Paddle Challenge ready to grow after second running

The event’s media coordinator Sharlene Cohen said the feedback from competitors was all positive.

“Everyone was really happy, we’ve already received great feedback about it being well-organised, friendly, and a good course,” she said.

“It was a whole day thing, we had the races in the morning, and all the novelty races in the afternoon, then the bonfire.

“Unfortunately the weather wasn’t as favourable as we would have liked.”

The event saw small growth in its second year, bolstered by a number of paddlers returning after last year’s race.

“About 50 per cent of our paddlers returned from last year,” Ms Cohen said. “We’ve brought in another 50 per cent from new people this year.

“A lot of paddlers keep an eye on the weather, and the weather forecast wasn’t that glamorous, so a few people decided it was a bit too hard.”

One of the highlights of the day was the afternoon’s novelty raft event. Teams sponsored by local businesses were tasked with creating a raft out of raw materials.

“There were lots of laughs, we had a lot of people hanging around for that novelty section,” Ms Cohen said.

“We really want the raft race to build, and make it into a bigger event with even more businesses.”

The organising group will take some time off to recover, then kick off the planning for next year’s race.

“We’ve got to secure a date, so it’ll probably within the next two months that we’ll be planning,” Ms Cohen said.

“We’ve got Paddle NSW who are very keen to get involved in the event. We’re making it a paddling festival incorporating other things rather than just a paddle race.

“They see it as an opportunity to develop other areas in a similar vein.”

The organisers hope to grow the event to help inject more tourists and money into the town.

“We are unique, we’re not a paddling club putting on a race, we’re supporting the town and community,” Ms Cohen said.

“We’re not doing this event for the elite paddlers, we’re doing it for the town.”