Month: September 2025

Freestyle Competition: Wednesday 15th October on the 7:30pm Legacy Session

We are organising a pilot freestyle competition on Wednesday 15th October on the 7:30pm Legacy session. If you’ve ever wanted to see what freestyle is about, now is your chance! Anyone can enter in any boat; this is all about having fun and finding out about freestyle. Heats will be in a ‘jam’ style format (a set time allocated for the heat based on the number of paddlers and you just take it in turns getting on the feature). The categories are mixed gender and age but based on ability level: Novice – All fun moves count (think paddle spins, cosmic donkeys, Harry Potters – if you have no idea what these are you’ll learn along the way) Intermediate – ICF moves with flexibility i.e. if you initiate in the feature but flush, you’ll still score it and some flexibility on angles. If you retain in the feature, there will be additional bonuses. Advanced – ICF scoring. Stricter scoring, requiring you to retain in the feature to score the move. There will be a mandatory safety brief in the island on the Legacy at 7:15. Heats will also be allocated at the brief along with bibs. The cost of the …

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Report: AquaPaddle 28th September

The first AquaPaddle took place Sunday 28th September on the River Lee from the White Water Centre. 10 paddlers tackled 5k in a variety of craft and with a range of skill sets, with some racing, some relaxing, some litter picking….but enjoyed by all. Our thanks to Martin and Reuben for safety cover and their organisation. This was a first for LVPC and it is hoped that these paddles will take place monthly. Look out for the dates and joining instructions for future AquaPaddle events…come and join us and still have time for a WW paddle afterwards.

Time to Renew!

For Club Members who have a 2024/2025 membership, your membership expires on 30th September 2025 – so it is time for an October 1st renewal! Following our September AGM’s decision to return the Club to an April to March membership year, there will be two renewal options to get your membership into an annual cycle that starts in April: There is a small discount built-in to the 18 month membership fee. We are delighted to announce a reduction in our Junior and Family Membership fees thanks to an anonymous benefactor who has generously donated a subsidy to help make paddling more accessible for young people. Our six month and 18 month membership fees, with discounts and subsidies applied, are as follows:

Report: U16 Kayak Cross Event on 20th September 2025

This report was kindly submitted by one of our talented junior paddlers. Our thanks to them. Yesterday evening, Lee Valley Paddlesports Club hosted a Kayak Cross event. Kayak Cross is a sport where people go down a flowing water course in plastic kayaks, going around massive poles as they go. 4 paddlers are released at a time, often sliding down ramps, and try to go round the poles whilst staying in the lead. If the poles are green, you must go to one side of them, if they are red, you must go around them. Sometimes it even includes a roll zone, where you have to roll under a horizontal bar! The event saw a great turn out, with 32 under 16s, 12 of them LVPC members, showing up to have fun on the Lee Valley Legacy course! The competitors all tried their hardest, especially when faced with a roll zone, other competitors and white water. This event was hosted in order to allow young people to try out a different kind of paddlesport to the ones they are used to. It also boosted many of the paddlers’ confidence on the white water course as they knew they were not …

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New Club Membership Year

For our many current Club Members, memberships will need renewing from 1st October 2025, but just for this year, the options available for renewing membership will be a little different. Here’s why: At our September 2025 AGM it was agreed the Club would return to a Membership Year that starts on 1st April each year, and not, as currently, the 1st October. We moved to the 1st October to accommodate all the months of lost paddling during the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, but it suits us much better to get back to a 1st April start. So, as our current memberships become renewable for 1st October 2025, there will be two options available to get you back to an April-to-March annual membership cycle. You will be able to either renew for six months to 31st March 2026, or you will be able to renew for 18 months to 31st March 2027. Details on these options and the fees agreed by the AGM will be published on WebCollect with updates in the weekly Club News and on this website.

AquaPaddle on 28th September 2025

AquaPaddle is coming to Lee Valley on Sunday, 28th September! The Club is hosting an AquaPaddle 5km event open, on the Lee Navigation canal to all Club Members in any craft* on Sunday 28th September. Meet at 09:30 to be on the water for 10am. Anyone wanting to paddle or volunteer needs to register on www.aquapaddle.org to get your number/register your qualifications etc and please then also send an email to Reuben (reuben.sweetman@gmail.com) who will arrange to get you registered for the event. Spectators are more than welcome and we hope all of you (i.e. paddlers, volunteers and spectators) can join us afterwards for an – entirely optional – celebratory bite to eat and something to drink in the Whitewater Centre cafe. *You don’t even have to bring your own craft! LVPC’s Flatwater Racing group can potentially supply a range of suitable craft. If this is of interest, please email Reuben at reuben.sweetman@gmail.com (ideally WELL before the event) so we can try to accommodate. We look forward to seeing you all.

Sea Kayaking Report

With thanks to sea kayaking leader Adrian Simpson for the following trip report: The Isle of Wight trip was a success, at least in the sense that we got there. The winds were too strong for the full circumnavigation, but Friday’s consolation prize was a thrilling out & back from Hurst Point to the Needles, returning through the Trap tide race. Saturday’s day paddle was a 10 mile downwind run around Beachy Head, while Sunday offered a welcome change of pace with a scenic pootle up the Beaulieu River. Quite a lot of driving, but worth it to get the best locations on the south coast in perfect conditions. More trips will be arranged for October and November, keep an eye on Club News. 

AGM 2025: Chair’s Report on the Year

At our 2025 Club AGM, Jonathan Males reported on the 2024/25 year, thanking all those who had contributed to the Club’s ongoing success. ” I’m pleased to report on a successful year for our club, that has been enabled by the club members who volunteer to keep sessions safe and coach other members to grow in confidence, by dedicated committee members who give their time and expertise, and by deepening collaboration with our key partners Paddle UK, Lee Valley Whitewater Centre, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and local clubs such as Whoosh Explore, Shepperton, and Viking Kayak Club. I will leave the detailed Financial Report to our capable Treasurer Marie Bauerova, who has done a magnificent job managing our ingoings and outgoings, supported by our Finance Sub Committee (Carl Upsall, Mark Corti, and myself). I am delighted that our financial situation is stabilising and I’m confident that with continued attention to costs we can maintain our viability. For example, we will again run shorter ‘winter hours’ from December to April, and you will be asked to approve a small regular increase in annual membership fees. Whilst cheaper access to the whitewater course is one benefit of club membership, I hope …

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