Perfect conditions greeted paddlers at the 2nd race in the Total EyeCare Optometrists/ Next Level Kayaking Huon series. Highlights: -Perfect conditions -surf club paddlers add hot competition -spot prizes from NLK -Div 3 won clearly by Ron Kelly -Matt Watton changes tactics and leads from the front in Div2 -Outrigger canoes join in the racing -Norton Bros lead the way in Div 1 with a great win to Tom Ð1st ever win over brother Sam Upcoming races: -racing next week in the north -next Huon race Sunday June 29 -500m sprint racing afternoon Saturday July 21st Lauderdale canal The sun was out, the tide was high and steady river flow gave perfect racing conditions on the mighty Huon river. The course was downstream going anticlockwise around the top island. This takes in much of the Winter Challenge course. Many of the local stars were absent due to training for upcoming international wildwater races. This was countered by a large contingent of paddlers from the surf clubs in the north and the south of the state. This made the racing very interesting with different competitors who set a cracking pace. A relaxing post race coffee was well attended at DS coffee lounge in downtown Huonville. Div 3: Division 3 welcomed more new paddlers with Sandra Gadsby lucky enough to take away a NLK spot prize. It can be daunting fronting up to your first race and it is great to see new paddlers wanting to improve their skills, endurance and fitness. Ron Kelly used his experience to pick up the wash rides and take a good win in Div 3 followed by Luke McGrath and Paul Rogers. Toni Spinks was the fastest Div 3 female. Div 2: a massive group of 19 paddlers in total took off at a fast pace headed by Jodi Templar and Matt Watton. It was a wall of paddlers going at full pace down the river while jostling for position within the group. Jodi fell off the pace after not having fully recovered from her recent illness. Matt did it hard the whole way leading from the front and had a strong win. There was an excellent battle for second place with gun junior Aussie rep Daniel Watkins and most improved and up and coming paddler Bobby Byrne locked in a great battle. Bobby took the early lead with Daniel catching him with 2km to go. They paddled hard side by side until Daniel just managed to get ahead in a sprint finish after 12km! Burnie paddler Georgia Laird was not far behind winning the womens comp and 5th overall. Allie Britton was 2nd amongst the females with Cathy McComb third. Other good performances were from Ian Parker and super fit Brent Ransom who was well recovered after his recent mainland multisport success. Craig Rodin finished well despite his rudder being locked after taking on the notorious log south of the little island that often causes havoc in the winter challenge. Div 1: The start was not the usual hotly contested event when some competitors missing the start due to having an extra long chat during the warm up. Todd Sargison took the lead and was smashing them over the first km, followed by Burnie and Australian sprint paddlers Tom and Sam Norton in hot pursuit, Bucks was hanging on like a bad smell, then a big bunch of 6–8 paddlers with Burnie paddlers Ben Hill, Jeremy Norton, warwick Lovell, Paul Murphy and then Cooka and Don Marsh battling it out. At the half way mark the Norton brothers took controll with Bucks and Todd hot on there heels, right to the end. Tom Norton took out first place winning for the first time over brother Sam. Tom used a borrowed boat as his K1 seat broke a minute before the start. Well done Tom! Welcome to our first Outrigger canoe paddlers Stephan Eberstein and Luke McGrath. New DCC boat numbers issued: One of the hardest jobs in timekeeping is identifying boats when multiple boats cross the finish line. This is most obvious in the Browns handicap races. Boat numbers not only make the timekeepers job much easier but it also is important for safety issues helping safety boats to identify individual paddlers. The DCC has started issuing more permanent numbers for both sides of the boat. One set of numbers will be used for the Huon winter series, Browns river, Southern Paddlers ocean and twilight series. Certain boat numbers have been reserved for paddlers who have purchased the Southern Paddlers safety vests so that they can use the same number as their vest . Thanks to Phil Watkins at Ricoh for supplying the fantastic new race numbers! Thank you: Mary-Jane and Katie Watkins for registration/ starting/ timing/ calculations. Chris Blackaby for pre and post race briefings and safety boat duties. Next Level Kayaking for 2 x gift vouchers for spot prizes. Full Race results are up on the DCC website. NEXT RACES: Northern series: Sunday May 27th Lake Barrington. Spot prize Vadja Orca Ocean Ski. Details at http://splashworkspaddletraining.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/vajda-kayak-winter-series-2012.pdf Message Chris Blackaby on 0418124072 if you require boat transport. Huon Races: Sunday June 24th Huonville Lauderdale 500m sprint meet Saturday July 21st at the Lauderdale canal ultimate sprint course. Thanks for supporting kayak/ ski/ outrigger racing in Southern Tassie! Phil, Andy and Chris
