Head of the Dart 2014

Head of the Dart 2014

Dartmouth - Totnes

 

 

The first official race of the season had finally arrived, The head of the Dart, and with a new twist that would hopefully shape the sport as it continues to grow. UK SUP Clubs, set up a number of rules for the series to ensure the continued growth of the sport while maintaining a fair playing field for everyone, and thus we all had some snazzy race bibs to wear for the race. The course alternates every year and this year it was starting from Dartmouth and making its way up river to Totnes but with tidal assistance. Again Head of the Dart took the title for the largest ever UK SUP event with 136 paddlers taking to the water, whether to compete or purely just to set themselves the challenge of finishing the 9 mile course set amongst the picturesque scenery here in Devon .

 

 

The turn out was fantastic with people from all over the country turning up for the race, many representing their various clubs. I always enjoy the social aspect of the races and its great to meet up with friends that you may not have seen for a fair number of months and have a catch up, as well as trying to psych a few selected competitors out.  The wind was variable on the green where we were waiting after registration but having paddled on the Dart plenty of times I knew it would be a continuous head wind the entire way and was preparing myself for 9 miles of into wind crunches. The time between registration and the race start meant there was a fair degree of waiting around but the time passed fairly quickly and it soon turned a bit more frantic as the race start loomed. Around 13:10 a long queue of SUPs started making their way down to the ramp by the higher ferry, I took a few extra minutes for everything to clear and did some stretches and final equipment checks then proceeded to make my way to the water.

 

It really was quite something to see so many SUP's on the river and I made my way over to the start line while having a bit of last minute banter with training partner Scott Warren. A sea of orange (14') and red bibs (Unlimited) made their way to the start line and jostled for a good place on the line, thankfully this end there is plenty of space so your not to on top of everyone, next year could be interesting... Everyone either side of me was very focused and set, and then the horn went! The water boiled as paddles and boards churned up the surface, the pace of some of the top athletes off the line still amazes me, I had stood further back on my board to allow myself extra balance in the chop and tried to get my heavy board moving. even after 15 seconds a clear gap had formed and I was caught in the wake of 2-3 boards and unable to put the amount of power down id like in order to stay standing. Before long I had found a gap of relatively smooth water and tried to focus on getting my speed up and working out if I wanted to take the longer route with more tide behind me or follow the train forming over to my left hand side for the front pack. I decided id try and catch the back of the train but it soon became apparent I wasn't gaining on them, I had wandered to far left to use the most of the tide but I started to edge right when possible to try and focus on the corner by Dittisham. The headwind meant I had spent most of my time paddling on the right hand side of my board and the pace was starting to hurt my shoulders already, maybe I wasn't as recovered from the Great Glen as I thought I was, regardless I got my head down and cracked on with it continuing to keep as low as possible with each stroke to reduce windage.

 

By now Ryan James and the front 10-12 were firmly ahead, yet still catchable if they started to tire, starting to round the corner I knew I had to try and increase my speed, I decided to move further into the tidal stream and watched my GPS speed increase which also gave me a good mental boost and I'm sure I put more effort in also. The group ahead seemed to be taking the corner rather tight and I carried on headed towards Dittisham to stay in the tide as long as possible and then I noticed something, Ryan was paddling the wrong way down towards Galmpton and the others were following, I spotted my chance and snuck over further left than I wanted and tried to hide behind the boats while still paddling to the point and towards the finish. I kept glancing to my right and saw the group still heading the wrong way, by now I was getting fired up to gun for the finish despite knowing I still had around 6 miles to go, I decided to take on some fluids and had a glance behind me to see who was following in my draft, to my surprise it was my brother, Dan Ashford, at this point we both were 1st and 2nd place and knuckled down to the task at hand, unfortunately the safety boat had powered over to the rest of the others and told them which way Totnes was, the race was back on.

We managed to maintain 1st/2nd for almost a mile before Ryan James stormed passed, and I realised my only chance to keep a good pace up was to stick near the main tidal flows of the river, it meant taking a slightly longer route but ultimately keeping a good moving speed, as I edged passed Stoke Gabriel I caught a glimpse of Ben Payne who had powered through the head wind and was setting a good pace. By now the paddle sounds from behind me had disappeared and I knew I was alone for now but it was hard to tell how close anyone might be with the wind in the wrong direction. Just before the 3 mile to go stage, Ollie Shilston cruised passed on his 12'6", as the 12'6 and cruising class had started 3 minutes after the 14's and are generally slower its goes to show just how fast he can paddle. As he was in a different class I couldn't slot behind him and had to carry on slogging it out. Nearing the Sharpham Vineyard corner I saw 2 of the youngest competitors Peter Kosinski and Aaron Rowe who had also done extremely well on their 12'6s and were not that far behind Ollie. Thankfully but also regrettably, Pete Holiday also came passed and I saw an opportunity to slot in and try and recover slightly while keeping up a good speed. Pete was trying every trick in the book to try and get me off his tail and I dug deep and stuck in there for as long as possible, he lost me when taking a very shallow corner and I went over to the channel and went for it again on my own, it didn't pay off and slowly but surely he began to pull away.

With just 1 mile to go both Peter K, and Aaron passed me and I tried to go for 1 last sprint to the line, like I had practiced in the months leading up to the race. I couldn't close in on Pete Holiday but he wasn't too far ahead but I could hear paddle strokes behind me, I was really flagging and with 50m or so before the line I was passed by Rob Stewart on his K-15, a fellow paddler from the Great Glen paddle. Due to the time differences of the race starts I was unsure where my final placement was but, I had managed a 4th place 14' finish and 8th overall, which considering the level of competitors I was stoked with.

All in all it was yet another fantastic event and a very enjoyable day, a big congratulations to everyone who took part, especially my mum Jocelyn Jones who on her first race back in almost 2 years managed to come 1st in the Females Unlimited class. Id like to thank the Rowing club for yet again allowing SUP's to join in with the race and Starboard and Tushingham for their continued support. Next known race, Battle of the Thames. Whoop Whoop!