Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon

Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race
Devizes wharf (Kennet and Avon Canal) Wootton locks (4) Bruce Tunnel (502 yd) locks 55 to 84 (30) Newbury lock Newbury Wharf (End of day 1 - 34.5 miles) locks 86 to 107 (22) Jn with River Thames locks (6) Marlow bridge (End of day 2 - 70.0 miles) Marlow lock locks (12) Teddington lock (End of day 3 - 107.5 miles) Richmond lock bridges (15) Westminster bridge (End of day 4 - 125.0 miles) Westminster Pier, River Thames

The race follows the Kennet and Avon Canal for 52 miles (84 km) from Devizes through Pewsey, Hungerford and Newbury to Reading. From Reading the race follows the non-tidal River Thames downstream for 55 miles (89 km) through Henley-on-Thames, Marlow, Maidenhead, Windsor, Staines and Kingston before reaching the tidal River Thames at Teddington Lock. The tidal river is followed for the final 18 miles (29 km) through the western suburbs of London to Westminster. The 2008 race was the 60th anniversary of the event.[1]

The course requires competitors to portage their canoes and kayaks around 77 locks. Starting from Devizes, there are four locks before the 502-yard (459 m) Bruce tunnel, and another 31 locks before Newbury wharf, and the end of the first stage, is reached. Stage 2 has 22 locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal, before the junction with the River Thames is reached, and a further six locks on the Thames, before the stage ends above Marlow lock. Stage 3 includes 14 locks, ending below Teddington lock, while stage 4 has a single lock at Richmond before the final 18 miles (29 km) on the tideway. Richmond lock is only operational at some states of the tide, and so a portage may be avoided if passage is made during a period of two hours either side of high tide.[2]

The idea of canoeing from Devizes to Westminster was first suggested by Roy Cooke, who had been part of a team who had attempted to canoe along the River Avon from Pewsey, near Devizes, to the sea at Christchurch in 1947. He then planned to see if it was possible to reach Westminster from Devizes in under 100 hours. At the time, much of the Kennet and Avon Canal was derelict, but still in water. He was unable to attempt the course, but a number of locals offered some money for Scout funds if the Devizes Scouts could succeed in "taking a boat from Devizes to Westminster in under 100 hours, all food and camping kit to be carried in the boats". Four of the scouts, Peter Brown, Laurie Jones, Brian Smith and Brian Walters, all aged 17, attempted the route at Easter 1948. The event generated much interest, with some national press coverage, and a large crowd gathering at Westminster Bridge to see the end of the feat, which was completed in 89 hours 50 minutes.[3]

Chippenham Sea Cadets attempted the route at Whitsun 1948, and managed to reduce the time to 75 hours 50 minutes, but several attempts later in the year were thwarted by the amount of weed in the canal. In 1949, although no race had been organised, nearly 20 boats attempted the course at Easter, and although many failed to complete it, two crews representing Richmond Canoe Club completed it in 49 hours 32 minutes, and a team from Bristol Scouts managed 53 hours 10 minutes.

In view of the interest shown, Frank Luzmore, one of the competitors from Richmond Canoe Club, decided to organise the event as an annual contest. Albert Weibel, another member of the Richmond Canoe Club, donated a trophy for the winner, and at Easter 1950, 17 boats took part in the first official race. A team from Richmond Canoe Club won again, by completing the course non-stop in 34 hours 52 minutes, closely followed by a team representing the Royal Marines. Ten of the boats completed the course.[3]

The armed forces saw the race as an opportunity for training, and because they organised the backup support as a military exercise, won the race from 1951 until 1970, with the exception of 1952. Teams from the Paras, Royal Marines, SAS and Special Forces competed, with Dansie and Dry, representing the SAS, completing the course in just over 24 hours in 1951. Officially, every boat had to carry cooking equipment, camping equipment and a host of other standard items, and no assistance from a support team was allowed. Even water could only be obtained from official watering points.

As the main race soon became a one-day event, rather than a four-day one, much of the official kit was redundant, and there was widespread breaking of the rules. In 1966, one of the crews who finished the race was disqualified, two crews had time penalties added to the time they actually took, and 49 of the crews who failed to finish were deemed to have broken the rules, and so would have been disqualified if they had finished. The military teams, with their radio networks, were particularly good at offering support, in particular food, to their teams at remote locations, where they were unlikely to be seen by race officials.[3]

Recognising that the military had an unfair advantage, the rules were changed in 1971, so that boats did not have to carry "all food and camping kit", and the use of support teams to supply food and drink was allowed. Peter Lawler and Chris Baker, both from Richmond Canoe Club, and who had canoed for Britain at international level, took up the challenge, and succeeded in beating Paganelli and Evans, who had won the race for the Paras in 1968, 1969 and 1970.[3]

There are five classes of event, each with its own set of rules.[5]

• Senior Doubles: This is a non-stop race, timed continuously from the moment they start, until either they reach Westminster, or they admit defeat (which accounts for one third of the entries, rising to half in 1998).
• Junior Doubles: Two crew members, completing the course in four stages with overnight stops.
• Junior/Veteran: Two crew members, one who must be a junior, and one who must be over 35, completing the course in four stages with overnight stops. This class was introduced in 1989 to encourage parents to canoe with their children, but most crews which have entered are not related.[3]
• Senior Singles: One person kayaks or canoes, over the same four stages.
• Endeavour: A doubles class held over four stages which is non-competitive.

The stages in the Stages race are as follows:

Stage 1: Devizes Wharf to Northcroft Leisure Centre, Newbury (34.4 miles)

Stage 2: Northcroft Leisure Centre, Newbury to Marlow (35.6 miles)

Stage 3: Marlow to Thames Young Mariners, Teddington (37.5 miles)

Stage 4: Thames Young Mariners, Teddington to Westminster Bridge (17.5 miles)

In 2000, heavy rainfall had brought the River Thames up to flood levels with fast-flowing water. A number of crews found the conditions on the Thames challenging, especially during the darkness of night-time for the non-stop crews. After an incident at Old Windsor weir, the race committee took the decision to abandon the race. As some teams had already reached Teddington (and were waiting to access the tidal stretch) when the decision was made, they decided (against the race organisers' instructions) to remove their race numbers and carry on unofficially to Westminster.[6]

In 2001, along with a large number of events in the UK, the race could not take place due to a nationwide outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease restricting unnecessary access to the countryside (and thus large parts of the course).

In 2016, Storm Katie brought storm force winds to London on Easter Monday and a decision was made to cancel the last day of the staged race; the results were based on the times taken to reach Thames Young Mariners. Finishers' medals were awarded to those that reached this point and certificates issued marked "shortened course". This decision did not affect the non-stop race, which had already finished on Easter Sunday.[7]

In 2018, heavy rainfall prior to the Easter weekend and throughout Good Friday again brought the River Thames up to flood levels with fast-flowing water. The race committee initially ruled that no night-time paddling should occur on the Thames, but after conditions worsened they decided that all classes would finish at Reading (Wokingham Canoe Club at Dreadnaught Reach).[8] No finishers' medals were issued and certificates were marked "shortened course".

In 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

In 2022, the event was shortened to 108 miles and finished at Teddington, since the grounds of St Thomas' Hospital were occupied by a vaccination station.

In 2023, race entries were curtailed due to extremely high water levels. Many crews were disallowed from the start, based on ability, to let organisers focus health and safety efforts on crews who were more likely to be water-competent. Thus, no crew with a junior was allowed to go past Dreadnought Reach in Reading. This was also the case for Senior Singles, Junior Doubles, Junior Vet classes and any Endeavour crew containing a junior. Only Senior Doubles were allowed to finish in Westminster.[10]

The current (non-stop) course record was set during an unprecedented race in 2023, which saw half of the senior entrants disallowed by a competency-based assessment for safety reasons. Keith Moule of Chelmsford Canoe Club and Tom Sharpe of Richmond Canoe Club set a new record with a time of 15 hours and 19 minutes.[11] For the previous 44 years the record stood at 15 hours 34 minutes, set in 1979 by Brian Greenham and Tim Cornish, one from Richmond Canoe Club and one from Reading Canoe Club.[12]

For the staged events, the solo record was set in 1993 by G Butler of Nottingham Kayak Club in a time of 14 hours 46 minutes. The junior record was also set in 1993 by the Richmond / Royal pairing of Steve Jensen and Tony Richardson in 14 hours 13 minutes, faster than the senior record, but they did have three night's sleep on the way down.[13]

In the months leading up to the races, there are two series of races, the Thameside Series and Waterside Series, that are deemed good practice for crews competing in the main Devizes to Westminster race. The Thameside Series is based around Reading, with two races, going from Aldermaston to Reading and Reading to Marlow respectively. The Waterside Series is a series of four races based around Newbury, Berkshire, of lengths 14 miles, 17.5 miles, 23 miles and 34 miles; it is often competed as a series on its own.

• Official website
• The Paddler's Perspective – last updated 2006, archived in 2011