RACE REPORT – MACCLESFIELD – 14\04\02

MADCC plays host for two regional races during the year. Our first one is held at the club’s own store in Bollington. Before I continue with this report I’ve got to apologise profusely to the two delightful lady members of the Hayes household. As team leader ( is that a joke?) I sometimes get carried away with ambitions for others and today was just such a case. Not content with making both Karen and Becky fall out of a K2, I then blindly blundered on forcing Becky into a K1 she wasn’t ready for and gave her another dunking! The end result being she was too cold and fed up to paddle anything. My most humble apologies. Also many, many thanks to those people kind enough to help out with the actual running of the race. Namely, Mr. & Mrs. Fallows, Rob, Gill, Claire, Bill, Andrew and Sarah. These folks stand around for what must seem like hours just to see a few boats go past; both Andrew Millest and myself are extremely grateful for your assistance.

The weather was very kind on the day. It was bright and sunny while we all booked in, clouded over to give slightly cooler racing time and prize giving and then washed the boats off as we went home with a quick downpour! Nineteen members finally made it onto the water, despite my efforts to put them off! Eight singles, three doubles and five fun racers made up the MADCC squad. First off the line was a combined Div. 4 &6 race. The only race of the day to cover the eight miles, Neil and Simon set off full of good intentions. Neil held the hotter pace better than Simon to finish 2^nd and 3^rd respectively. Next to go were the 5/6 & 7/8 doubles combined. MADCC made up three quarters of the field with John and Adrian pushing hard all the way, capitalizing on a mistake by the opposition to claim 1^st place. Kerrian and Don, out for the first time in a while, held on well to take bronze, with Roger and Richard (first time in a K2) just behind in 4^th spot. Div. 7 K1 went next and was a very closely contested race indeed. Mike was nudged into silver by just two seconds with Paul hard on their heels in third. Paul did have to swap boats just before the start when he discovered his rudder was broken! Div.8 saw MADCC taking half the field as Pat and Mark battled away. Mark eventually broke away and secured 2^nd place with Pat 3^rd. A larger than normal field of entry in Div. 9 singles where Bill and Karen (still slightly damp from her swim) found the pace very strong. Bill finally had to settle for a bronze medal while Karen took 6^th place. A very large entry into the Fun Race saw 13 boats battle away. Young Robert Hayes showed his parents how to do it by romping home in 1^st place. Sarah was working hard but had to settle for 4^th , with Michelle in 6^th spot. Catherine struggled a bit but gained 12^th while good old Liam proped them all up in 13^th place. It was the first time out on their own for all these juniors and they all did really well, seemed to enjoy it and are keen to go again!!

Overall it was a good performance from MADCC with no major surprises in the results. Everyone worked hard to do their bit for the club and yet again MADCC took the top points for the Hasler League. With 14 out of the 31 paddlers coming from the home side, MADCC also took the ‘Bums on Seats’ again. So far this year we are doing very well in terms of both attendance and achievement. Well done to everyone and keep up the good work!!