We were blessed with fantastic weather for this year's event, which saw a range of paddlers from Carlisle, Copeland, Penrith and West Cumbria clubs battling it out again. 
​Big thank-you to all the volunteers who make this event possible, and of course to Sue & Dave at Derwent Water Marina and their staff Rob & Lisa who man the safety boats and prepare the boats and equipment.
Penrith were determined to retain the trophy and  bringing 22 paddlers they certainly were the favorites.  But things didn't go their way in the first race with Penrith A beaten convincingly by the WCCC A team - but they made up for it in the next race with a winning pace to set up a final between the two Penrith teams.

Here is a link to the folder with all the photos for the event. Feel free to download any you want.

Report on the Jim Wilson Tiger Boat Challenge for Cumbria Canoe Clubs, 24th April 2024
Everyone we have spoken to says “What an enthusiastic and happy evening”.
A big thank you to everyone who made this such a huge success - in particular -

• Derwentwater Marina for hosting us all.
• Our Race Director in the start boat - Rob Sanderson and his crew Ian Fauldes.
• Our enthusiastic Tiger Boat Helms - Mark Aplin, Rich Robinson, John Crosbie, Tim Mather.
• Our hawk eyed Timekeepers -Guy Murray and Alex Fradley in the finish boat with Lisa Price. 
• The paddlers who drove a long way, on a mid-week evening to come to Derwentwater and the captains who got the teams together from West Cumbria, Carlisle, Copeland, Lakeland and Penrith canoe clubs.
• Our Welcome team of Hazel, Shaun and Jack who gave you a friendly welcome.
• Our team of cheerful chefs who laid on an outstanding non-stop BBQ for about 100 people - Becca Muir, Mark and Helen Hunt, Ellon, Sean and Bea.
• The Shore Organisers for WCCC  - Pete Knowles and Alan Ashby.

 
Brief Report
Tiger Boats are similar to small dragon boats and require a crew of 10 persons and an experienced  “helm” - the person steering.  Racing them is great fun and requires a quick start, teamwork, coordination and hard paddling - Various levels of all of these were achieved!  As the evening went on the races became more and more exciting with lots of happy cheering and 7 races were packed into a hectic 90 minutes of enthusiastic, non-stop racing. 
The heats were close with all teams putting up credible times.  The two teams with the best times in the heats - Penrith A and Copeland Canoe Clubs went through to the final - What looked like a dramatic crash in the final was thankfully only a minor bump which did not affect the result with Penrith A a clear winner.  Lisa Price from Derwentwater Marina presented Penrith Canoe Club with the Jim Wilson trophy and thanked everyone for making it such a happy, enthusiastic event.   
 
Photos and Media

• Alan Ashby took a load of good photos and the best of these are available on this link …….
• We attach the race times.
• Please feel free to publicise the event on social and other media.

 
Best wishes and happy paddling in the summer ahead!
 
Peter Knowles and Alan Ashby for WCCC