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100
Mile Canoe Challenge_____________________ |
| The 48th
Annual 100 mile canoe challenge is a personal
challenge of skill, determination, team work and
stamina which 3 Welsh Wing is excited to offer
its cadets in 2010. |
| The four
day event, which takes place between the 28th of
May and the 1st of June, sees participants
paddle 100 miles from Leighton Bridge in
Welshpool to Worcester on the river Severn. |
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There are no age restrictions on this event,
however cadets must be physically fit enough to
take part in the 25 miles a day canoe trip and
be free for both the training sessions and the
test itself. |
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Due to the time period involved in training some
cadets may wish to consider using this as part
of their Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, if
this is the case they should make this clear
prior to starting training |
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100
Mile Canoe Challenge by: ICWO Emily Fletcher
Miles________________________________________________ |
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Cadets and Staff from 2227 (Mid-Gwendraeth)
squadron took part in the CYP (Clubs for Young
People) 48th annual 100-mile canoe
test. This was the first time for a team of Air
Cadets to participate. There was ten weeks of
training from basic canoe strokes to water
rescues. The training included two river trips,
one afternoon on the river Tawe and a full day
on the river Wye. The training is demanding yet
the 100 mile canoe test was an extremely
rewarding experience |
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The first day of the test was the most difficult
due to being closer to the source of the river;
the river was windy, narrow and shallow. There
were a few rapids, but nothing to difficult to
conquer. The lowest point of the trip was on the
first day when we thought we had done around 13
miles but then found out that we had in fact
only done 9. Morale hit rock bottom, after this
though time seamed to fly by as the river became
easier to canoe down and the team became
happier. At the end of the first day a lot of
the cadets’ parents came to cheer us on and as
we got into the final check point we rafted up
and sang the Oompa-Lumpa song. We had travelled
22.9 miles in 8hrs 45minutes. |
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On the second day we feared the worse, we were
travelling 34 miles and had prepared ourselves
for it to be harder than the first, to our
surprise it was a lot easier due to the rivers
characteristics. However three canoeists and
Treble Teddy got wet while going over Shrewsbury
Weir, the canoe began to tip, and the canoeists
leant the same way, ending in them getting very
wet! Despite this the day went with out any
major problems, team moral was high and a few of
the team realised that singing made the day go
quicker so this was the way forward. We finished
off the second day by singing Fluffy Sheep. It
took us 9hrs 46minutes to do 34.4miles |
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A lot of the team began feeling the strain on
the third day. No one was going to drop out
though as we had already passed the half way
point. It did in fact fly by rather quickly and
the river was once again wider and easier to
deal with. At the beginning of the day the team
had to navigate Jackfield Rapids in Ironbridge,
they were pretty fierce but luckily no one ended
up swimming. After we had all got passed them we
were told that in previous years, no one in
Canadians had managed to pass them without
capsizing so we all felt rather proud of
ourselves. There was a bit of a run in with an
angry swan, we think we must have stopped near
his nest, as he seamed quite agitated, but we
left him alone and no one was hurt. At the end
of the third day we sang the Oompa-Lumpa song.
We did 28.3 miles in 7hrs 31minutes. |
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The forth day was rather exhilarating. The team
was determined to finish as quickly as possible.
We also went into three separate locks which was
a new, if not slightly haunting experience. We
had to raft up in the locks as the water levels
corrected themselves. The 14 miles went flying
past at 13 miles however there was a holding
point where we were stopped waiting for all the
paddlers in the test to catch up. We were
waiting for around an hour fifthteen minutes in
total for all of the teams to arrive at the
holding point. They then let us all go at the
same time. There was a mad rush to finish with
paddlers capsizing everywhere. None of our team
capsized and we stayed together as a team. It
took us 3hrs 24minutes to paddle 14.4miles.
There was a great sense of achievement that we
had all finished. We put the kit away, got
changed and then went to the presentation, we
got given medals and certificates for all of our
participants then began the long journey home.
Altogether the whole 100 mile canoe test took us
29hours and 26minutes. We all can’t wait to do
it again next year |
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Participating Squadrons_______________________ |
| 2227 |
Mid Gwendraeth Squadron |
| 334 |
Neath Squadron |
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Other Squadrons TBC |
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Interested in taking part in 2011?_______________ |
| If you are interested in taking part in
2011, details will be posted on this website as
soon as they become available. |
| Please be reminded, that if you would like
to take up this challenge, you must have: |
- At least a one star
kayaking qualification
- The ability to swim fifty meters unaided
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Write-up kindly supplied by: ICWO
Emily Fletcher Miles 2227 (Mid Gwendraeth) Squadron |
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Pictures kindly supplied by: Sqn Ldr
Jeremiah, 3WW Adventure Training Officer |
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