Can you believe Easter has come and gone? It is snowing outside. The chocolates are almost finished. The weather is yet to reach double figures! It feels more like February half-term than the April holidays. That aside, spring term has come and gone and it has been as busy as ever for Tandridge Canoe and Kayak club: Nick and Amanda Westall encouraged many young kayakers to brave the icy Sunday afternoons at Tyks. A fabulous turnout & think we might have some new ‘addicts’! Polo was full to capacity in both Premier and development Leagues. Our Blades Slalom division 1/2 paddlers impressed at the first competition of the season. Can’t wait to see how our division 3/4 paddlers do next weekend! Fun was had on the Dart and Mole river trips. And there was lots of hard winter training at Shepperton too! A couple of the slalom youth attended a Canoe England hosted training camp in February at HPP in Nottingham. Adrenalin was raised at some Lee Valley Whitewater sessions for some of our paddlers and the Freestylers were out enjoying some of the big stuff – thanks to the weatherman!
SLALOM
YALDING DIVISION 3 / 4 EVENT – 13 & 14 April.
Good news the 10 day weather forecast predicts double figures – 12 degrees on Saturday and we may even see a little peak of sunshine!
We need your help!
This is a Tandridge Canoe Club organised event. We really would appreciate any help you can offer, even if, only for a couple of hours. No experience necessary…
A special appeal to any bakers – the Café is in need of some treats! If you can provide a cake (fairy cakes will do) or any other homemade delights- these will be hugely appreciated.
Plan is to be on site Friday 12th to set-up the course (to coin a cliché – many hands make light work) in readiness for the weekend. We will also need help taking it all down on Sunday & of course, help over the two days.
Check the Events page on the website for further details, directions and location information. http://www.tckc.org.uk/events/yalding-slalom/
Hope to see you there – it is a great way to get to mingle and meet other club members and also to give slalom a go, if you have never tried it before. Please contact Rob Phillips to let him know how /when you can assist or if you would like more information: tckcslalom@gmail.com.
If you are a division 2 paddler and up, you can always do a judge’s run, but your help and mentoring skills towards some of the novice paddlers will be hugely appreciated!
Loan BOAT & EQUIPMENT for the event– please see note from Bev, below (assuming you have already made arrangements, if not, please contact Rob or the Loan Boat Scheme Organiser as soon as possible to see if we can assist):
Letting you know that I am not around for the next few days but Rob will be at Shepperton (so that you can pick boats up for Yalding,) on Saturday 6th April from 10.00 – 12.00 and again on Tuesday 9th April from around 6.00.
If you cannot make any of these times please can you let us know ASAP.
Thanks
Bev
P.S please remember you will need to have your own straps when you pick up your boats. These do not come with the boats.
POLO NEWS
Premier League
Next Premier date – 21 April
NB: 28 APRIL is cancelled (unfortunately, the pool has another event on)
The final Premier Polo date will now be 12 May.
This was meant to be Parent’s night, but unfortunately we will need to complete league matches and did not receive enough of a response from interested parents…
Please keep checking the League pages on the website for further updates and to see where your team is ranked.
Development League
This has been a very good season; please see comment from James, below:
CONGRATULATIONS to both Stingrays and Shadows who have both been promoted to the Premier League.
Although Stingrays ran away with the title it was Shadows who picked up the trophy owing to the fact that Stingrays had dropped down from the Premier League
Thank you to all the helpers and players for making Sundays good fun, hope to see you all in the fall.
In the meantime get outside and do some paddling ![]()
James
You can check the final results on the Development League page on the website! Well done, ALL!
And speaking of outside paddling:
RIVER TRIPS
This past weekend saw a good turnout for the Easter MOLE RIVER TRIP. Despite the teeny bit of snow and icy weather – it was an enjoyable day. Big THANK YOU to Paul Knight for organising and to all the Support coaches who braved it on the day…
This coming Saturday, 6 April, Christine has arranged another placid river trip on the Medway, Yalding, Kent. This will be a lovely gentle paddle through some beautiful scenery and as an added bonus you get to see where the slalom event will be taking place the following weekend. If you have a last minute urge to go for a Saturday morning paddle – it might not be too late. Details can be found here (contact Christine as soon as possible) http://www.tckc.org.uk/events/medway-placid-river-trip/
& if you have missed out on any of the above trips & fancy a little bit of whitewater, Paul Knight has a fabulous weekend paddle in Wales planned for the beginning of May.
PADDLE DOWN THE RIVER TEIFI, LLANDYSUL
No doubt the weather will be warmer! Details for the LLANDYSUL trip can be found here: http://www.tckc.org.uk/events/llandysul-river-trip/ Please printout and send your booking form direct to Paul. Email in the first instance to express your interest or if you have any queries. (DON’T be put off by the whitewater – contact Paul to see if it is suitable for you first)
This is a beautiful part of the country, well worth the experience!
And on a larger scale we have the Annual TCKC ALPS SUMMER TRIP at the end of July. The trip has much to offer and you don’t have to necessarily hang out with the club the entire week, (unless of course, you are part of the Slalom bootcamp J) – there are some wonderful summer Alpine activities to enjoy in the area.
That is if you can resist what the club will have on offer. We have the crème de la crème of TCKC coaches joining us this year and they will no doubt be brewing up some great river trips (suitable for all levels), rolling sessions, skills development and a bit of freestyle plus some fun and games on the water. In addition we are hoping to arrange some Tyks sessions on the lake – if you have a youngster or are an absolute beginner or simply want to improve your skills please let us know – as the Tyks sessions will depend on level of interest.
Further details, A brochure and booking form can be found here: http://www.tckc.org.uk/events/tckc-alps/
Email: Lynelda@btinternet.com to confirm interest or if you have any queries.
Okay, so with all the river trips, slalom events and much more happening; perhaps you’re thinking – ‘help, I am new to all this, don’t have a boat, kit, money to buy it all. Besides, if I buy it all – I might not like it…’
No fear, we have the solution:
TCKC LOAN BOAT & EQUIPMENT SCHEME
We have a shed full of boats, paddles and kit for beginners. Please refer to the loan boat page on the website for details and contact the loan boat organiser or your section leader to discuss options.
http://www.tckc.org.uk/boat-equipment-loan/
Finally, if you are finding all these constant referrals to the TCKC WEBSITE a little tedious, it is because we would like you to become more actively involved in the site. If you haven’t registered yet – please do. In future the site registration will be linked to Tandridge Membership plus we will be phasing out ‘this’ database and updates/newsletters/club information will be sent from the website. You don’t want to miss out J
We would also like to hear your comments on how to improve the site, club or perhaps there are some trips you would like us to help arrange – anything Canoe/Kayak related. Why not start conversations in the Forum?
There are already some posts of stuff for sale or do you have old kit to sell? This is a great opportunity to advertise to fellow kayakers. We also have a members only gallery – photos of trips/ events/ etc. Some snaps from the Mole will be posted soon. Do you have any photos you would like to share? Please email to Lynelda@btinternet.com (NB: please use subject line – TCKC website)
OTHER NEWS:
A couple of TCKC paddlers have been invited by Debs Pinniger of Watermark Experiences to partake in a youth expedition to the Himalayas next August, 2014. This is an exciting opportunity for them. Over the next year they will be engaging in several training camps to prepare themselves. They will be taught the ins and outs of preparing for an expedition: mentally, physically and of course on the practical side – planning, organising kit, and so forth. The trip will require a high level of skills, fitness and endurance too and of course a love of whitewater and river running. You will be going through some parts of Bhutan that are only approachable via the river plus visiting ancient Buddhist sites. Wonderful!
& to top it all they will also be expected to do some fundraising to pay for their trips (can’t expect the parents to foot the entire bill J). We do hope you will offer your support & if any of the other youngsters are interested or up for it. Debs, still has some places available. Do contact her soon though – places are filling up fast. This is a youth trip so age range is 14 – 19 (although there may be place for the odd 20 year old… worthwhile approaching her if you are very keen). Attached are all the details or refer to http://www.watermarkexperiences.com/
Zanskar 2014 pre trip information Deb_Matt edit-1
& no we haven’t forgotten the freestylers! Some dates for sessions will be announced soon.
Have a look at http://www.youngunsfreestyle.co.uk/ for competition dates!
Thanks & see you all at Yalding!
