Today I seem to have been left in charge of a calculator so have decided that I will try and work out some bits and pieces for the DW race. My maths is usually pretty appalling with the odd smattering of lucky brilliance, and I am going to have to make some educated guesses based solely in areas outside proven experience so I don’t really know if this exercise is going to be worthwhile or not. Ah well, it’s a no news day today anyway as I rested yesterday.
The main question is: - How fast will we need to paddle to finish the race in my target of 24 hours?
Well, the race is 125 miles (give or take) and I think I am right in saying that we will need to maintain 5.21 mile an hour. There that was pretty easy.
But wait. This race isn’t just about the paddling. There are the portages too. Stop, get out, run around obstacles get back in and crack on paddling again.
Slowing the boat down, stopping, getting out, umm that will probably take maybe 3 minutes. Getting back in, and starting again will probably be the same. To make the maths easy for me lets call it 5 minutes delay in slowing, stopping and starting up again. We have to do this 77 times.
On top of that I need to add the running around with a boat on the shoulder time too. Now I don’t know how many metres each portage requires as each one is different but generally it is a case of running around a lock and putting in a bit further up. Lets call it 20 metres a pop (except for one portage that is a mile all by itself). There are 77 of these portages to complete so basically we are looking at about two miles (including the mile long stretch) in total of running.
We’re going to be knackered, wearing clothing unsuitable for running and carrying a boat and our equipment on our shoulders so I think a jog of about 4mph average is reasonable. That adds 30 minutes of running about on the banks to the overall non paddling time. Added to the stopping and starting time we are looking at about 7 hours (I think. That seems like a lot but I am trusting my calculator)
But that’s not all the time we will be haemorrhaging. Because we are going to have to eat at some of these portages too, sure we won’t hang around to cook and then tuck into a 3 course meal but at a few of these stops we will have to pause for five minutes or so to eat. And I am also envisioning a longer stop as we get near to the night time section to change clothes for dry warm ones and to get something hot eaten. All in that’s probably another hour of paddling time lost.
So where are we up to? Ummm.... 16 hours of paddling time to finish the race within the 24 hours. That now means we will have to sustain something like 7.8mph.
Is that fast? I don’t know. I couldn’t run at 7.8mph for 16 hours, I know that much for toffee but in a kayak you keep moving after you have effected your stroke.
I have spent some time on Google looking for an answer on how fast a kayak can go, unfortunately there is no easy answer. It depends on varying factors such as beam length and hull drag and weight and how good the engine (me and Nigel) is, and all manner of other contributing factors.
Well that’s no use.
Okay, I plan to get my boat out on the river on the weekend. I’ll get my GPS set and go for a long run. From that I can work out how fast I can go solo in a slow boat and get a better idea about what is and isn’t achievable in a kayak.
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Training, Planning and Running the Devizes to Westminster Race
Welcome to my blog where I am documenting all of the training and planning toward competing in the Devizes to Westminster kayak marathon in 2010.
When I started this my one and only goal was to be ready to take part in the DW race but once I begun my training in earnest I started to look around at other endurance events with a desire to take part in those as well.
On the 22nd of March I took part in the Ironbridge half marathon finishing the race in 2h 01m 32s.
The 12th September I will compete in the Great North Swim.
8 days later I will take on the Great North half Marathon.
And then in April 2010 is the reason for all of this, the Devizes to Westminster kayak ultra marathon.
Thank you for your support.
When I started this my one and only goal was to be ready to take part in the DW race but once I begun my training in earnest I started to look around at other endurance events with a desire to take part in those as well.
On the 22nd of March I took part in the Ironbridge half marathon finishing the race in 2h 01m 32s.
The 12th September I will compete in the Great North Swim.
8 days later I will take on the Great North half Marathon.
And then in April 2010 is the reason for all of this, the Devizes to Westminster kayak ultra marathon.
Thank you for your support.
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The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race is the longest non-stop canoe race in the world. It starts in the quiet market town of Devizes in Wiltshire and finishes 125 miles later at Westminster Bridge, directly opposite the Houses of Parliament in the heart of London.
It is held over the Easter weekend each year and has been a fixture in the British sporting calendar since 1950. But DW is much more than just a canoe race - it’s an adventure! It forces competitors to dig long and deep into their reserves of physical and mental stamina which is why the race is often called “the canoeists’ Everest”.
Having the technical skill to paddle a kayak or canoe is essential but the most important quality needed to complete DW is raw determination. And the reward for making the mighty effort needed to cross the finish line is a sense of satisfaction so profound that many paddlers can’t resist coming back year after year.
It is held over the Easter weekend each year and has been a fixture in the British sporting calendar since 1950. But DW is much more than just a canoe race - it’s an adventure! It forces competitors to dig long and deep into their reserves of physical and mental stamina which is why the race is often called “the canoeists’ Everest”.
Having the technical skill to paddle a kayak or canoe is essential but the most important quality needed to complete DW is raw determination. And the reward for making the mighty effort needed to cross the finish line is a sense of satisfaction so profound that many paddlers can’t resist coming back year after year.
3 comments:
Thats quite an interesting thought..... Mmmmmmm... wish i wasn't working this weekend and could of been with ya.... or maybe i'll just slow you down... lol
There is a formula for working out how fast a ship can go - speed (in knots) = Square root of waterline length (in feet). This means that a 900 ft ship can sail at 30 knots, and a 16 foot kayak at 4 knots.
To go faster than that takes considerably more bhp - sailing dinghies manage it by using massive sail areas for their size & weight, and getting up onto the plane.
As an aside, when Johnny Weissmuller was an olympic swimming champion (his job before he became the first Tarzan) he believed in trying to get up on the plane, like a sailing dinghy - he was misguided about the amount of hp his shoulders were putting out.
interesting...
So my Dagger RPM is 2.72m long, 8.92ft. The square root of that is 2.98 knots. My GPS will work it out in MPH so I should be able to sustain 3.4mph... (sounds about right actually)
That's a worrying thought, becasue 4 knots works out to be only 4.6mph. We are going to have to paddle like men posessed if that equation holds true.
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