2x2 Relay

2x2 Relay - Calendar!

Sun 14 Dec 2025 - Christmas Edition! - family fun day

Time to enjoy a fun morning of paddling, get a great workout and celebrate the festive season. Enter a team with your partner/spouse/wife, kids, friends and neighbours. Dress up for the occasion.

Make it as social or as competitive as you like ... it is a handicap event after all. Even make it part of your HCC training by doing it all on your own.

• Please enter your team (or as an individual) by emailing lcrkers@gmail.com by Fri before the race
• Handicaps will be emailed to you the night before
• Your team must start on the allocated time
• Keep to the right of any oncoming paddler
• Anti-clockwise turn around the 6km marker and 2nd of the 2 buoys at Wirrong rocks
• Standing start at changeover for same course, boats to overlap when switching to the other course
• Please make yourself familiar with the new course (see description below)

Course change

From Sep 2025, there is a new course that alternates every 2 team laps between the usual downstream course and a new upstream course.

• Laps 1 and 2 - from pontoon to 6km marker return
• Laps 3 and 4 - from pontoon to the 2nd of the two buoys at Wirrong Rocks return
• Laps 5 and 6 - from pontoon to 6km marker return
• Laps 7 and 8 - from pontoon to the 2nd of the two buoys at Wirrong Rocks return

Note that change overs on the same lap course are from a standing start. Change overs when switching to different course the team boats just need to overlap and can be moving.

23 Nov 2025 REPORT - Team Naming theme is Music to Paddle to

It started bucketing down at about 6am and I wondered how many 2x2ers might decide it seemed a sensible idea to pull the plug for the day rather than go out paddling in drenching conditions. Turns out none of our intrepid paddlers dropped out. The rain eased to a sprinkle by the time the first Team started and by the time we finished it was sunny!

It was a fun morning of paddling with some close racing. Due to the rain at the start it was decided that timekeeping on this occasion was best done from under Epping Rd Bridge. This meant the the course now had one short lap (approx 1.5km) and one long lap (approx 3.5km).

Congratulations to Merry and Esther for coming home first, only half a metre ahead of John T, who once again completed all 8 laps on his own. The gap between 3rd and 4th was equally close with Jeffrey and Lee just a nose ahead of Duncan and Tim. Caroline and Chris D were less than a minute behind in 5th.

Back markers John D and Ian H had to deal with the largest handicap ever set (based on current Crudslime Cup handicaps) but stuck to their guns to come home in 6th. Young Justin and much much younger Steve W put in a good effort to finish 7th. Andy and Kev, after some early set backs with course directions enjoyed their morning in a very social manner to be at the tail of the field.

A couple of timing observations. John D and Chris D, whose teams started on different handicaps, paddled their first 2 laps to exactly the times. Also Ian H paddled his two downstream laps to exactly the times.

Given the theme of the day, the plan was to have music playing from the pontoon based on team names but rain forced us under the bridge for timekeeping where a good flow of water was the dominant noise. It was interesting and varied music selection that the teams chose. Check the details below.

Also special mention to Duncan and Tim for decorating their boats as per the music theme Sounds of Silence!

26 Oct 2025 REPORT

• 2x2 Report - from Caroline
• 150+ 2x2 pix on LCRK Flickr

Full report from the day in the above PDF. Results summary is shown below and just one of the many photos from the Flickr album of the day.

14 Sep 2025 REPORT

• 2x2 Report - from Caroline
• 2x2 Flickr pix

Hope you all had a fun start to the new 2x2 season! Thank you for your new commitment to the relay and embracing our new course.

Attached is my report and a few pics on flickr at the link above

We are looking forward to seeing you back for more next month!

2x2 Relay - Join in the fun!

2x2 means 2 boats x 2km laps for a total 8 laps (4 alternate laps for each boat).

This is a fun handicapped team event that is held on a Sunday once each month (except during winter).

Starting at around 7:45am (depending on your handicap) and finishing within 2 hours it does not take up too much of your Sunday. It is followed by a post race gathering and debrief and usually morning tea for those that can stay. Enter as a team of 2 boats (any boat combo) or enter as a single and we will try to match with someone.

It starts and finishes at the pontoon, with changeovers at the pontoon as well from a standing start. Each team of 2 boats, alternate between 2000m sprint efforts from the pontoon to the 6km marker and return. The relay is completed when each team has completed 8 laps i.e. 2x 4x 2000m (16 000m of sprint total).

It is a great social event too. All standard of paddlers are welcome as handicaps are applied based on speed. Family teams are encouraged as it is a great way to introduce kids to racing for fun.

Sprint paddling 2km as fast as you can is a great workout. And each team boat does that 4 times. This is a very valuable exercise when leading wash ride packs and to practise managing physical and mental exhaustion. It is a mental exercise just as much as a physical one as 2000m (estimated 9-13 minutes) is a long distance when paddling at 80 - 100% effort.

Watch the club website for the next up and coming 2x2 relay. It will always be on a Sunday once each month but which Sunday in month will vary to fit around other paddling events.

Fundamentals:-

• Enter by emailing lcrkers@gmail.com by Fri before the race
• Handicaps will be emailed to you the night before
• Your team must start on the allocated time
• Keep to the right of any oncoming paddler
• Anti-clockwise turn around the 6km marker
• Standing start at changeover

Above: Team paddlers change over each lap (Photo: Wade Rowston)

Above: Trying to catch the paddler ahead is the main aim (Photo: Wade Rowston)