The BIG Abbey Rapids Race

Nicky · Post by **Nicky** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:49 am

Well, it's only a few weeks away now until 18/19 July, and things are being put into place. There are meetings galore at the tees tigers to make sure that our first event is a success!

We held a bit of a practice race in December which was a great success and now need to get everything sorted to have the main event. Everything is going to be on site, with camping just a few hundred yards from the river.

There will be a course guide appearing shortly to give you all a bit more of an idea about the challenge of the river. We should be able to set a course challenging enough for the Div 2s and by restricting the div 4 to short course still have a course suitable for them.

We're also bringing back the team event with open teams on Saturday afternoon. Teams are a great way to meet people and have a bit of fun. We'll be quite happy to take either full team entries or part teams and fill them up through the day...

We are planing on having good food all weekend, with hot and cold breakfasts and lunches on both days and bbq on saturday evening. The mums are already planning some real treats!

All we need now are some entries...

See you all soon!

Nicky

p.s. join the event on facebook if you want, all the kool kidz have already!

oldschool · Post by **oldschool** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:09 pm

looking forward to a cracking race!

Kazz · Post by **Kazz** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:28 pm

Looking forward to the race and will be sending entries in soon, it is beside the abbey ruins near to barnard castle isnt it?

Nicky · Post by **Nicky** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:25 am

Good good, the entries are flooding in!

Yeah, the event is just down the hill from the rapids!

Camp site's sorted, start list is filling up, there's gonna be a course guide on slalom site in the very near future...

It's gonna be good!

Canadian Paddler · Post by **Canadian Paddler** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 2:57 pm

How are entries going for the BIG race next weekend Nicky?

Oops did this bump the thread and remind everyone of the option of Abbey Rapids, or Washburn insects? Both great fun, not decided which way to go myself

oldandslow · Post by **oldandslow** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 11:13 pm

Or of course a div 4 short course at Matlock... Sorry Nicky we can't come

Carlr · Post by **Carlr** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:08 pm

Surely CP its got to be the Big Abbey Rapids Race as its the 1st race there for a few years, ill be there.

Nicky · Post by **Nicky** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:43 pm

We've got over 50 pre entered, with more and more every day! We'll be taking entries on the day, but you div 2 and 3s should know better.

Everything's coming together, but it's going to be a busy few days...

Hope to see you all there!

Nicky

Nicky · Post by **Nicky** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:09 pm

I've had a few emails about my email address not working too.

The address on the site is missing the dot between nicky and cresser.

The poster has the proper one, hope this helps.

Nicky

Kazz · Post by **Kazz** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:26 pm

??? So is the BIG abbey rapids event going to live up to its name--has the north had as much rain as the midlands in the last 24 hours ? if so how BIG is BIG ??? ???

Geebs · Post by **Geebs** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 12:52 am

Hi Nicky

Good luck to you and your team for the weekend, hope the forecast rain does not spoil it for you and damp down the barby ???

Cheers

Graeme

Nicky · Post by **Nicky** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:30 am

Well we've not had too much rain, but there is quite a bit forcast for tomorrow... So BIG could mean very BIG. But the way the Tees is you won't be able to tell for definate until the day...

We've errected a short course for the Div 4 paddlers which is completely seperate from the main course so that this event can definately run. We can't throw the poor div 4 nippers down Abbey in flood. The Div 2's should be alright as should the div 3s unless it is really massive. We've put a course up that will work with quite a bit more water than there is at present and we've got a stack of safety boats, so the event should still be a goer!

Besides that the BBQ is going to be excellent, we've got a stack of gazebos and a couple of smallish marquees that should keep most of the rain off. And we've also got the best BBQ food there is!

We'll be working hard to make sure the weekend works whatever the weather.

See you all there!

Nicky

Nicky · Post by **Nicky** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 5:15 pm

Despite yesterday's post, the weeken'd racing will be affected. I have forwarded the email copied below to all parties who have been informed about the race. I woudl be grateful if you could pass this message on to anyone who may be coming.

Thanks

Nicky

All

I would be grateful if you could forwrad this message to anyone who may be attending this weekend's events and pass on the message sa widely as possible...

I'm sure that most of you will be aware that it's been raining heavily over the past few days and despite our best efforts, the weekend's racing is going to be affected, though we are hoping that it will not be a complete disaster!

We are planning on running several events over the course of the weekend and a summary is detailed below:

Division 4 - this event will be on! But is to be moved to the River Tees Water Sports Centre in Stockton (http://www.rtwc.co.uk/contacts.html). This is a much safer section of the river for the novice paddlers and will not be affected here regardless of the weather conditions. This event will be a short course and is ideal for anyone's first race! We will also be serving a delicious selection of breakfast and lunches from the centre and will have a variety of boats for people to try. I can also confirm that this event will be a ranking event and paddlers will be able to gain promotion to division 3.

Open event - we are planning on only running the division 2 and 3 events on Sunday, so will be running an open event alongside the Division 4 short course event on Saturday at the River Tees Water Sport Centre (http://www.rtwc.co.uk/contacts.html). This will give the Division 2/3 paddlers the opportunity to get used to flex your muscles and hone your skills before Sunday's real event. Entry fees will be £4 per category and you are welcome to try one of our canadian boats.

Division 2/3 - this event has been effected the most. No event will occur on Saturday. The water up at Barnard Castle is incredible! Even the flatter sections are too difficult at the moment. After discussions with the environment agency, they have confimred that the river level peaked this afternoon and despite further rain being forecast, the volume is not suffient to keep the river at this unbelievable level. as a result we are hoping to be able to race on Sunday. We will be erecting the course at an alternative venue upstream of Abbey Rapids on Saturday and having sought advice from the slalom committee, we will be able to run the event as a double on one day. One race will be run before lunch. Lunch will be available at the original site, and an opportunity to refresh, warm up and ready yourself for the afternoons race will be there whilst our team make the necessary course changes before the afternoon's event can take place.

Camping and parking - for all events this will remain up at the Abbey Rapids site. The Barbecue will still take place and we are determined to have a good time. We have lots of gazebos and good cheer to get the shenanigans under way!

So all we need are some canoeists who like water and fun, have a sense of adventure and a pair of wellington boots (Tees Tigers umberellas will be available on the day!)

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns
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I hope to see as many of you as possible over the course of the weekend.

Regards

Nicky

Kazz · Post by **Kazz** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 7:46 pm

oooo i didnt think BIG would ever mean TOO BIG sounds like the tees is at a great level for the more advanced but its a shame that it will affect your planned races this weekend, we will still arrive as planned tomorrow, do we go straight to the Tees centre, have you got sat nav codes for it?

Geebs · Post by **Geebs** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:48 pm

All the info is on the River Tees Whitewater Centre website.

The post code is TS18 2NE

Cheers

Graeme