This afternoon's paddle started really well with me leaving my phone at home. Not wanting to miss picture opportunities or messages from those coming later I quicklydashed home for it, luckily I was early!

As I returned everyone was just about ready, with boats unloaded and inflated, to get on the water so off we went. Sadly the heavens soon opened and we got a good soacking! Still we headed down to Allan tarn before returning to Brown Howe for hotdogs. The rain held off whilst we got cooking and the kettle going for some drinks to warm everyone up.

It was then that something miraculous happened. The forecast came good and the sun appeared! Having earlier decided a paddle to Peel island wasn't wise I swiftly changed my mine so a few of us headed offto explore Peel.
The evening turned out to be lovely and we had an excellent rest on the island bathed in sunshine. It was sad to see a sign on the island informing people that fires and camping on there is prohibited, a sad reality from the abuse such island get.

We then had a gentle paddle back to the cars, and one member who had decided to use the peace and quiet on the beach to revise for her exams, to load up and head home.

My pictures are below but as always check out the Google+ albums for more from other members.

 During the holidays in May, DCC coaches and volunteers assisted in giving a local youth group a day to remember. Two seperate groups from the youth club came down in the morning and afternoon and had a great time. Great photos by Carol.

While the main group paddled up to the bulls nose and the rest practised polo skills, Andy got out the latest bit of kit DCC have aquirred namely "the paddle board". Under the guise of just testing it out he had a great time paddling up and down the docks before it was quickly taken over by all the youngsters who wanted to have a go. Other members did show a great interest in it but would prefer to test it out when the water gets a bit warmer. ​Well come this Friday there should be a very long queue to have a go as its supposed to be a very sunny day. Think we will have to borrow a ticket machine and hand out numbers to take turns.

On Sunday evening paddlers of all ages, some from as far as Bradford, met up at Greenodd for the first in a series of 4 WW races organised by DCC. The weather was ideal though we could have done with a bit more water in the Crake. The evening went well with several paddlers making their debut at wild water racing. All crossed the finishing line. The great pictures were taken by Cari, Tim, Brandon and Trevor. The next race is on June 11th starting at 5pm

With only 8 players available  this time and lots of discussion on which league to enter we decided to enter a novice team due to there being more youth/ novice players. As it turns out there was no novice league this time, so we decided to go to the open and try our  best. Kirsty decided to sit this one out, Connor and keiron wanted to eye up the opposition and see what the games were like first……

       So that left us with 5, Scott, Lee, Shell, Owen and Louie……with our first game being a challenge having conceded 9 goals to Lee’s 1, Connor and Keiron were still unsure.

Next game we had a change about putting louie in goals and shell came out, with giving it a good battle and Owen scoring 2 goals still  losing but not by as much.

     Suddenly connor our youngest player decided to give it ago, with him putting his dad Lee to shame, with some top defending, as by now Lee had a few green cards, with Owen putting two more goals and Scott with one and Louie saving some great shots, we missed out on a close 3/4 lose.

With Connor taking up the challenge keiron decided to step up for a second half against a strong red rose team, with Scott sprinting for the ball passing of to shell  who then gave the ball to Owen to take a shot and score his second of the game he caught the eye of the opposition who said he had a good shot on him,

   The last game against Lancaster A,  both Connor and Keiron were fighting for a game, connor taking first half even decided to show of his rolling skills,  with Scott and Owen taking a goal each and the team still putting up a good battle in defence lost their last game…..

    Our top goal scorer was Owen with 6, scott 3, lee 1…..

   A massive shout out to the youths  who put in a TOP effort in, to help Duddon put in a team to this tournament,,,,, 
Michelle Sanderson
​

Prudhoe WWR 2017
This weekend saw the Duddon Wildwater racing team competing twice over the weekend, the first race was on the river Tyne at Prudhoe. Attending the race was the current crop of male U23 GB paddlers and female U23 and U18 GB paddlers and the current British male WWR champion to inspire all the young paddlers from Duddon to test their skills against some of the best the country has to offer.
Water levels were low but there was a route down the river without any scraping, the juniors were off first and all of them negotiated the course well without any mishaps. Kieran Noonan & Conner Bentley both raced in wild water racing boats and negotiated the course well on both runs
Brandon was next and he set off well but was pushed off line by the moving water half way down the course and this cost him a lot of time however he had a second run to make amends.
Wilson Juniors second run went better than his first however he couldn’t handle the pressure put on him by the sublime Wilson senior
Next up was Duddons super duper top WWR paddler Scott (the blur) Wilson who was determined to put the young upstart Brandon back in his place. Wilson senior had a good start and a tight turn around the buoy saw him in a perfect position to go down the main feature on the river. This he negotiated perfectly and only a slight mistake at the end of the run where he was pushed out of the main flow spoiled an otherwise perfect run.
Wilson seniors second run (if you can believe it)was even better than his first! he picked the same perfect line all the way down the river and  stayed in the fast flowing water all the way over the line and beat his first run by 4 second, however he was magnanimous in victory and never gloated or mentioned it again that night in the Chinese restaurant,  he did all his talking on the river.
When the results came in Wilson senior finished 4th only beaten by the current Wildwater racing British champion and 2 Under 23 internationals Wilson junior finished down in a lowly 6th place.
In the girls race saw Victoria Longstaff and Michelle Sanderson take on paddlers from Nottingham and Tyne Valley canoe clubs, Longstaff put in 2 very consistent runs with her first being the fastest and she finished 1st under 16 girl in 4th place overall. Sanderson raced in a general purpose boat, she got the fastest time for paddlers in a GP boat and narrowly missed beating one of the WWR boats by a couple of seconds. Time for a step up to a Wildwater racer I think Michelle!
The C1 category saw Emily and Andy Longstaff competing in a reduced field, but the main question would be who would have bragging rights in the Longstaff household after the race, Both paddlers put in 2 good runs without any mishaps and then they just had to wait for the results to see who the top C1 paddlers would be, when the dust had settled it was Andy by 8 seconds, Emily will have to get her revenge in the first summer series race to be held on the 14th May.
Scott Wilson.
 
 
Results were;
Male K1 under  8, first place Ryan Bentley      - time 3:44
Male K1 under 12, 1st place Daniel Noonan    - time 3:44
Male K1 under 14, 1st place Kieran Noonan     -time 3:11
Male K1 under 18, 1st place Brandon Wilson   -time 2:47
Male K1 Open, 4th place Scott Wilson    -time 2:31
Male C1 Andy Longstaff                                                -time 3:52
Female K1 under 16, 1st place Victoria Longstaff -time 2:56 and 4th overall
Female K1 9th place overall                        - time 3:49
Female C1 3rd overall Emily Longstaff      -time 3:57

​DCC HONORARY MEMBER
For recognition of all his dedication, hard work and commitment to making Duddon Canoe Club what it is today I am pleased to write that John Sherwen DCC head coach has been made an Honorary member of DCC.
 
With out Johns input and determination over the last 30 years, working along side others with the same aim, DCC would not have become the club it has grown in to today.
 
John joined DCC as a canoe coach. He was already a dab hand at canoeing as in his role of scout leader he would take groups to the Lakes on paddles. Over the years he has worked his way up to the position of Head coach where in turn he has gone on to instruct many others to become coaches themselves.
 
He has encouraged many of all ages and abilities to have fun kayaking and canoeing at the same time developing their skills in paddling. He was instrumental in building a formidable race team that has gone from strength to strength making many a national champion in their individual age groups with one junior member competing in USA with the GB team.
 
Before John acquired the site we use today all of the boats were stored on a members drive in Ulverston. Initially when DCC moved to the present site 9 years ago there were only three containers with all the boats stored on racks inside the compound. With help John went on to expand the site and facilities to what you see today.