is considerably rougher than Cardington. Negotiations are currently underway to secure three x 30min openings of the gates irrespective of water levels. A prize money fund is also being set up for this event so that the winner actually gets money! Surely that has to be attractive! Not sure of the value yet but circa £100 is being discussed.

Due to the high profile of the event, with cameras circulating from ITV, BBC and Sky etc, it is hoped that an invitation to Premier class competitors will attract some of the best paddlers in the country. The River Festival is a great event to simply attend but if you have a part to play as well then you have two very good reasons to show up!

I envisage competitors running at 1min intervals so that obviously restricts the number that can attend. If, for example, 30 wish to attend (and I have not given much thought to class or gender yet!) then each would have a practice (show-off maybe!) session and then two timed runs.

With only 2 months or so to go we need to get things in place pretty soon. This post is of an exploritory nature to establish interest from Premsters only. Other canoe/kayak discliplines will be represented, polo, squirt boats, freestyle etc with top class performers similarly attending.

NOTE! The date does not conflict with any National slalom comps but unfortunately DOES coincide with the Under 23 & Junior European Champs in Slovakia and the Pre-World Champs in Spain.

Could those interested in attending this event please post here or alternatively message me through this Forum. If you are aware of anyone who may not regularly use this Forum but who may be interested, please let me know. Once interest in this event has been established, further information will be posted here or I will hopefully/probably formalise matters with nick penfold and place it on the front page of this website. Here's hoping

Regards,

Peter Parker

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Fri May 16, 2008 1:07 am

Hello? A couple of weeks have passed since I posted this event and not one single reply here or PM to say "I'm interested"?

I have got a verbal nod of approval from Rob Philips who is prepared to trek all the way south from Scotland to paddle so surely there must be others in England who are interested in attending? As with any event, a fair amount of organising has to take place and I really do not wish to set about this only to find hardly anyone is interested. Maybe I should widen the invitation list to include Div 1 also? I am just searching for ideas and comments really as I wish to do the best I can at this massive event to showcase the sport. I really need about 30 competitors so if I open it up to include Div 1 maybe it should be on a first come first serve basis? Maybe this forum is not so well attended by Premsters and is not the best medium for communications? I will let it kick around here a while longer before trying elsewhere. On an organisational note, I am still awaiting written confirmation of the sluices being open but everything else is in place

briman · Post by **briman** » Fri May 16, 2008 10:07 am

Hi Spidey, I haven't replied before as it appeared that you wanted replies from Prems first. It's a great idea for the Festival and having attended previously and participated in one of the night paddles it is indeed a very popular event. Hopefully you'll get plenty of replies especially from younger paddlers and ladies, who make better TV coverage than old duffers. In case you need any other paddlers, as a lowly ranked Div 2 DV 'Duffer' who is more than happy to try and get on TV and advertise himself for the next Spielberg classic, please feel free to drop me a line.
Always please to help advertise the positive aspsects of our sport. Cheers, Bri

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Fri May 16, 2008 4:32 pm

Thanks Bri. I was wondering if I was talking to myself here! Whilst I would be confident of getting 30 competitors if I open it up to all and sundry, I really would like some whizz kids. We need to promote the sport as an athletic event that will inspire youngsters to take it up and get slalom up to the numbers it had before poxy plastic boats appeared and depleated the slalom scene. Even though I am top half of Div 1 myself I do not even see myself as being the sort of paddler I want to see! lol....sounds like Groucho......""PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT PEOPLE LIKE ME AS A MEMBER". lol.

So I am sure you understand what I am attempting to do here and as soon as one or two show some interest, the 30 should quickly build.

However, VKC needs all the paddlers it can muster as we have loads planned for the day so feel free to join in with us in one way or another. Just post here if you want me to hook you up with those at VKC who are sorting all this out. I am strictly slalom of course

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:54 pm

Bump! Just to keep this thread alive! See the front page of the UK Slalom website for details of the event! Only 30 places so get an entry in now Premsters!

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 3:23 am

Ok, I am now in danger of cancelling this competition due to a distinct lack of entries. Seems like the Festival falling on the same weekend as a couple of internationals has put the mockers on it

I will post again shortly with a decision.

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:27 am

NOTICE! The invitation slalom at the Bedford River Festival has been cancelled due to an insufficient number of Premier paddlers being available/entering to date. Maybe when 2010's Festival comes around it will not coincide with two international events making more competitors available. I will be notifying those who have sent me entry cards of this situation by email. Apologies one and all - but I did try

Anne · Post by **Anne** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:38 am

A suggestion Peter - Put it to the Slalom committee for inclusion in the Year Book - run a ranking event and open, you might not necessarily get Prem paddlers but you may have a better chance of putting something on.

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 11:43 pm

Noted Anne thankyou

However, I would not make this a regular thing. I was simply attempting to showcase the discipline at the highest standard to members of the public who most likely had never seen it before. It was seen also as part of a local drive to get Bedfordshires youngsters into slalom in conjunction with VKC very fortunately obtaining coaching from Helen Reeves. The good news is that we have now linked up with some local schools and got students in kayaks on the river with Helen so things are looking up as far as getting some young blood into the sport

Anne · Post by **Anne** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:14 am

Sounds good - probably a better way forward - get youngsters to come and try it and hopefully get them hooked! Make sure ther is a good Viking K C presence so there is a follow up for them!

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 3:51 am

I write to express my thanks to Joe Coombs, James Bailey, Jake Silvester, Andrew Rendall and Joel Crossland for attending the Bedford River Festival Demo Slalom this weekend. Due to the few entries recieved I elected to make this a demonstration event rather than a competition. However, as agreed, the Environment Agency arrived on time for both demonstrations to open the sluice gate (one was already open due to recent rain) and the crowd gathered in droves. This was the scene as the lads warmed up ( http://img387.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crowddr1.jpg ) but when they were taking their individual and team runs (yes, they did two awesome 5 man team runs!) they were standing 2 and 3 deep all around the weirpool! No pics of that though as the cameras were all pointed at them of course

Suspending a football about 1.5m above the surface and awarding -5 seconds for hitting it with the bow was a real crowd pleaser

On the face of it Duckmill does not seem to present a competent paddler with too much of a challenge. But looks are deceiving here and none of the HPP nor Shepperton Weir lads could manage to clear run through 16 gates. VKC used to host a slalom at Duckmill many years ago but since Cardington was constructed it seems to have taken a back seat. However, it is significantly more difficult and testing than Cardington and the combination of Anne's comment above and one of the Premsters saying "That was well hard!" has led me to think about the possibility of VKC running Duckmill slaloms on the calendar again. Over recent weeks we have been in discussion with the local authority regarding improving facilities around the weirpool to better facilitate both training and possibly slaloms here and the feedback has been very positive. IMHO certainly worthy of a Div 2 or maybe a Div 1 (with a guarantee of both sluices being opened for the event by those very nice Env Angency folk!) Watch this space

Whilst I was responsible for rustling up some interest in this demo slalom and organising the course erection, Richard Harpham of www.majorsporty.com was the key player concerning dealings with the Environment Agency to get the sluices open and obtaining sponsorship for the guys attendance fee from Team Beds and Luton. Please take a look at the Major Sporty website and see if there is anything there of interest. They are into all things sporty including all things watery too

Many thanks then to Major Sporty, the Env Agency and Team Beds and Luton.

I should be uploading some action images of the event at some point and these, combined with the Premsters giving those who could not make the event positive feedback, should ensure that the 2010 Bedford River Festival again hosts a Premier Slalom competition and one that is far better attended. It was hard work but well worth it to get the sport showcased in front of such a large number of people (outside the slalom fraternity). The lads said it was probably their biggest gig in terms of public attendance figures so I am absolutely thrilled with the turnout!

Chuffed of Bedford

PP

PS - I was interviewed by an internet based news service who said they would be uploading the material to their site. When/if I locate this I will pass the link on

Canadian Paddler · Post by **Canadian Paddler** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:26 am

Div 1? Surely not, Duck mill saw the first ever div 5 slalom, and soem epic Eastern region winter slaloms! Sorry Peter but using my old man glasses it was never (even with both sluices) higher than a div 3, so using the degrdaed easer water standrads now it cant be more than a div 2. Or have standards dropped that low?

But I have great memories of events there so PLEASE do what you can to bring it back, if I can help from Peterborough let me know. It always was a fun event, close to town so good to publicise the sport and for paddlers to wander into town afterwards to use the shops.

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:43 pm

Well CP, I do not really know who is responsible for "grading" an event. But I take your point about its history as my first Novice event was Duckmill back in nineteen seventeeeeeeeeee shhhhhhhhhhh!!! I was 14 and I came second - beating my Games Master into 3rd place too

I would not have considered it potentially Div 1 previously but I am thinking only along the lines of comparison, difficulty of gates and savageness of water

Duckmill is aptly named and has a habit of ducking virualy all who venture there at some point. These factors combined with the other factor you mention, that of dropping standards, could make this a Div 1 site. However, as I said, I do not know who decides on these things so it is simply an opinion.

It seems quite versatile. Without sluices it is a very nice setting for a beginners slalom having only to contend with some moving water from the adjacent weir. With one sluice it is Div 2/3 (by comparison to say Bala). With both sluices, paricularly if open because of water levels and not simply for the event, Duckmill will test Div 1 as far as they wish to be tested. We have ample adjacent parking downstream a couple of hundred metres and may even be able to get camping there too. I will upload some pics of the event for people to look at and express a view on ranking just to get a feel for it.

We used to string out 26+ gates in the early days so getting 18 there on maybe 6 lines would be no probs. I double numbered the gates and used only 9 gates on 4 lines for the demo and this obviously maximised the available tricky areas. Not sure why other weir slaloms do not do this? Maybe its not permitted under some rule I do not know about but it makes a lot of sense to do it if you think about it - also makes rigging the course a lot easier

Thanks for your support to get Duckmill back on the calender CP. Certainly is a high profile location directly located on one of Englands most beautiful Victorian Embankments.
I will be raising this with the Club this week as we post analyse the myriad of involvement we had in the Festival (polo, come and try canoeing, schools slalom, Premsters slalom, freestyle (with awesome ramp!)) Phew we did a lot!!!:D

Spiderman · Post by **Spiderman** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:58 am

Post Festival report - At the River Festival I was interviewed by local-TV news which is an internet news program with a difference - it covers GOOD news and has a really positive "feel good" factor. The River Festival feature can be seen here:-

http://www.local-news.tv/your_to....estival

You see.....I told you that you should have attended!

ENJOY!

Canadian Paddler · Post by **Canadian Paddler** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:47 am

Well done Spiderman, but I am sure teh sensible people came over to the WNODERFUL Orton Mere slalom in Sunny Peterborough. {Blatent plug coming}

If you missed it, do not forget the friendly 1 day Proteus winter events coming up on November 23 and Dec 7.

Perhaps Viking would like to help resurect the Eastern region Winter series by running a one day event at Duck Mill over the winter?

There used to be one, and it was goof fun, so how about it Spiderman?