River Dee on Wednesday Evening A handful of us (7) turned up at Horseshoe car park for a lap of the Dee. We surfed a couple of waves below the weir and then had an uneventful paddle down to Serpents Tail where we did a couple of runs of the tail. We then headed down to JJs for plenty of playboating on the top two features then met Paul, Harvey and Dom on the bottom wave for an hour or so of surfing and flat spinning. An excellent opportunity in the future for other boaters looking to progress. More photos…….  

French Alps 2018 paddling trip Day 1 The Durance from the campsite to St Clement by Sarah Gille After the usual long journey to get to the alps for our yearly Liverpool canoe club whitewater paddling trip. We decided to start off with an easy grade ½ paddle from the campsite down to St Clement. The aim would be to get our paddling legs/arms ready before we advanced onto the much harder sections of rivers within the Southern Alps. As we drifted down the flowing river we caught a few eddies and bounced along the wave trains whilst admiring the spectacular scenery. We had set off a bit later so had the river too ourselves and chatted about what we could cook for tea and what we had been up to since the last trip. We approached a sweeping bend and suddenly noticed graham upside down in his boat. Its ok we thought as he is a highly competent whitewater paddler however if we push our limits sometimes the best of paddlers can get a bit wet. Out of his boat Keith dashed to his rescue but with only a camera in hand and on the opposing side of the river Graham was left to perform a self-rescue. A paddler of the year contender some suggested. Keep your eye out on the website when voting opens?? Soon we were at St clement where we practiced throw lines in case anyone else was to have a similar misfortune to that of Graham. (most likely me for writing this piece) Then back to the campsite for the more willing paddlers for a few runs of the slalom course. More photographs……….  

Nominations for our 2018 Awards are now requested – If you would like to nominate a fellow paddler please send an email to: website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk with a brief (no more than 60 words) summary of why they are being nominated and ideally a photo of them. (please include any video or other material you may have.) Winners of our four Club “Paddler of the year” Awards will be presented at our AGM on Wednesday 17th October 2018 . During August/ September we will be taking nominations from club members for: 2018 Nominations for Paddler of the year (club member who has either made the most progress or achievement in paddlesport) 2018 Nominations for Young Paddler of the year (Under 18 club member who has made either the most progress or achievement in paddlesport) 2018 Nominations for Volunteer of the year (Club member who has given their services to help the club) 2018 Nominations for Swimmer of the year (Club member who has had the best out-of-boat experience) Historical Record 2017 Paddler of the Year 2017 Junior of the Year 2017 Volunteer of the Year 2017 Swimmer of the Year Hannah Bellamy John Smullen Dominic Fahey Helen Siertsema Since joining the club in 2016 Hannah has been on almost every trip going: FSRT, SESA and white-water and sea kayaking courses. She has also tried Canoe Polo, Murder ball, Hilbre Race, Scotland White Water, Alpine white water, Pembroke and Anglesey weekends, guide leader’s sessions and just about every other paddling opportunity going. She has recently started purchasing her own fleet of boats, I think Hannah has caught the boating bug! John has immersed himself in the club this year, a keen member of the U18 canoe polo team paddling at Liverpool and Hull. He loves the Anglesey weekends; paddling his Machno at 4 […]

Hilbre Island Sea Kayak Race 2018 This was the eighth year that Liverpool Canoe Club has run the Hilbre Island Sea Kayak Race based at Dee Sailing Club in Thurstaston. With the tide rolling in at a fast rate of knots it was decided to go for an on-the-water start this year. Precisely at 1pm our secretary, Carole Thomas blasted the hooter and the flotilla was off. With almost perfect conditions and a later start time it was sure to be a fast race this year as the leaders would be rounding the islands at high water. Paddlers had been advised to head inshore of the racing dinghy’s at West Kirby and then to head out to the shallows around the Little Eye. The hot weather brought its own problems, paddlers needed to stay hydrated. It was great to see the numerous safety kayakers this year marked with yellow High Visibility Vests. The little eye racers rounded and returned inshore while those heading for Hilbre set off to the outside of Middle Eye and small overfalls on the end of Hilbre. When all kayaks were heading for home the 4 rescue boats (Ridged Hull Inflatables) practised rescuing paddlers with some of the safety kayakers and then shadowed the paddlers back past West Kirby and on to Thurstaston. The tide had changed so the remaining paddlers had to fight hard against the ever-quickening ebb tide. Back at the sailing club we tidied up, showered and enjoyed the BBQ and drinks provided by our hosts Dee Sailing Club. This year Go Kayaking provided a number of demo sea kayaks and items from the shop. Andy Lees, shop manager also presented the prizes for the Hilbre Island Races while System X and Manchester Canoes donated prizes for the Little Eye and West Kirby […]

A team of nine kayakers from Liverpool Canoe Club were part of the safety support for the Bolton Ironman at Pennington Flash, Lowton on Sunday 15th July starting at 5.00am! Some 2,600 competitors took part in this gruelling event which was won by Britain’s Joe Skipper. Lucy Gossage won the women’s event. Her domination of this event continued and a fifth IRONMAN UK title brings her M-Dot full distance victory total to ten and career iron-distance wins now up to 11 from 20 starts.  

Brilliant day at the Tees yesterday, thanks to those that came along. Check out the video:  

Thanks to Carl, Richie and Colin for the time and expertise given. I doubt that many would willingly capsize, but the experience is invaluable and having others to assist is a big bonus. Practice is essential. I feel that the small whitewater type kayaks and their use come into quite a different category to the seaboats and it will have been obvious to any that watched, just how  slick a rescue can be in those. Saturday was a lovely warm and Balmy day. Things would be very different when conditions get colder. Just the amount of clothing and maybe heavier gloves makes things that much more difficult. I came across a video that may be worth watching. Here is the link :- Good luck to all Bob

Photo of the Month Please send any photos to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk July 2018 Click here to see the photos and to vote for your favourite. June 2018 # 1 Stanley Embankment by Keith Steer 15 votes (31%) # 2 Ladies Polo team win Div 2 by Hannah Bellamy 10 votes (21%) # 3 Jack Hopper Playboating on Stanley Wave by Keith Steer 7 votes (15%) # 4 Craig Ellingham rolling at the Docks by Neil Jones 6 votes (13%) # 5 Sea Arch near Rhoscolyn by Kirk Williams 5 votes (10%) # 6 North Coast of Anglesey by Kirk Williams 5 votes (10%)

Last weekend on the  7th -8th July the LCC  youth polo team went to  the Joy Davis Hull International Polo tournament playing in Division  4 . With  8am  start on the Saturday the lads won all four  of their games (as well as fitting in the England game in the pub  between games  ) scoring 14 goals without conceding and finishing the day with another tight game against Kingston Youth and finishing top of their mini league . Another early start on the Sunday saw all  the winners of Saturdays mini leagues play against each other and they started the day badly with their first defeat of the weekend against Pennine B losing 3-2 . Their next game  and for a place in the final up for grabs (and potential  revenge  against Pennine) was against  Manchester Wildcats ( who were also defeated by Pennine  3-2  )  who were quickly swept aside with five nil  . Then onto the Final and despite  going 2-0 down  and with some unsporting behaviour from Pennine fought back to get a 2-2 draw with 30 seconds left on clock .After  a short break we were  into extra time and  golden goals .With both teams lined up Luke won the sprint ( yet again ) and after a couple of passes the ball was received by Dean under the goal who fired it home to win the final and a great victory  . A big well done to Aaron , Callum , John , Luke , Dean and Myles . Norman Cook ( U18 team coach ) More Photos………