There are four main training sessions each week – the Wednesday Technique session for newcomers to the sport, the Tuesday evening Intermediate session, Weedcatchers intermediate to advanced session every Thursday, and the Sunday morning bunch ride, er, paddle. Specific sessions are possible, talk to or email the Club Coach to arrange something.
Every Wednesday at 5:30pm, from the Clubrooms. If you need to use a club kayak arrive early so you can get your choice of boat and have time to adjust the footpegs for your size.
Aimed at beginners, the technique session is open to all comers, free of charge. The main focus is on getting good habits built in at an early stage – you can always add the power and speed later, in your own time and training sessions. Typically there are about 2-5 kayakers per instructor, so you will always get some personal attention.
Most of our Technique session paddlers are aiming for the Coast to Coast, so the training is broadly structured around that goal. If you intend to do the C2C, get started with your paddling as soon as you can – April/May/June will ensure you get enough paddle skills and miles under your belt to ensure you enjoy the Waimak, rather than grovel and swim your way down.
Note: We don’t do grade 2 certificates, check out the Coast to Coast website for a list of course instructors (we offer no guarantees about their quality). Do your grade 2 course as soon as possible, and get some river time up.
If you've done a few of the beginner sessions on Wednesdays and want to pick the pace up or do a bit more milage in the session, but still get a bit of technique instruction, Tuesdays are the days for you! Same time - 5:30pm, same place.
This session is open to club members only.
Every Thursday at 5:30pm, from the Clubrooms - the session starts at the first bridge at 5:45pm.
Get hard, go harder. Weedcatchers is a mix of technique and speed work for intermediate to advanced kayakers, with lots of interesting ways of getting the training and skills up. The Weedcatchers sessions are broken down into three groups, so that the groups don’t get spread down the length of the Avon. This means there’s a group for you – get out there and make the most of it.
From the Waimak Classic (second weekend of December) until Goldrush (end of March), Weedcatchers is replaced by a 10km time trial or 10km race – Clubrooms to the Brighton (4th) Bridge and back. This is where you start using all the skills learnt from the Weedcatchers and Technique sessions, and reap the benefits of your training hours.
Whether you see this as a recovery session or a harder than normal workout, you'll cover about 10-15km (depending on tides and weather), and it's expected to be a more social paddle. There won't be any technique actively taught, but if you spot the Club Coach in the mix, ask him for advice and guidance. 9:30(am) from the Clubrooms.
Brett Leask, Grant & Tammy Restall, Leigh Barker and Dave Smith run other, specific sessions that may be more appropriate for your training or timetable. Contact the club coach to find out when they train and how to get in touch with them.
Some instructors will do one-on-one sessions for a reasonable fee, again contact the club coach to get in touch with them.