On Father’s Day Norwich Canoe Club went into the last Hasler race knowing a top 4 finish would be enough for qualification for the Hasler Final.
We were blessed with sunshine all day. Cece was the only person in her Geoff Saunders B race, and she started with Division A. She had an amazing start, and although she had some struggles steering, due to an issue with the wires, she still had a strong race.
In Div6 K1, Jon Blanchard was up against Hugo, with Hugo celebrating Father’ day by winning the father-son race for 3rd, leaving Jon in 4th place. They both got promoted to Div5 where they join Oli (who had a solid race), so the question is which Blanchard will become victorious in Div5 next time!
We also had several K2s racing. In Div7, there was some drama, as one of our Norwich crews hit the other, which made their boat turn sideways initially, and then upside down. Tammy and Rob emptied their boat, started again behind the Div8 K2s, and were able to overtake them all! Great racing on their side, and a prime example that the results never tell the whole story!
In Div6 Phil got his second 3rd place in as many races, showing a strong performance with Martin Ashpole, only missing out on 2nd by less than 20 seconds. Eva celebrated Father’s Day by paddling with her dad, and they had massive smiles on their faces all the way around. Rosco and Charlie had a solid race in Div5 coming 5th, only 20 seconds from 4th place.
In Div4 K2, I was racing with Estelle. I was feeling the holiday blues, but luckily Estelle in the front made all the right decisions and made sure we didn’t get caught up in the crash at the start. After turn 1 we started making up to the crew in 2nd place, but unfortunately, one dead-leg put an end to that pursuit, and we finished in 3rd place.
Even with such a small team, we managed to get 4th place, finishing joint 2nd overall, and qualifying for the Hasler Final. Congratulations to everyone who has raced this year, and hopefully next season we can win the region. We need a large team racing next year, as only the top 3 clubs will qualify for next year’s Hasler Final (unlike this year, when it was 4 clubs).
For now, congratulations to everyone who has raced, and it is time to work on the team for the Hasler Final! (you qualify for the Hasler Final if you have finished 3 Hasler races. If you haven’t done 3 races yet, you still have a chance to qualify, by racing at Nationals, or you can race in an out-of-region Hasler race).
