ThePaddlerUK 66
The main joy of
the Saturday
however, is the meal and party. River Legacy hosts
a more-than-satisfying meal of sausages plus
whatever you can fit on your plate, followed by
early evening entertainment in the form of the
first NSR Film Awards, hosted by Rattle Media.
Inspirational, awe-inspiring, and in some cases just
plain scary footage was aired for the masses, and
the big prize of a £1,000 Palm Equipment voucher
being split between Phil Mitchell for ‘Setbacks’ and
Rhys Beddoe for ‘Ossian & Guilbhinn: A Scottish
Expedition’
A chariot built for two
King of the Wave
Who needs a paddle?
Loop-the-loop
After the movies, the carnival began. 2015 rodeo
bosses Simon North and Sarah Waddington’s
choice of fancy dress theme proved to be an
excellent one; it was masks and bright colours
galore with dragons roaming and coconut bikinis
wiggling! The sweat was literally raining down from
the marquee roof as we partied into the night. The
glitter and face paint began to blur and costumes
started to fall apart yet everyone at NSR would
not stop! The River Legacy and Extreme Events
crews put on a top show right up till 02.00, after
which the carnival moved back to the campsite
where sing-songs and laughing echoed round the
camp right until the early hours.
Sunday
Sunday began slowly as everyone eased themselves
out of their tents but it was only a few hours
before the course was once again packed. Novice
events began with crowd-pleasers and carnage.
Safety teams made a miraculous effort considering
the hordes of swimmers shooting out of the Inlet
Gate wave. It is here where memories were made.
People floated on inflatable beds, downed beers in
the surf, jumped from one end of the duo to the
other, did backflips from the cockpit, we even had
one individual blowing bubbles and sipping tea as
they floated/swam down. There were, of course,
cakes, pies and ham thrown at the judges. The
highlight for most was trying to get that blasted
inflatable banana out of the spin cycle! It took
three members of the safety team and a whole
series of paddlers before the banana was finally
rescued. James Lane from Leeds took the Men’s
Novice win, with Hannah Pollock from Falmouth
top of the Women.
Intermediate women’s and men’s events, held on
the new wave just below the now removed Tardis,
saw some top skill with some insane talent on
show, everything from old-school paddle spins and
shudder rudders, through to loop attempts and
maybe even the odd swim. Loughborough’s Laura
Ramsey topped the Women’s field, with Ant
Mitchell of Nottingham winning the Mens.