Tandridge Blades Canoe Slalom - information

Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September 2011

DOUBLE EVENT

Shepperton Slalom Canoe Club Lock Island, (behind Shepperton Lock) Ferry Lane, Shepperton, Middx, TW17 9LW

Directions:

Click here for Multimap: http://www.bing.com/maps/?where1=TW179LW,GB&FORM=MMREDR

M25 Exit 11 follow A317 to Chertsey. At first roundabout A317 Chertsey then straight on into Fordwater Road (B387) At T junction go right and then over Chertsey bridge (B375). Fork right at mini roundabout. into Chertsey Rd Take first right to Shepperton Church Square, then take first right into Ferry Lane. When you reach Shepperton lock, walk over the lock and straight on. The Club house is on the island adjoining the weir.

Map 176 Ref TQ073658 Sat Nav TW17 9LW

SW Trains to Shepperton from Clapham junction run every half hour and the club is 1.2 miles walk through Shepperton Church Square

Parking

Important notice:

In the interests of local residents please do not park at the lock.

Please use the public car parking 200 meters upstream, just alongside Thames Court pub.

Camping

Free camping onsite.

No provision for campervans – please do not park at the lock

Café

Hot and cold food, snacks and drinks served all day. Open from 8.30 (approx.) for breakfast

Spare kit and boats

We have a very limited amount of spare kit and boats available for Div 4 beginners, however it is imperative to contact us beforehand to arrange use thereof.

Event Running Order – times are approximate and depend on final number of entries

Saturday:

9:00 onwards Registration / free practice (coaches on site)

10;30 Official Practice runs

11:30 Judges meeting

12:00 First Runs

14:30 Second Runs

17:00 Prize giving

Sunday:

8:30 Registration / free practice (coaches on site)

9.30 Official Practice runs

10.30 Judges meeting

11.00 First Runs

13:30 Second Runs

16:00 Prize giving

Prizes

Officials: K1 Men, K1 Women, C1, C2 (1st, 2nd, 3rd Places)

K1 Men, Div 3, First place

K1 Men, Div 3, 2nd Place

K1 Men Div 3, 3rd Place

K1 Women, Div 3, 1st Place

K1 Women Div 3, 2nd Place

K1 Women Div 3, 3rd Place

C1 Men, Div 3

C1 Women, Div 3

C2, Div 3

Medals: K1 M & K1 W Div 3 - J16, J14, J12, J10

K1 Men, Div 4, First place

K1 Men, Div 4, 2nd Place

K1 Men Div 4, 3rd Place

K1 Women, Div 4, 1st Place

K1 Women Div 4, 2nd Place

K1 Women Div 4, 3rd Place

C1 Men, Div 4

C1 Women, Div 4

C2, Div 4

Medals: K1 M & K1 W Div 4 - J16, J14, J12, J10

Entry Fees

Advance Entry Cards are obtainable from

Mrs S Paterson, 14 Clay Street, Wymeswold, Loughborough LE12 6TY.

Send her an envelope, 11 x 22 cms, addressed to yourself and stamped with a 1st or a 2nd class stamp. You will receive 16 cards. If you need more cards send more than one stamped, addressed envelope.

About Being a Member of a BCU National Organisation

You have to be a member of one of the BCU national canoeing organisations (Canoe England, the SCA, Canoe Wales or CANI) to race, but for a Div 4 race you can buy a one-day temporary membership. Once you win promotion to Div 3 you must have full membership of one of the above to race.

Div 4 Under 18s - if you are taking a group to an event and take your club’s affiliation card or a copy, and providing each competitor is are a member of that club and can show a club membership card or other proof of membership, they are covered and do not have to take out Event Membership.

General Canoe Slalom information

Whitewater Slalom is a competitive sport where the aim is to navigate a canoe or kayak through a course of gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible.

White-water slalom racing started in Europe and in the 1940s, the International Canoe Federation was formed to govern the sport. The first World Championships was held in 1949 in Switzerland. Since then they have been held every two years.

In the early 1960’s slalom boats were made of fibreglass and nylon, this made them quite heavy - usually over 30 pounds. With the advent of carbon-Fibre and Kevlar construction in the early 1970s, the boats became much lighter and faster.

From 1949 to 1977 all World Championships were held in Europe. The first World Championship held in North America was held at Jonquiere, in Quebec, Canada in 1979.

Rules

Each slalom gate consists of two poles hanging from a wire strung across the river. There are 18- 25 numbered gates in a course and they are coloured as either green (downstream) or red (upstream), indicating the direction they must be negotiated.

Upstream gates are placed in an eddy, where the water is flat or moving slightly upstream; the paddler makes the 'breakout' and paddles upstream through the gate.

Slalom courses can take anything from 80 to 200 seconds to complete depending on the level of competition, difficulty of course, degree of water turbulence and ability of the paddler. Each competitor has two runs on the course and the final result is based either on the faster run (in smaller races or lower division races) or the sum of the two runs (in National and Olympic competitions).

If the competitor's boat, paddle or body touches either pole of the gate a time penalty of two seconds is added. If the competitor misses a gate completely, displaces it by more than 45 degrees, goes through the gate upside-down, or goes through it in the wrong order, a 50 second penalty is given.

Slalom courses are usually on grade 2 to grade 4 white-water. Some courses are technical, containing many rocks. Others are on stretches containing fewer rocks and larger waves and holes.

Slalom canoeing made its Olympic debut in 1972 in Augsburg, W. Germany. It was not seen again until 1992 in Seu d'Urgell as part of the Barcelona games. Since then, slalom paddling has been a regular at the Olympics

There are now four Olympic Medal events:

C-1 (canoe single) Men

C-2 (canoe double) Men

K-1 (kayak single) Men

K-1 (kayak single) Women

Further information about canoe slalom:

http://www.canoeslalom.co.uk

http://www.bcu.org.uk/