Worlds Selection races, Falcon

Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 August 2024

Location: Falcon Boat Club, near Donnington Bridge, Oxford, OX4 4BJ 

Car parking is at Falcon Boat Club, Meadow Lane. Car parking is limited:

• Please car share wherever possible

• Please do not park on Meadow Lane

• If the car park is full, please drop off your boat and then park at Redbridge Park and Ride (15 minutes walk away)

• Para athletes will have reserved car parking spaces in the car park, closest to the club

• Spectators are very welcome, but please use the Park & Ride car park if you are coming separately to athletes

Races

Saturday

• K2 senior and junior; men and women

• C2 senior and junior men

Sunday

• K1 and C1; men and women; senior, junior and U23

• K1 and Va’a; men and women; para classes 1-3

Course

The course will be composed of approx 4.5km laps, with the first lap slightly shorter than all subsequent laps. Races will start a few hundred metres upstream of Falcon where the river is widest and fairly straight. Starts will be upstream, turning anti-clockwise around Folly Island. You will then head downstream, past Falcon, turning anti-clockwise around a buoy a few hundred metres above Iffley lock. The portage will be at Falcon: both the get out and get in are on landing stages. The finish will be at Falcon. Maps will be available on the day.

• Senior men approx 25km: 6 laps, 5 portages

• Senior women approx 21km: 5 laps, 4 portages 

• Junior men approx 21km: 5 laps, 4 portages

• Junior women approx 17km: 4 laps, 3 portages

• Senior men canoe approx 21km: 5 laps, 4 portages 

• Senior women, junior men & junior women canoes approx 17km: 4 laps, 3 portages

• Paracanoe approx 8km: 2 laps, 0 portages

Timings (same for both days)

12:00 Check in opens

13:30 Briefing

14:10 Senior men kayak start

14:12 Junior men kayak start

14:14 Senior women kayak & senior men canoe start

14:16 Junior women kayak, senior women canoe,  junior canoes start

14:18 Para canoe (all classes) start

Entry Fees 

● Seniors: £20 per seat per race (late entry £25)

● Juniors: £15 per seat per race (late entry £20)

All entries and payment via the Race Entries system. Deadline 9pm Friday 9 August. Late entries will be accepted until 1pm on race day. Entrants must be members of Paddle UK. Any problems / changes to entries, please email jobatesfalcon@gmail.com. 

Facilities

There are changing rooms with hot showers upstairs and a disabled changing room downstairs. There is a lift to the first floor. The club cafe will be open both days

1. eam Leaders are responsible for ensuring paddlers are properly equipped having taken into account the paddler’s health, fitness, capability, the course, the prevailing conditions and other risks associated with this race. 

2. The race will be run in accordance with British Canoeing's Marathon Racing Committee rules. 

3. Vertical number boards will be provided. 

4. It is likely that paddlers will encounter other craft on the river. Rules of the river must be observed when racing – keep right. 

5. Competitors must render their boats sufficiently buoyant to remain afloat and to support the crew in rough water in the event of capsize. No boat will be deemed to be sufficiently buoyant purely as a result of its construction (e.g. vac bagged/ sandwich or other construction). To fulfil this requirement, additional buoyancy will be required in the form of foam, air bags and/or sealed bulkheads. 

6. During the course of a competition any Items discarded by a competitor, anywhere other than in a proper bin, must be recovered by the athlete, their support crew or coach immediately. It is the athlete’s responsibility to ensure this has happened. An event official witnessing non-compliance with this rule shall report the infringement to the race organiser, and the offending competitor will be disqualified from the competition. 

7. Falcon Boat Club and its nominated officials cannot be held responsible for any loss of life, injury or damage to equipment, however caused. 

8. You agree that we may publish your Personal Information as part of the results of the event and may pass such information to the governing body or any affiliated organisation for the purpose of insurance, licences or for publishing results either for the event alone or combined with or compared to other events. Results may include (but not be limited to) name, any club affiliation, race times, occupation and age category. 

9. Falcon Boat Club considers the ISIS Flag system and the Environment Agency Thames conditions; if the level of the river is judged to be too high or flow too strong, the race will be cancelled. See http://www.ourcs.org.uk/safety/rcond and http://riverconditions.environment-agency.gov.uk/ for more details. In the case that the race has to be cancelled (due to weather conditions, etc.) this information will be published on the Falcon website at the earliest opportunity. 

10. Any disputes over race results must be made by the team leader within 30 minutes of the results being published.