Shire paddlers have broken records, ticked off bucket lists and clocked up personal best times during the recent running of the annual Hawkesbury Canoe Classic.
Fourteen paddlers from Sutherland Shire Canoe Club made the trek to Windsor for the start of the 111-kilometre ‘run’ through to Brooklyn via Wisemans Ferry.
They had back-up from 12 support crew who kept them fed and watered through the long night after the event started at 4pm.
There were three crews in two-seater craft and eight single paddlers, including Kate Dawson, 44, from Woronora. Entered in the Ladies Veteran 40+ category, the mother of four who is a long-time competition paddler, took just under 13 hours (12:51:50) to become the first woman to compete the event in a solo canoe in the 41 years the marathon has been running.
“A canoe paddler uses a single-bladed paddle and switches sides every few strokes to maintain course, so that means around 70-80 thousand strokes to complete the event,” says Kate’s husband Steve, who kept her company in another canoe during the event.
“Compare that to a kayaker using a double-bladed paddle who will take something like 45-50 thousand strokes for the same distance. And if Kate had been in a kayak, her average speed would be around 9.5kmh but in the canoe it was about 7.7kmh for the same amount of effort.
“A canoe is also less stable than a kayak. Add in darkness and exhaustion and it is a very special achievement. I am very proud of her.”
Despite the huge effort involved, Kate says she is already in planning – and training – for next year’s event. She and her husband hope to break a record in the mixed doubles canoe category.
“It was a massive night,” she says.
“It seemed a very long way in a canoe but I am very pleased with myself for taking on the challenge and managing to complete it.”
Another impressive effort for the weekend was ‘new’ club member, Peter Faherty, who covered the distance in just under 10 hours (09:50:27). The Englishman doesn’t live in the area, but joined the club a year ago, saying he wanted to learn to race kayaks. It’s fair to say he is hooked.
Other club members to post good results included Ross and Robin Bingle, Andrew Giardini, Greg Archibald, Timothy Attwood, Robert Beers, Fook Chee Tam, David Little, John Denyer and Mark Sundin.
While the paddlers get the kudos and bragging rights, the support team is on double-duty. They get the competitors to the start, through all the paperwork and onto the water, before packing up and moving to the next checkpoint. It’s more than 24 hours on the go by the time they pack up the exhausted paddlers and battered boats and take them home again.
As former club president, and a regular in the Hawkesbury event, Steve Dawson said he was delighted by another strong turnout and the positive results.
“This year we saw a strong contingent of experienced paddlers swelled by new entrants so we can expect to see shire paddlers bringing home the gongs for many years to come,” he said.
“Ultra-distance racing is a community. Paddlers spend hours and even days on the water together, pushing back their personal limits. We form lifelong friendships and I’ve never met a distance racer who wouldn’t end their race to come to the aid of a friend in distress.
“On the Hawkesbury, in the dark of a moonless night, when you’re exhausted and struggling, you know the paddler who’s racing beside you has your back, because you have theirs.”