River Paddling

River Paddling

There has not been a lot of active river paddling in the club over the last year. We want to turn this around as while there are enough club members with the appropriate skills to have an active river paddling programme, they just don’t seem to be aware of each other. In order to improve things the club is planning to establish two paddling groups. These will be the:

1. White Water Group, and
2. Beginners River Group.

The White Water Group will be aimed at river paddlers who are competent to paddle on Grade 3 – 4 water. Rivers falling into this category include the Tay at Grandtully, Nith, Allan, Tummel, Orchy etc. The white water group is open to both kayak and canoe paddlers. The purpose of this group is to find a focus for those paddlers who want to paddle more advanced rivers and the plan is to improve the paddling abilities of members, provide the opportunity to work towards the BCU 4 and 5 star awards, and above all to have a good time paddling at a more advanced level.

The Beginners River Group will be aimed at providing club paddlers with the skills to eventually advance to the White Water Group. Again it will be open to both canoe and kayak paddlers. The purpose of this group is to provide club members including junior members with the opportunity to move into river paddling, to provide an introduction to the skills required for moving water paddling, provide the opportunity to work towards the BCU 3 star award in white water paddling and again to have a good time. We will probably be working on rivers up to grade 3 such as the Awe, Clyde, Doune, Ayr, Tay Teith, etc. It should be noted that you do not have to progress through this group to join the White Water Group. You can choose to remain at this level if you wish.

Please don’t get hung up about star awards and formal qualifications. You don’t need to have your BCU 3 star award to be in the White Water Group but you should be paddling at an equivalent level. If you have any questions about your skills and which group you should join please talk to either Graham or Sandy.

Sandy will organise river trips for each group (and sometimes for both) throughout the Autumn until we get established. It will then be up to the group members to organise their own programme, although coaching will be provided as a matter of course for the members of the Beginners River Group.

In order to get both groups up and running, Sandy will run a river paddling weekend over Saturday 28 to Sunday 29 September 2013. Please text Sandy on 07962 226280 if you are interested or speak to him at the Pool Sessions.