The Exe Big Paddle 2011 – The Sunny Side

Shaking off sleep from Saturday’s ever-successful South West canoe show, the team were on site early on Sunday to set up the Exe Big paddle.

It didn’t take long for the Piazza to take on the appearance of a festival site, with tents, bunting and boats all creating a mass of colour ready for paddlers to arrive….. Which they did, right on the dot at 9am.

First up were the tours, fully booked out months in advance, the groups were keen to get out and learn about the nature and history of the Exe and adjacent shipping canal. We were fantastically lucky to have staff from the RSPB, Devon Wildlife Trust and an ex head of the Archaeology society as our guides so those lucky enough to secure a place came back a few hours later full of enthusiasm for what they’d learnt and seen on the five mile loop.

Meanwhile on the Piazza, the sunshine brought a great mix of participants, including passers-by keen to have a go at kayaking and canoeing for the first time. Our seasoned team from Bristol based canoe lifesaving club, Globe 360, were constantly busy and had to add boats to the pool of demos available as more and more people got out on the water.

Helping entice folk into giving it a go were the popular Canoe England ergo machines. Racing over a 100m sprint, young and old gave it their all through the day trying to better a time set by development racer Michael Sims and to get a top ranking on the Top Gear style leader board. Predictably no-one beat Michael’s time, but that’s what you’d hope with a national level athlete and it didn’t stop lucky winners getting their prizes!

The CKUK Magazine Throwbag Challenge also drew a crowd each time someone stepped up to throw the rope bag into a boat, gradually getting further away each time they threw. The winners managed an impressive 20-metre throw with pinpoint accuracy to win a year’s magazine subscription, although technique advice from the sidelines seemed as abundant as those trying!

As the afternoon came around so did preparations for the finale of the day: The cardboard canoe race. Starting quietly with boat building by Palm and AS Watersports’ staff, the ‘workshop’ area soon became a teaming mass of people cutting, folding and taping card into weird a wacky shapes.

As building finished, a parade of boats (if you can call some of them that) let head judge Ben Hedden from Haven Banks Activity centre scrutinize designs, before giving the entrants the go ahead to proceed. By now the banks were lined with spectators and, amidst the expected carnage, boats set off to try and get around a marker buoy.

Success was not widespread with some who’d put creativity in front of water tightness literally falling at the first splash. However the crowd began to roar as the first ‘floaters’ made it around the buoy and back on the home straight. At best many made one lap, including an ingenious catamaran design from the local deaf school, but as cheers continued a junior and senior race winner soon became obvious, as they were the only ones still afloat. Congratulations to Sea Hare and Back-to-Front, winners of the first ever Exe Cardboard Canoe Race!

Tea and medals swiftly followed and the tiring task of packing it all away began.

It was a great event, fulfilling the aims of the Big Paddle by showcasing the sport to new participants and widening the scope for those who already take part, all in aid of charitable causes, which for the Exe event were Devon Hospice care and the Canoe Foundation.

Events such as this are only possible with the dedication and help from volunteers. So to AS Watersports, Canoe England, Haven Banks, Exeter Canoe Club, Globe 360, CKUK the Palm team, and all of you who attended – a Big Paddle thanks.

Look out for the full report in the December issue of Canoe Kayak UK Magazine. Until then, we hope you enjoy these shots. Massive thanks to Daniel Bewsey for capturing the event for us. For the whole gallery see Dan’s Big Paddle Flickr Album.

More information about the Big Paddle events: www.thebigpaddle.com