CKT Midlands Canoe Show

Last weekend saw the first CKT Midlands Canoe Show at the Nene white water centre. We had an early start as we had to get the whole of the shop set up at the Nene before the event started, and as we’d never set it up before, we decided to try and give our self’s plenty of time, which was definitely needed!

At the starts of the show, we had freestyle clinics run by celebrity superstar of the paddling world, Emily Jackson! We also had White water clinics run by Daz Clarkson king fresh from his solo decent of Everest.

We had a lot of people turn up to try out the latest demo boats and paddles from some of the top manufactures, including the new Dagger Mamba, the Pyranha Jed, and the Jackson Zen, and paddles from Streamlyte and Ophion.

Throughout the event, we had many flat water clinics running, such as the flat water flat water freestyle, which turned out to be very popular as everyone wanted some coaching from Emily, as well as that, there was also Sit on top and canoe intro sessions.

We also had the Warwick Trolls polo team down to get people involved in another aspect of the sport, giving demo sessions, and hints and tips to help people get into polo.

We had 2 freestyle competitions, one for novice and junior paddlers in pool C, which saw a lot of people enter in the hope of winning a WRSI trophy, signed by Emily and Eric Jackson.

We then saw the main competition later in the day with 16 people competing in pool A, giving spectators an insight to the sport of freestyle kayaking, Emily was on the mic commentating on what was going on.

To finish of the event we had evening talks from Nigel Markey on how to make a top quality paddling video, and from Daz Clarkson-King, of his solo decent of the Everest. The team from canoe kayak trader would like to say a big thank you to • SqaureRock - who provided the signed WRSI trophy’s, and demo Jackson and Ophion paddles • Dagger/Palm - who provided some great prizes and demo boats • Pyranha – Who provided Demo boats and for bringing Daz along • Streamlyte – for providing demo paddles, polo players, and some top advice for buying new paddles • All of our team paddlers – for turning up super early, staying till the end, and being really helpful all day • Emily Jackson – who helped on and off the water • The lovely lady who made us some amazing cakes! (Sorry forgot your name!) • The Nene White Water centre – for letting us hold the event there • Poppy Layton and Laura King - for judging the freestyle events • All the people who help coach throughout the day • And everyone else who was there to help out!

We really appreciate all the help everyone gave us; it wouldn’t have worked without all of you! Alex Read & Pete Bridgeford

Polo event at the CKT Midland Canoe Show

there will also be a chance to try out canoe polo at the Midland Canoe Show. The Warwick Trolls Canoe Polo Team will be running sessions in the morning for people to try out the different skills and see some live games in the afternoon against some guest teams. Canoe Polo consists of two teams, two goals and one ball. If you love teamwork, aggressive competition and kayaking come down to watch and take part in our canoe polo taster session.

Emily Jackson attending CKT Midland Canoe Show

We are very happy to be able to announce that Emily Jackson from Jackson Kayaks will be attending the CKT Midlands Canoe Show!

She will be on hand for the Freestyle Clinics both flat water and moving water. She has taken a day out of her Slalom training to spend the day with us, so head over to the Nene White water centre on the 20th May 2012 and say hello.

Looking forward to see you on the day Alex

Hambledon weir, with the Jed!

So as you all know, we've recently had a lot of rain, which for kayakers, only means fun, finally getting some much needed water into the rivers! I originally got a call from Alex asking if i wanted to come with him and Rob to Holme Pierrepont and Saturday 28th, to go boating, and a chance to take the new demo Pyranha Jed to see what it’s like, but as the rain kept coming in, Hpp started to flood, and the Thames Valley weirs started to rise, I then had another call, the plans had changed, off to Hurley it was! Rob and I got to Alex's Friday night, ready for an early start, alarms set for 5:30am. We ended up getting to Hurley at 8am, on 4 gates, but, we decided to give it a miss and see what some of the other weirs we like. Next stop was Sunbury, but when we got there, we realised we were on the wrong side of the river! But eventually found our way to where we needed to be. Got kitted up, grabbed the Jed, and off to the water! Only to find, it was to flat, so back to the van! This time we thought we'd try Shepperton, but nope, this wasn’t running enough either, unless you had a longer boat, then it might have been possible to stick on it. so yet again, back to the van we went. Where next? Hambledon! With the post code in the sat nav, we set off! We got there and had a walk down the river bank to find it, and it looked good to go! So back to the van we went again, but this time, to get kitted up, grab the boats and onto the river! This was my first time in the new Pyranha Jed, so took me a while to get used to it, after looking at the wave, and throwing a few flat water cartwheels, onto the wave i went! I'd only ever paddled a big wave twice before, and that was ages ago on Hurley! So I’m still new to wave boating, but one thing for sure, its super fun! Alex decided plastic just wasn’t good enough, even though he was throwing some nice big blunts, he decided to go get his Carbon Rockstar from the van, which he said was so so fast, it took him a while to control it, but once he did, it looked good! First thought on the Jed, looks good, especially in the super cool green and black colour scheme! on the water, i felt my seat was too far forward, as I hadn’t changed the position, but none the less, on the flat it cartwheeled with ease, and looped great! On the wave, it felt nice, loose and very fast! Definitely a boat to consider! Then just before we decided to go, I took my Rockstar for a quick blast on the wave, and then attached the Jed to the back of my boat, and we headed back to the Van, and time for the drive back home, then to try to get my kit dried out for Youth Freestyle on the Dee the next day!

Next up is the CKT Midlands Canoe show, 20th May, at the Nene, hope to see you there! Pete