A great night for racing with calm conditions, the dam nearly spilling and low flow velocity set the scene for speed night. Donelda was first over the line with a 3 minute personal best. Richard was second with a blistering time of 27:58 smashing the course record. I was third narrowly ahead of Jo, both of us achieving season bests of around 80 s. The following paddlers also got season bests; Geoff (57s), Bill (60s), Phil Barratt (32s), Ken (27s) Phil Wadley (25s) and April (119s). Quire a few of those best times were assisted on the way upriver by the Geoff express with a line of 6 paddlers rounding the turn at the same time before breaking up on the way downriver. We also spotted Mary having a paddle around the course looking comfortable in the sea kayak.
Thanks to John MacCausland for timing, race times are below.
| Paddler | Handicap | Gun Time | Actual Time | Position |
| Donelda Niles | 11:27 | 57:12 | 45:45 | 1 |
| Richard McMinn | 30:24 | 58:22 | 27:58 | 2 |
| Adam Rolls | 19:49 | 58:43 | 38:54 | 3 |
| Jozina Macqueen | 28:55 | 58:46 | 29:51* | 4 |
| Geoff Macqueen | 24:59 | 59:14 | 34:15 | 5 |
| Bill Williams | 4:53 | 59:17 | 54:24 | 6 |
| Phil Barratt | 25:06 | 59:39 | 34:33 | 7 |
| Ken McLean | 24:10 | 59:44 | 35:34 | 8 |
| Phil Wadley | 24:15 | 59:46 | 35:31 | 9 |
| April Nelson | 15:17 | 61:15 | 45:58 | 10 |
| Phil Nelson | 25:12 | 61:20 | 36:08 | 11 |
| Claye Mace | 21:10 | 61:23 | 40:13 | 12 |
| James Caspar | 22:23 | 61:24 | 39:01 | 13 |
Guntime for next week will be at 6:30 pm, (for those new to handicap racing your start time is you handicap after 6:30 pm, ie 13:50 handicap starts at 6:43:50) to be safe be ready to race at 6:40 pm. If you miss your start time you can still race, have your time recorded and score points. New paddlers will be able to set their handicap time. If you are starting more than 20 minutes after your handicap you may be asked to race a shorter course to ensure on water safety.
Please register for the race here: Paddle Australia Azolve If our event doesn’t come up, please search by location for Hadspen to find our event.
Check the main Hadspen page for more details.
See you Tuesday night.
