Lee Valley's First Boater X

So after returning from the Sickline and hitting the gym to get ready for May's Moriston River Race a Boater X Event was on the cards at Lee Valley. This was the first Boater X Event put on at LV by Dan Daley.

Race Format

Qualifying

1. Set the fastest individual time down the legacy loop.
2. Two kayakers go head to head but must touch one of the two yellow signs on the course.
3. Two kayakers go head to head but must make two downstream and two upstream gates.

Final B/Final A

Split into two races, the fastest 5 and fastest loosing 5 from qualification. In both races you had to run down the course touch one of the two yellow signs and make a mandatory downstream and upstream gate then sprint to the bottom of the course.

The Races
First flat out race went well, I managed to finish top of the table. The second race was a bit trickier as I had to contend with another person on the course going for the same line. I managed to break out into the eddy below the first yellow sign but as the other person came down it was going to be too much effort to get back up to it so I decided to break back in a go for the second one. This worked out well as it gave me some space to make the lines.
The third races was the hardest of them all due to having to make slalom gates against an ex-slalom paddler. Fighting for the best line from the start I was slightly ahead at the first upstream gate, however lost out after the gate due to him getting the inside line out of the gate. Trailing into the next upstream gate I did a similar trick to as what was done to me which recovered some time. It was then a flat out sprint to the bottom hole. At the top of the hole I managed to push him sideways, however this put me straight into the guts of the hole. I could see that my efforts to push the completion off line didn't work as I was high bracing out of the hole to finish second.

The scoring system, working on your first time -10 seconds for a win and -5 for second meant that I had managed to qualify for the final.

Rob A had also managed to qualify for the final in his Burn MkII.

The Final
With 5 kayakers on the water at the same point it was clear that getting ahead from the start was key. The main line had now become touching one of the signs on RR as you pass it. This would keep you in the flow but was risky as you could go through the following hole with only one hand on the paddle.
As the countdown hit zero we were off. I managed to stay RR and protect the main line to the first sign. Slapping the sign as I past, the other 4 had to go for the second sign in the eddy. This gave me lots of space for the downstream and upstream gates. However I was slightly pushed downriver on the upstream gate which let someone up the inside, he fortunately for me took a roll. After breaking back in it was a flat out sprint to the finish line.

All in all it was a great hours worth of fun on the Legacy Loop, finishing first and Rob forth was a bonus too.

Speaking to Dan afterwards there is hopefully going to be more races and a league table drawn up in the New Year, fingers crossed!