Royal Canoe Club once again qualified for the marathon season grand finale; The Hasler Finals. Hosted by the Southampton Canoe Club on the Hamble River.
A total of 38 paddlers represented the club, having qualified themselves as individuals and qualifying the club to submit a team. The races took place against 29 other clubs fielding 626 other paddlers spread across 10 divisions and 2 classifications; K1 (solo) and K2 (doubles)
The course was a simple 6.5km loop, with divisions 7-10 doing one lap, 4-6 going around twice and divisions 1-3 enduring a grueling 3 laps of the course. The conditions on the day seemed fair, however once out of the shelter of the trees at the start and top turn the wind was somewhat unrelenting. The waves in some places breaking over the cockpits, strong winds and sheer number of competitors made sure that only the skilled and worthy were going to prosper here!
And prosper Royal did, with a win coming from Dean Terry, second places being taken by Flynn Holt, Tom Daniels, Arthur Urquhart, Henry Pitt and Fredrik Muthreich; claiming bronzes were Harry Lear and Amanda Hunt.
Although the day seemingly went without any major incidents on the water, there was one glaringly obvious drama that cannot really go without mentioning. Royal was mistakenly announced as the overall winners. However, on closer inspection of the points, it transpired that Royal Canoe Club had, in fact, come joint third. Despite this bubble-bursting moment, third is still a fantastic achievement against such a large representation of clubs and paddlers.
Next years (2019/20) season has already begun, and the Finals will most likely be held just 3km downriver hosted by Richmond Canoe Club.
Promotions
Dean Terry into 2
Fin Hogan into 5
Peter Stratford into 6
Flynn Holt into 6
Henry Pitt into 7
Fredrik Muthreich into 7