Big Ben SUP Race 2016
Having had a hectic summer teaching in the shire and missing
out on a lot of the 2016’s race season the idea of par-taking in a trial run
race on the iconic parts of the Thames was definitely appealing. Although it
was only ever going to be a small group of paddlers for the first year I
thought id submit my interested and let the choice be down to the luck of the
draw, and Bryce’s number crunching...
Thankfully I made the cut alongside some of the UK’s top
paddlers and a trip to the Capital was on. Having relatively little experience
of the tidal Thames and indeed London as a whole I thought I’d do a little
research into the conditions I could come to face on race day. Stories of swirling
torrents of water and strong tides as well as plenty of fast moving river
traffic seemed fairly common place and It felt fitting to choose a board more
comfortable for sea like conditions, the All-Star took its place on the van
ready for the trip, however, not wanting to leave my trusty board behind I put
the C14 on the roof for good measure just in case.
Our safety briefing and start location was at the
Westminster School boat house and is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the
world with records dating back to 1813, its no surprise they were keen to get
the first SUP Race set up on the tidal part of the Thames to head down river
passed Putney Bridge and to head into previous restricted water in terms of
Stand Up Paddling. Having arrived a little earlier I took to my bike and
started to cycle down alongside the river to access the conditions to see which
board would be most suitable, visually it looked fine from where I could see
and I was assured that the River is much better at Low Tide compared to High
Tide where it can become extremely challenging and dangerous. My mind was made
up the trusty C14 was called to service once more; I polished it with Onit Pro
and stuck on a map of the river with the dangers marked provided by the race directors
Active 360.
The women were first to the water and set off 9 minutes
before the men, this was deemed the fair handicap by Dr Bryce Dyer, they set
off downstream to become the first to undertake this unique opportunity in the
hope to allow the evolution of the sport and make a huge iconic race in years
to come. We were next to take to the water and tried to hold our ground with against
the outgoing tide but also with a head wind. It became difficult to know
exactly which was the stronger and it seemed that even at low tide the river
was going to be different to regular river races I had been in. We were soon
off and trying to chase down the ladies who had already made a big gap with the
flow of the river in assistance. Paul Simmons made a clear gap at the front of
the men’s pack but places were still very tight between the rest of the fleet.
The wind was on our back for the most part and small groups were forming and
moving trying to make the most of the flow of the river as we meandered through
the capital.
Passing more iconic sights than you could shake a London bus
at it was quite a humbling experience and as we came to our turn point in front
of the Houses of Parliament with the London Eye just in front of us the stand
out moment of the race happened with Big Ben chiming for the half passed the
hour, myself and Phil Plume even commented on it as we dug deep against the
wind and tide attempting to make way.
The next hour and a half + was up there some of the hardest
paddling I’ve had to endure, against the wind and begging for the tide to
finally turn we were paddling little over 5km an hour desperately trying to find
sections of river with less tide to gain the edge needed. Although the leg back
to Putney was slow it allowed plenty of opportunity to take in more of the scenery
as we slowly ground our way passed. Places from 3rd-8th were hotly in
contention and changing for most of the upstream section but Paul Simmons (1st)
and Marie Buchanan (2nd) were always just blips in the distance.
Adam and Furio battled it out and came 3rd and 4th
respectfully to take home some decent prize money donated by Tideway London. Unable
to keep them at bay I was piped over the line with a well planned sprint by
both Mo and Sam, credit to their tactful racing.
Although absolutely shattered and with hands suffering worse
than when I paddled the 11 Cities I was glad to be part of this race. Having
looked at the River at high and mid tide the need for plenty of safety is well
within reason but this certainly has great potential to be a massive
international race and with plenty of impressive buildings like MI5, Battersea
Power Station, Big Ben and the London Eye to paddle past it should definitely
be on the bucket list for paddlers all around the world. I’d just like to
congratulate all those who took part, Active 360 and the volunteers who helped
bring the idea to reality and getting the permission to let it take place.
Tideway London for their support and sponsorship as well as making the Thames a
cleaner place to paddle. I’d also like to thank #StarboardUK and #Tushingham
for their continued support as well as #Onitpro for making my old board sleek
and a continued contender and #Teapigs for their POWer Tea. As always thanks to
you for reading and - See you on the water!
Crispin Jones
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