This is a notoriously gruelling event, taking competitors between 19 and 35 hours to cover the 124 miles of waterway. Last year over 50% of competitors failed to finish the race.
Training began when a friend kindly lent us a kayak, but it proved to be so unstable we could not stay upright for more than about 10 seconds! Recurrent capsize lead to decidedly painful extremities. We proved to be a great source of amusement to the local boating community as cries of "How are the submariners today" greeted our training sessions.
Fortunately our blue fingers and toes were rescued last weekend by
Richmond Kayak Club and a team of paddlers called 'The Brotherhood', who had a spare kayak waiting in the wings. We gratefully accepted the use of the "Sword of Damacles", who is infinitely more stable than our previous vessel.Since then the longitudinal aspect of our training has presided over the rotational and we completed a 35 mile practice race yesterday from Devizes to Newbury.
