Pangbourne Race October 2005

By Henry Hendron

Richmond Canoe Club had a strong showing of 19 paddlers, at the Pangbourne Race, in particular in the higher divisions - a high turnout made even more impressive with the Pangbourne race only a day after the Reading K4 which featured Richmond prominently.

Richmond had five paddlers racing in Div 2. Henry Hendron was Richmond’s fastest paddler of the day, coming 3rd (01:21:32) on a sprint finish for top 3. Following just over three minutes behind was Doug Bitcon who came 6th (01:24:56) , then Bret Irvine 3 seconds behind Doug, finishing 7th (01:24:59) . Fighting valiantly in the back waters in Div 2 was Richmond’s Piran Shelley coming 10th ( 01:26:26) and Brendon Stead finishing 13th (01:30:03).

Paul Stromose flew the flag in Div 3. Leading the field for the majority of the race, Paul came unstuck when he dropped his boat at the portage, breaking the rudder, and staggered in at 5th (01:32:17)

Lizzie Broughton and Nev Stonehouse fought it out in Div 4. finishing a respectable 5th (01:04:17) and 9th (01:06:22) respectively. Kim Weatherall matched Nevs 9th in Div 5 with a time of 01:12:09. Sarah Johnson racing Div 6 limped in 15th (01:13:54) , but seemed to enjoy it none the less.

On the short course, Chris Haynes finished a very respectable 6th (37:51) out of 29 paddlers. Likewise, junior Freddie Purcell racing Div 9 stormed in at 10th (40:43), out of 31 paddlers, a very encouraging result for Freddie.

Racing K2, Peter Barnes and Tom Turcan finished a worthy 7th (01:04:12) in Div 5/6 K2. In a family effort, Richmond Trevor and Frances Weatherall raced K2 Div 7/8 finishing a close 4th (35:00) .

A highly fun and successful day for Richmond Canoe Club, with a strong turnout from our paddlers our red t-shirts are now a familiar sight at races, especially now in the higher divisions. People are obviously starting to realise that marathon racing is great fun.

Want to take part in racing? Winning is great, taking part is better. For more details about Club Racing and Marathon Races visit Paddle Point.