This weekend 9 intrepid paddlers took part in the exe circuit race on the river exe.
Nick Fisher-Dodd (fishy-d) raced in div 6. His start left spray in the eyes of the other paddlers and after a gruelling 8 miles in the sweltering heat; he managed a second out of 8. Shortly after the div 6 starts, and once the spray had settled down after fishy-d’s start, it was the div 7 K2 start. James Silcock (Silky) and Ben Hosford (Beast) sped away from the start, leaving Cat Fleet, and Rich Perkins (Perks) in awe of them. They managed to catch up, but Silky and Ben left them behind at the first turn after a mile and a half. In the end the sheer power of the lads lead them to victory, with cat and perks came in closely behind them, taking second.
Then it was the div 7 and 8 k1 start. Tom Kelley (TK) had a good start along side Ed Brimfield (Brimmers), and after the first mile TK was wash hanging on brimmers. However, He knew that Ed was in the Div above and he knew that the competition was an easy ride, so he stopped for a drink, then restarted at a leisurely pace, and finished first in his div by a long way. Brimmers also streaked ahead of his competitors and won as well. Finally there is the div 9 race… four miles of tough competition, and big speed boats to block the way for them. Despite these many negative factors that scare even the most hardened veterans, (Perks), Will Stafford managed to break through to gain a victory, and then to be closely by Charley Madison, who also had a tough race. This could be described as a tough day in the heat, but sunscreen saved the day, well, for most of us anyway!!
By NFD, Ben H, James S, Tom K