Canoe Trip 2015, River Wye

55 km of river paddled in just 2 days, The University Canoe & Kayak beat records on there trip to the River Wye this month.

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On Friday the 6th of March members of the Lincoln University Canoe & Kayak team (L.U.C.K) made there way down to the border of Wales to enjoy a weekend of canoeing on open water. More specifically the River Wye.

The River Wye is the fifth longest river the UK and stretches some 215km, at some parts it even forms the border between Wales and England.The water was moving steadily and the weather was in our favour. Instead of running the 2 day route, we signed up to run the 3 day route, but still in 2 days.

Starting from Hoarwithy, on the 7th of March, the team of 18 set off in 6 Canadian canoes down towards the end point in the town of Ros-on-wye. The weather much to our surprise, was perfect. The sun was shining onto the clear water and the wind was settled. With 2 members in each canoe teamwork was key, the back paddler is responsible for the steering of the boat, while the front paddling is responsible for providing the ‘power’. Both members needed to work in sync the keep the boat moving at a steady pace and keeping it stable when the wind did blow in the wrong direction.

However the lack of rain and high winds made paddling the first day a breeze, even if we did manage to cover 30km, none of the teams spirit was dampened! And a well deserved pub meal was in order when we arrived back at camp.

The 2nd day the weather had turned back to being British, leaving Ros-on-wye the team back in the canoes set off down to Symonds Yat, right on the border with Wales. Passing on route were the ruins of Goodrich castle. While a few issues occurred when one our freshers managed to get himself caught by a fishing line on the bank, but the weekend passed with no swimmers or capsizes. Finishing the days paddling at 3pm the team got off and set back home to Lincoln.

Overall while it might be far off from the most thrill seeking of rivers, but it provided a great chance to nail down our Canoe skills and explore one of the most popular paddling rivers in the UK.

Committee 2015/16

After the post Newquay blues have faded away, it’s chance to update this blog and share our winners of this year activity elections and introduce our newly elected committee who will take charge in the next academic year.

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To find the current committee members and their roles, head over to the committee page on this blog.

Our new President is:

Ewan Morrison, current 2nd year and former Events Officer

The new Vice President is:

Edmund Woodrow, current 1st year

The new Treasurer is:

Daniel Myers, current 1st year

The new event officers are:

Brionry Marshall, current 2nd year student & Jennette Fisher, currently doing her masters

The new Kit Secreatry is:

Ted Gravestock, current 2nd year student

And the Web & Media officer has re-elected:

Joshua Ost, current 2nd year student

 

Congratulations to the new committee members and those who have been re-elected, well done also those who ran for positions.

 

Committee elections 2015!

It’s that time of year again, well a few weeks earlier. But its once again time to vote for next years committee. 

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If you not sure or don’t know, the club is ran by a team of 7 members who from the committee. Each member has a specific role and manage day to day aspects of that. But overall they are responsible for moving the club forward and keeping it running.

And not it’s your chance to be a part of that. As we said we’ve got 7 positions open with 6 different roles. These are:

  • President
  • Vice President
  • Treasurer
  • Events Organisers (x2)
  • Kit Secretary
  • Web & Media Officer

Each one has a different role and anyone can run for any positions as long as they are a current member and are studying next year. Here is what each role entails in some more detail:

President: Responsible for running the day to day activities are club, they over see the work of the committee and development of the club & our members. He/She will also lead the club and act as an our ambassador to variousmeetings adding our opinion! Its a great opportunity to be the leader of the biggest clubs at the university and seen as a great chance to add your mark on our clubs future!

Vice President: You’ll be helping directly with the president as well as other aspects of the club, including the running of our pool sessions. The VP also records minutes of our meetings and helps the smooth running of the club. They also organise the last trip of the year during summer.

Treasurer: Good with money? The Treasurer is in charge of keeping the clubs finances in a good condition, they’ll budget out our spends and spots moments when we can pay for new kit, they also seek funding from various grants and funds and make sure we are not overspending! It comes with plenty of support from the SU and is one of the essential roles on the committee!

Event Organisers (x2): These 2 roles are about getting what we learn in our sessions into practice! Organising our various trips across the year and across the country, these 2 get us out of Lincoln and onto to some great rivers (and beaches). They also run our weekly club socials, from bowling nights to hitting the clubs! They’ll always have something for us to do!

Kit Secretary: Keeping our collection of kit safe and in good condition, our Kit Sec is a key role in what we offer as club (being providing the basic kit to get started) They’ll get to know which kit is best for our members and also find chances to get some new kit. They are also the clubs safety officer and make sure everyone is safe before we get onto the water.

Web & Media Officer: Keeping our members & the rest of the world well informed of what we get up to! From checking e-mails are being sent, to passing great news onto the press. The Web & Media officer is a great chance to show off some of the good stuff we do as a club, they’ll also manage our collection of video & photos dating some 10 years and publicise the club across the year!

As well as there individual roles, committee act as coaches & guides passing on experience to new and current members.

If any of these roles appeal to you, you can nominate yourself from today until the 20th of March online at www.lincolnsu.com. Elections open the week after from the 23rd – 27th of March.

Any questions feel free to approach the current committee members or e-mail the club canoe@lincolnsu.com

Happy paddling Good luck to all who are standing!

Tyne Tour 2014

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Originally reported in the November edition of the The Linc.

From Canoe’s to tennis ball helmets. It can only be on thing. The Canoe & Kayak team return to Tyne Tour.

Every year members of the University of Lincoln Canoe & Kayak team or know as Lincoln University Canoe & Kayak (L.U.C.K) travel up north to Hexham just outside of Newcastle to take part in one of Europe’s biggest kayak & canoe festivals. And this year was no different.

The date was set, 1st – 2nd of November. So on the Friday the 31st of October members of L.U.C.K gathered to pack kayaks, paddles, helmets, spray decks and plenty of thermals. Once the pack­ing was done a long road trip on Halloween night to Newcastle meant Tyne Tour had began.

37 members went on the trip. All from various year groups including some alumni members, joined up at the site and we made camp for the weekend. As soon as the hard work was out the way we explored the site and meet other universities from across the country. Including Sheffield Hallam, Newcastle University, York University and the University of Cumbria. It was a great evening speaking to other students about kayaking & just having a good time.

After a long night on the Friday the team where up sharp at 7pm to begin the whole reason we’ve travelled, to paddle the river Tyne. In terms of rivers the Tyne is a great all rounder. It provides generous flat water to get ready for its mixture of easy short rapids to long waves. With 35 of us on the water and 100’s more from other universities & clubs, we began 11am kitted up and rearing to go.

However before we got onto the water, another L.U.C.K Tyne Tour tradition was required. Each year members are challenged to decorate there helmets and come along with the silliest hats. This year they ranged from a Tennis ball helmet, reindeer head, duck shower caps to a hat made out of balloon animals. It is as always only a Lincoln tradition, so we did turn some heads from other universities.

The L.U.C.K team spent all day on the water and only stopping for lunch break. We had a range of different boats in our team. Most members paddled creek kayaks; these are boats designed for 1 person and allow a lot of connectivity with the paddler. This allows for the boat to respond to certain movements of hips & the body to allow easier control of the boat. These are the most common kayaks. However other members who’d completed Tyne Tour many times decided to challenge themselves with new boats. President of L.U.C.K Rachel Turner joined up with a member of the safety time to paddle the river in a duo sit on top kayak. While alumni members & club ‘legends’ Shaun & Ian tackled the whole river in a Canadian canoe. Amazingly they managed to stay afloat & dry until the last rapid in which they capsized in such a dramatic fashion it was almost ripped out of film scene. However as the photo’s show, it takes a lot to wipe a smile of these two.

As always many members swam in the river after being pushed out of they’re kayaking by rocks or waves. But thankfully after plenty of safety training & planning no one from the team was injured, only suffering was wearing the soaking kit for the rest of the afternoon.

Overall the first day of paddling was a success. All members found the paddling fun & challenging; from complete beginners to semi-pro’s Tyne Tour has something for everyone and with 100’s of paddlers on the water. We all looked out for each other, making a safe & relaxed atmosphere.

As the sun was setting down we reached the end of the river. Quick change into dry clothes and hanging up the kit. The evening’s festivities began. The festival organisers hosted the Tyne Tour classic Ceildhi, an evening of traditional dancing. Along with that, the clear November skies were filled with fireworks from the town centre. It was a much called for celebration after a day on the water.

However the weekend was not over! A few soar heads on the Sunday didn’t stop us. After packing the vans & cars we said farewell to Hexham & the Tyne and travel the short distance to Barnet Castle in Teesdale to paddle our 2nd river of the weekend. The middle tee’s. Less members took onto the river due to a paddle shortage in the club. The Tee’s offers a much more rapids & white water in the shorter river. In the 3 hours we took onto the water, we came across various rapids of different difficulties including abbey rapids, named due it being next to a disused Abbey.

The paddle finished at the site of the historic wooden drawbridge near the village of Whorlton. It also meant the last challenge of the day. This being the Whorlton Lido waterfall. While it not being the classic long rocky waterfall, It provides a 2 meter drop in the river. It might not sound terrifying on land. But when in a kayak sat down readying yourself to do a drop. It can be quite scary. Whorlton Lido has also gained a reputation within the kayaking community as being the site of a death of a canoeist last year. However our safety team assed the risked & supervised to make sure everyone paddle it safely. And all members who tickled it made it down with no swimmers.

As soon as boats where of the water. L.U.C.K began the drive home on the Sunday evening back to Lincoln.

Overall the weekend was a great success. All of our members enjoyed the time off water & on the water. And it’s always nice to travel & mix with other universities. Unlike our other trips with other universities, this was not a competitive event.

However the competitions will begin in March with the return of the NSR.

If you would like to know more about canoe & kayak team please feel free to e-mail us at canoe@lincolnsu.com. Or follow us on twitter @lincolnunikayak.

About the Canoe & Kayak Team:

The Canoe and Kayak Club at the University of Lincoln is a great, fun filled and exciting club that is now one of the biggest teams on campus. The team go on regular excursions across the region and further afield including Tyne tour, the National Student Rodeo and surf kayaking in Newquay. The club has progressed massively in the recent years with its highest ever membership. The club has a very active social side and and run weekly sessions on campus, on the Brayford Pool.

 

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As the term draws to a close..

Tyne Tour boats at the ready at the Upper Tee’s

 

Wow where has the time gone, feels only a few weeks ago that we welcomed new members for their first paddle on the Brayford and now we are having our last session of 2014 in a few days.  

We have welcomed some awesome new members this year. As well as the support of returning members. From BCU level 1 coach’s to people who’ve never kayaked before. As always we’ve welcomed a mix bunch and we’ve been learning the skills ready to earn level 2 skills in the new year.

Off the water we have had a blast. Our event organisers have treated us to some top social this term. From visiting the fireworks at the showground, pub golf, bowling and of course playzone. We wait to see what they plan for us for the rest of the academic year.

And of course we had Tyne Tour. It was called the best Tyne Tour ever by current members, we don’t know if it was the good weather or the company which made that happen. But we all agreed it was an amazing time and we even managed to get featured in The Linc newspaper.

Christmas Meal Photo

L.U.C.K Christmas Meal 2014

 

As I write this post, the memories from our Christmas meal are fresh in my mind. Our club meals are always a great chance to say bye for the term. And of course in true L.U.C.K style, suit up! We also did the traditional awards which you can read more about on our Awards page on this website.

So what to do without kayaking for 2 weeks, you can read our top tips here in another post. And of course we’ll still be tweeting away and posting on Facebook so you’ll never be to far from a Kayaker.

Have a good final few weeks, and we’ll see you all on the 10th of December for our last paddle of the term. Wrap up warm and bring a santa hat! As we might visit a certain Coke truck!

Happy Paddling