The 60th edition of the Devizes to Westminster canoe race promised to be a tough one. Rumors of freezing temperatures, snow, gale winds and flooded Thames were just the icing on an already large cake consisting of 125 miles of paddling, 77 portages and the odd hyper aggressive swan.
The rumors turned out to be all true and so we started on saturday evening all wrapped up in our warmest paddling kit. By the 15th mile, the kayak and paddlers were covered in ice but it was a pleasant cloudless night with the full moon lighting our way through the Wiltshire countryside. With the regular appearances of our support crew by the bank side, it was all good fun even if a bit nippy and we were catching up with the boats that have started before us. Dawn broke out as we entered the suburbs of Reading, which for us meant only one thing : hot breakfast and dry clothes.
With renewed spirits, we set off on the Thames; next target : Teddington where the tideway starts. We had been going for 11 hours and, if we kept that pace, we would be on time to catch the ebbing tide, no pressure then. The Thames locks defiled like a playboater's to-do list : Marsh, Hambledon, Hurley, Marlow, Boulters, Chertsey, Shepperton, Sunbury. With the reliable help of the support team, we made good progress and reached Teddington after 10 hours 30 minutes on the Thames. We were on time for the tide, nothing could stop us.
From then on, it was a gentle paddle down the tideway, fighting off bum ache and drawing on our last reserves. Although they seemed very slow to appear on the horizon, we ticked the bridges one by one. The elements seemed reluctant to let us get off so easily and we were treated in the last 2 hours with snow, wind and storm.
One last dash for glory and we passed under Westminster bridge at 19:53, 24 hours 11 minutes after we started from Devizes. Our rank is 30th out of the 60 boats that crossed the finishing line (out of 120 starters) which is quite a good performance given the conditions. Well done to all involved !
For 2008, Team Tower Hamlets consisted of :
Alan, Dave, Nick,Tristan and Tim who had the hard job of keeping us fed, hydrated and happy during the races (watersides serie + DW)
Klaudia and Julien who just had to sit in the boat and paddle downstream
PS : Special thanks to the good people at Richmond canoe club who helped us train and race during the 4 months of preparation.