Despite the cold, a very near miss on the M25 and typos on the club notice boards, 16 Richmond made it to the Maidstone's Hasler marathon on Sunday.

Stuart Clifton 4th in a Div 3 (two Div 2 racers were lumped into his division, robbing him of second place... a tough call in Stuart's first Hasler!). Mike Pigott 3rd in Div 6 (Another stich-up - the paddler who came 1st was a bit of a ringer, as he was immediately promoted to Div 4 following the
race). Chris Haynes 1st in Div 7. Adrian Dommisse 1st in Div 8 with Freddy Purcell 4th (at 12 years old, Freddy was the youngest competitor in the division by at least 10 years. Adrian watch out!). Tim Middlehurst paired up with Chris Pereira (Addlestone) in Div 3/4 coming home in first position. Trevor and Kim Wetherall 3rd in Div 5/6 doubles. Matt and Tim Fletcher 3rd in 7/8 doubles.

Thanks to all for an excellent turn out and for the great results too.

Also to celebrate Andi's birthday, there's an up river trip on Turks Launch to Hampton Court. Boat leaves at 1400, picnic and drinks before heading back downstream to return around 1815. Interested? Catch up with Andi at the Club for details and RSVP if you'd like to go.

Trish is likely to be packing her bags and leaving London by the end of May to move to sunny Devon so on the evening of Saturday 6 May following on from the technique session we were thinking of having a bit of a braai (barbecue) and drinks (bring your own food and drink) weather permitting at the clubhouse followed by a bit of dancing somewhere in Richmond.

Trish Davey, GB sprint paddler, will be giving a talk on paddling technique, and on-water tips for paddlers on Saturday the 6th of May. All paddlers who are interested in improving style and speed are welcome. Videos of paddlers will start at about 11am, followed by a talk and then some follow up technique work. A small course contribution will be collected from attendees, to go to the club refurbishment fund.

Website guru and Club paddler Craig Haupt has created a new website for paddlesport. He'd like your comments and feedback. Visit the website at www.paddlepoint.com and then drop Craig a note with your comments.

Latest Junior Newsletter just out - read it now!

Richmond now has a Touring Group and the inaugural Richmond Canoe Club Touring Group outing will be a paddle from Henley to Sonning and back on Sunday 30th April, stopping at Wargrave on the way and meandering along some of the Thames backwaters en route.

We will depart from the Club at 8.30am prompt and return about 5.30pm. For the first numbers are limited to about 15 people as we to try to negotiate the logistics of cars, roof racks and V-bars, though we'd like more in future.

There are still some places left on this first tour, so if you are interested, please contact Jim or Steve as soon as possible to register an interest and for more details. If you are interested, we'd like to know (a) whether you have a car with a roof rack, (b) whether you have V-bars, and (c) whether you have BCU membership.

Other tour dates - all Sundays - for your diary below.

21st May

25th June

30th July

20th Aug

24th Sept

The Hasler Racing season restarts this Sunday with the Maidstone Marathon. More details on the Maidstone CC website. Also see April, Paddlepoint.

We're pushing to qualify for the Hasler finals and need to get a good showing at all the qualification races.

If you need a lift or would like to take part in your first race, have a chat with Trevor or Peter B down at the Club, who'll be able to point you in the right direction to get a lift.

In all this talk of DW, Richmond's success at Nottingham on the 8-9 April has been overlooked.

Lizzie Broughton took 2nd in K2 1000, 2nd in K4 500 and 4th in K2 500 and has been selected for upcoming international in Boulogne, France

We had 3 C1s competing. Matt came 4th in the C1 1000, beating Ed in 5th for the first time - apparently the very windy conditions played havoc. Ed came 3rd in the C1 500, with Ed, Josh, Matt and Gareth Hunt (Fladbury) coming 1st in the C4 1000, and the C4 1000 with Roger Weir of Banbury replacying Gareth. Matt and Marcus Gohar came 2nd in the C2 500.

Back in the boats with two blades, Brett Irvine came 1st in the K1 500 (Mens B), with Brendon Stead coming in 2nd. Put them together and Brett and Brendon came 1st in the K2 500m (Mens B)

Congratulations to all for a great performance. Of particularly note to Brett and Brendon who have both been promoted to Mens A, the top category reserved for elite sprinters. Richmond hasn't had men in this category for some time - great news.

Go on, write em up and send them in, anonymous if you prefer - have just heard about crews being stranded in Staines - there must be more. Here's one.

Saturday the 20th of May at the Wokingham Waterside Centre - time coming soon.

If you "borrowed" kit off someone's boat for DW please return it. The usual supplies - spray decks, pogies and paddles have been reported missing.

More DW pictures at http://www.photoboxgallery.com/DW2006.

Congratulations to all who took part - from the banks, supporting, organisationally and of course in the boats.

Richmond Club results are coming through and being updated below. If you need to get the very latest, visit the event website - www.dwrace.org.uk - where'll you get the latest judgements and decisions.

Have you got pictures of teams on this year's DW, email them to us and we'll get them on the Gallery for all to enjoy. The more the merrier - and we get to see the many sides and faces of this incredible event. (FTP them if its easier - Here http://www.astoncolourpress.com/ftp.html)

And if you have the inclination to write down a report of your team's event, email it along and we'll post it.

Thanks

.

Senior Doubles (straight through)

• Piran Shelley and Russ Dawkins (#409) - 18:31:42
• Richard Hendron and Jordan Mungovan (#418) - 20:45:24
• Graham Stonehouse and Belinda Blackwell (#400) - 24:45:29
• Mathew Fletcher and Neil McLeod (#341) - 24:46:22
• Rhidian Bridge and Sean Nelson (#411) - 25:14:32

• Edward Berry and William MacDonald ( #359) - 25:19:35
• Richard Grose and Antony Nercessian (#406) - 25:53:42
• David Mounde and Peter Luck (#367) - 25:57:24
• Caroline Shortt and Sonia Marquardt (#324) - 27:05:37

Vet / Jun (4 days)

• Rait Harnett and Ben Reynolds (#53) - 21:09:17

Senior Singles (4 days)

• Mike Pigott (#226) - 20:18:13
• William Gow (#224) - 22:49:44
• James Betteridge (#210) - 24:26:26
• Rowan Laxton (#228) - 29:41:48

That's 24 Richmond paddlers - a very impressive show.

You can watch the event unfold on the web at www.dwrace.org.uk

If you use any of the club boats, then please check out the notices in the boat house regarding their use on Saturday mornings.

Have been sent a link about Bird Flu and canoeists which points out that we have eyes and are a potential point of first contact. Have a look at the link on the Banbury CC website.

Very aware that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing - posting with the simple aim of raising awareness.

Summer is nearly here. How do we know? The 10k is starting.

First one is on Wednesday 19th April, starting 6.30 prompt. Be there changed, in your boat and on the water ready to go. Otherwise that lovely Mr Wetherall will be whispering gently in your ear asking you to hurry along now.

Now, where's that BBQ?

On the day news broke of Kelly Brooks New Look bikini range, fashion journalists were storming down to The Shed to get a glimpse of the new Richmond Racing T-Shirts.

Head Coach Trevor Wetherall pushed back the hordes, booming, "you can't see the shirts. They're for club members and available exclusively from me." Fleet Street's finest trembled as pens and notebooks fell to the floor.

Having been tested by the Club's finest in recent weeks, the new Club T-shirts and vest (available in small, medium and large), are available from Trevor for £15. If you're racing, you'll need to be wearing the colours which will be getting their first official outing at Nottingham this coming weekend.

Twelve Richmond paddlers braved the cold and took on Waterside D - the challenge of 34 miles and 35 portages - this weekend, and with much success.

Henry & Richard Hendron triumphed in the Men's Senior Class, coming in 1st in a time of 4:51:44. A short distance behind Russ Dawkins & Piran Shelly came in 3rd in a time of 5:00:42. Peter Luck & Dave Mounde (14th, 6:15:36), Edward Berry & William Macdonald (16th, 6:20:43) and Matthew Fletcher & Tim Fletcher (27th, 6:54:14) all came in with steady efforts.

In K1 Men's Senior, Mike Pigott began to see some of the fruits of his winter of toil on the water coming in 3rd (6:05:43). In the Mixed Class, Graham Stonehouse (RIC) and Belinda Blackwell (WOK) finished 6th (6:34:47). Graham and Belinda came third in the Mixed Class for the Waterside Series.

Conditions were challenging, constantly changing with strong gusting winds, bright sunshine and driving rain - precisely why this series forms the background of any DW campaign.

But for DW in two weeks time, Waterside D concludes the long haul winter racing timetable. Mass start Marathon Racing kicks off in full swing from 23rd April with the Maidstone Race - see the notice board in The Shed for details or look at Paddle Point.

See you then!