The Conway Ascent

The Conwy Ascent is an upstream canoeing event, taking advantage of the flood tide to start in the Deganwy Narrows and finish at Dolgarrog Bridge approximately 15km away. The river offers many challenges in reading water and weather conditions as well as being is rich in wildlife and beautiful scenery such as the imposing Conwy Castle.

The event is run by Dyffryn Conwy Paddlers and comprises both a marathon race and a tour, and paddlers may race or tour in any canoe or kayak of their choice. Following the successful introduction at the 2009 Conwy Ascent, there is also a race for Stand Up Paddleboards.

I found myself with a rare Saturday off from work and so decided to enter the tour, rather than the race, to give myself a chance to blow the cobwebs away. Its been a while since I have paddled competitively and I didn't really fancy the 'Le Mans' start, but registering for the event and wearing the bib did remind me of days gone by as a sprint and marathon paddler with West Cumbria Canoe Club.

The Afon Conwy is a beautiful river in North Wales flowing through the picturesque Conwy valley from the Snowdonia National Park to the sea. It meets the sea at Deganwy after passing under the walls of the 13th century castle and through the harbour at Conwy.

Paddling my Tiderace Xcite and using a Greenland paddle, I was pleased with my progress and completed the ascent in 1 hour, 24 minutes. I was surprised at how competitive I got after having passed several paddlers in the early stages. Maybe next year I'll give the race a go.

And for those who are looking for a bit more punch to their paddling then consider participating in the Menai Challenge as established by John Willacy, an accomplished racer and Anglesey circumnavigator. There is also the ‘Swellies Extreme’ Sea Kayak Race to participate in over 29th/30th October weekend organised by Kayak Essentials.

Pictures of the 2011 ascent can be found here. 

MCA Annual Canoe & Kayak Report

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has just published its annual canoeing and kayaking report which gives national statistics for 2010. 

Last year there were 456 canoeing and kayaking incidents in the UK. These included incidents where people got into difficulty due to underestimating weather and tidal conditions, lacked skill or were ill prepared. Abandoned kayaks and false alarms are incorporated within this statistic. Sadly, nine fatalities are also included. 

Report highlights include:

If boat owners put contact details on their craft and joined the CG66 small boat safety scheme the coastguard would be able to identify owners quickly and easily. This would result in fewer needless searches.

Kayakers and canoeists are encouraged to report their proposed activities to the appropriate coastguard maritime rescue coordination centre by routine telephone call or marine band radio.

If canoeists and kayakers are planning to leave their vehicles in public places for more than two days they should contact the coastguard.

The coastguard is receiving increasing reports of paddlers in difficulty which turn out to be kayakers fishing. If people are fishing they should contact the coastguard, by VHF radio if they have one or by telephone using the routine telephone number, to avoid wasted searches.

Some canoeists and kayakers are not wearing buoyancy aids or lifejackets – these are essential safety kit.

Participants who hired canoes and kayaks got into difficulty because they did not check weather and sea conditions.

Considering the total number of incidents throughout the year and the increasing number of paddling sport participants there were relatively few fatalities related to canoeing or kayaking incidents. 

You can download the complete report here

The following statistic were recently published within a thread on UK Sea Kayak Guidebook by an RNLI representative

2010: RNLI launched to paddlers 253 times out of a total of 8,713.
2009: RNLI launched to paddlers 274 times out of a total of 9,223.
2008: RNLI launched to paddlers 241 times out of a total of 8,293.

And here's a break down of the causes of those launches to paddlers:

2010 launches to paddlers:Adverse weather and conditions 114
Equipment failure 0
Man over board 24
Stranding/collision/nav failure 11
Person in difficulty 1
Other 103

2009 launches to paddlers: 
Adverse weather and conditions 138
Equipment failure 0
Man over board 26
Stranding/collision/nav failure 13
Person in difficulty 6
Other 91

2008 launches to paddlers:
Adverse weather and conditions 116
Equipment failure 2
Man over board 24
Stranding/collision/nav failure 6
Person in difficulty 9
Other 84

The 'other' category includes false alarms with good intent and malicious hoax calls, assistance by other people, searches where the casualty is not found or found by others, and incidents where the casualty has sorted out the situation themselves.

Leaders...Born Of Nature or Practice?

Leaders, born or made? Scholar Richard Arvey found that among twins, leadership is 30 percent genetic/born and 70 percent learned/environmental. A pretty interesting thought to start with. We can also turn to the work of K. Anders Ericsson and his colleagues which may get to the heart of developing leadership in yourself and others…

“People believe that because expert performance is qualitatively different from normal performance the expert performer must be endowed with characteristics qualitatively different from those of normal adults. This view has discouraged scientists from systematically examining expert performers and accounting for their performance in terms of the laws and principles of general psychology. We agree that expert performance is qualitatively different from normal performance and even that expert performers have characteristics and abilities that are qualitatively different from or at least outside the range of those of normal adults. However, we deny that these differences are immutable, that is, due to innate talent. Only a few exceptions, most notably height, are genetically prescribed. Instead, we argue that the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a lifelong period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain” (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Romer, 1993, pp. 399-400).

One key seems to be intentionality and one problem is that many people are not deliberately “practicing” effective leadership. There is often no coach and it’s hard to get a real perspective on effectiveness, and even more difficult to get unfiltered perceptions of others. Feedback (personal, 360, coaching from supervisor or consultant) is one way to gauge progress. However, the interventions listed above are somewhat rare in organisational life. For instance, other than the annual performance review, what kind of ongoing coaching do you receive from your supervisor? Hopefully, a lot. Maybe not though.

Do some have a certain level of natural talent? Likely. Can others get better over time? Sure. Are you practicing the right stuff? Hopefully.