RACE REPORT – NORTHWICH – 10\03\02

It was the perfect day for staying in bed, certainly not for racing! A cold, wet and VERY windy March morning “ welcomed “ the fourteen worried looking MADCC members who ventured to Northwich for the first race of 2002. An average turnout of eight singles and three doubles with a mixture of some new faces and some not so new! The weather must have put the opposition off though as it was quite a low turnout in general. The weather did have one good effect, there was not a lot of messing around done as everyone wanted to get on with it! The first race to start was the only one covering the eight mile course, a combination of Divs. 2, 4, 5 and 6 K1. John and Simon were soon lagging behind the top two paddlers but John put in a superb paddle to finish 5^th overall, third in his division. Simon made an executive decision to retire from the race and keep an eye on the lower divisions. A decision which was justified after four boats capsized in the extremely choppy waters!

Next off were the five K2’s in Div 7\8, three of which were from MADCC. Doug and Kerrian resurrected an old winning partnership and powered home in first place. Nathan and Katherine, dragged back from uni for the day, chased them all the way but had to settle for 2^nd spot. Adrian paddling with his brother for the first time found the conditions very hard work and took an early bath. They recovered well though and still took 4^th place. Div 7 K1 was an all MADCC affair with three ‘old hands’ out there. Paul and Mark had quite a tussle for pole position, Paul’s stability being the deciding factor as he clinched first place (after helping two young ladies taking a swim). Mark was just behind and gaining ground with Mike only just off the pace in 3rd. The lower divisions tend to struggle the most on days like this and Div 8 K1 seemed to bear the brunt of the weather. Pat found the going very tough and just had to slog away for what felt like hours to gain 2^nd place, while Mark, a relative newcomer, lost his balance in the roughest section and never really recovered. Following the example of his leader he chose to retire so he could fight another day. Even the winner of this Div took a swim. MADCC’s only entrant in Div 9 K1 in only his second race did very well indeed and fought his way into 10^th place.

It was a very mixed set of results on the day, but a very difficult day to achieve anything. The weather was truly awful with the blustery wind making the water particularly rough in places. Anyone who even summoned up enough courage to go out there deserved a medal let alone try and race! As one white water paddler said afterwards “ That was rougher than most of the rivers we paddle!” MADCC came away from Northwich with the maximum ten points for the Hasler league, and top points for bums on seats. NO one stated they were never paddling again so the day was a success!