17th Annual York Canoe Race Committee Report, 2024 Event – 22nd. June 2024
Our principal sponsor remains ‘Illuminate Training’ many thanks to Brendan Cunney for his continued support and participation in our event!
This years event went really well, with no incidents or accidents reported, and positive feedback from everyone involved.
The predictable last minute crisis manifested itself in the form of flood mitigation works associated with the path west side of Millennium bridge, fortunately this still allowed access for competitors on to the usual parking/registration area south of the bridge.
We started the long course with two crews still making their way to the start line, we apologies for this, and will review how this happened in order to make the start process better next year!
The medium and short courses started successfully.
The 2024 event attracted 86 river craft, taking on race distances of 2.5K (31 craft), 5K (30 craft), or 7.5K (25 craft) through the heart of York City center!
We attracted maximum entries this year, and the race committee will consider whether we can increase entries for the 2025 event while maintaining the safe running and enjoyment of the event overall.
The weather was more than kind to the 2024 event, with lots of sunshine and temperatures around 23 degrees, gave the event a real festival feel!
The entry field consisted of all types of canoe and kayak, once again, the number of Stand up Paddleboarders (SUP) increased to 30 this year.
Competitors represented most groups, scouts, special needs organisation, recreational paddlers, and experienced tourer/racers making the 2024 event as diverse as ever!
Everyone made it off the water safely, with only a couple of rescues necessary. Great feedback came from competitors, as to the support for competitors who were unable to complete their courses, and for the assistance getting everyone on and off the water (the scouts who spend their time stood in the water each side of the river did a great job!)
The barbeque was a great focal point for everyone who loves paddle sport to congregate and reflect on their racing experience! Special mention must go out to the catering team, the BBQ and cakes always forms the focal point for competitors and supporters of the event.
As usual there were lots of prizes, with hand made wooden canoe trophies and medals awarded in all courses. We had a small number of issues with the trophies, thankyou to those competitors for allowing us to make corrections after the formal prize giving! Allocating the trophies is complex, especially with the increased participation this year!
The certificates and the medals for junior/special needs competitors were well received.
In terms of sponsorship ‘Blu Fin’ paddle boards provided additional prizes for the stand up paddle boards in the long and medium event, this was very generous and complemented the increase in paddle board competitors.
This was the third consecutive year supported by Paddle UK (formally British Canoeing) in terms of the entry system, insurance and advertising. The entry system worked well, and the advertising supported an increased pre entry. Greg from the Paddle UK team was, once again fantastically supportive prior to and during race day!
Although ‘She Paddles’ supported the 2024 event, the she paddles representative was unable to attend the event due to illness, it was great to see a significant number of female competitors across all three race distances all the same!
We updated our timing system with the introduction of ‘Race Gorilla’, PK to add a few comments
York Canoe Race continues to be all about participation in paddlesport, and a celebration of our paddling community, less so about ability (although the courses are always hotly contested at the sharp end!)
We want our event to continue for another 17 years, and to be progressive in terms of entry and format, to do this we need feedback from you! Please provide via our website ‘yorkcanoerace.co.uk’ – contact us!.
The 2024 event took place with support from the following organisations:
Illuminate Training for their continued sponsorship (WWW.illumin8training.co.uk)
Blue Fin for sponsorship for the SUP competitors (Bluefin SUP Paddle Board: Premium Stand Up Paddle Boards & Accessories (bluefinsupboards.com))
Friends of Rowntrees Park for helping with the start location, event parking, toilets etc (Home – Friends of Rowntree Park)
Paddle UK and Greg for lots of logistical stuff, advice and the entry system! (The Home of Paddle UK | The NGB for paddling and paddlesport)