A little over 10 months ago our daughter Robyn got into a kayak in Santa Cruz thanks to our good friend Dan Crandall.
She had been out of a boat for around 2years before that and as a complete beginner at that stage had suffered a bad experience getting stuck in a boat, so we were delighted that Dan had managed to get her confidence back and also get her rolling.
Upon returning from S.Cruz she was determined to continue paddling and so with her new "Miss Mega" trident she entered Simon Hammonds contest in April. A good number of swims in her heats did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm and more contests followed along with some expert one-on-one coaching with Glynn down at Skern Lodge.
Roll forward to October and Robyn paddled for the England Team at Mundaka and Bakio in Ladies IC
All great experience, and more confidence boosting, having the opportunity to paddle with the Worlds best.
So now we come to last weekend, The British Surf kayak Champs at Druridge Bay, as is fairly common the ladies HP event was to be a straight final with 5 girls entered,
Robyn had already paddled 2 heats in the open HP and looked confident with the conditions, and the bitter cold.
A 3rd place in her second heat was her best domestic result yet, and so to the Ladies final,5 girls
none of which she had beaten before at any contest, including Tamsin, the reigning Champion.
5 mins into the heat and Robyn had already had what seemed like the 2 best waves so far, was it possible that she might even get a medal. My nerves were starting to show. I'd stopped watching the others in the heat and started to make my way down to the waters edge. The yellow flag had already been up for a while by the time i got down there and Robyn was on another wave which looked OK.
And then disaster, she got dumped on and he deck blew. She managed to stay in the boat and paddle in to knee depth then jumped out to empty and get back in, to late ,the Red was up.
Then for me, the nervous wait, I knew she had done well, but how well, was she really going to get a podium.
A couple of hours later, well ,every picture tells a story.
Robyn Pearcey, Ladies Britih HP Champion.
A huge thanks to everyone that has helped, encouraged, and supported Robyn.
I think she has just earn't her wings!!
Mum and Dad
Last weekend I headed out with a few other members of the Flying to Squad to Santa Cruz for the 1st of this year's World Cup Series. After the successes of last year we were all hoping for good waves and good performances. Dave Speller and Chris Hobson, competed in Junior class with typically excellent form and took Gold and Silver (nice result!) With varying conditions, the surfing was tough, but i managed to make the final and it all came together again with a nice walling left and landing an aerial secured the title...so i'm really stoked to win the Gold again :) Also narrowly missing out on the medals with 4th places were our latest squad members, Sam Davenport and Robyn Pearcey...well done guys, really good effort!
