Adult novice paddlers

Richmond Canoe Club is active in racing kayaking and canoeing – a 52 week a year sport. We go to races on rivers, canals and regatta courses, and on a variety of long distance day trips. Regular paddling at Richmond takes the form of participation in training groups (all year round, primarily on Saturdays, and on other days too as you improve) and the Club 10k race (Wednesday evenings April to September).

Racing canoeing is enjoyable, outdoor and athletic. New paddlers (both men and women, and all ages) do not have to be especially athletic to begin with. Enthusiasm and commitment to paddling, and to the Club, conquers all. To progress in racing you should plan to commit to at least two sessions a week of paddling and/or land-based training.

We run five-week Adult Beginners Courses from May to October. The sessions are on Saturday afternoons from 1.30-3.30pm, with two paddle-machine technique sessions on Friday evenings 6.30-8.30pm. The course provides an introduction to racing kayaking and canoeing and to Richmond Canoe Club. It’s suitable for complete beginners and those who’ve had some paddling experience in other types of kayak (eg white water). The course costs £60 and all details can be found in the Adult Beginners Kayaking Course. You will need to bring the clothing listed on the Introductory Page.

Our second course of the year will run on the following dates:

Fridays 6.30-8.30pm: 1st & 8th June

Saturdays 1.30-3.30pm: 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th June

Bookings for this course will open on Monday 14th May. Any booking forms sent before this date will not be valid. To book a place on the course, please download the Adult Beginners Booking Form, fill it in and e-mail it to lovekayaking@googlemail.com. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis*. As courses are usually heavily oversubscribed, we recommend that you apply as soon as bookings open. We will try to respond to all e-mails, but if you have not had a response to your e-mail booking within a week please assume that you do not have a place on the course. Payment for the course can be by cheque or in person at the canoe club, and must be received by the Saturday prior to the start of the course, or your place will be allocated to someone else on the waiting list.

*If you know that you will miss one of the course sessions we strongly suggest that you wait and book for a later course. Unfortunately we cannot accept anyone onto a course if they will miss the first Friday session or either one of the first two Saturday sessions. This is because of safety risks and the inconvenience to other course participants.

Future courses this year are likely to run on the following dates: 20th July - 8th August, and 31st August - 29th September, but definitive dates will be published nearer the time, together with dates that booking will open for each course. Please do not send a booking form in advance of booking opening, as it will not be considered valid. If you're interested in coming on one of these courses you can drop an e-mail to lovekayaking@googlemail.com and we'll put you on our mailing list so that you'll receive a reminder before booking opens for the next course.

If you are interested in kayaking but are not free on Saturday afternoons, or if you are more interested in recreational paddling, or in specific disciplines such as white water or sea kayaking we suggest you look on the Canoe England website www.canoe-england.org.uk/findaclub.aspx), where you can find details of other clubs in the area that focus on different aspects of the sport.

We look forward to seeing you on the water at Richmond in 2012.