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Slalom in the 1970s Galleries

The British Open - 1974 : 










This is something that I have been meaning to get around to doing for many years. I have now begun the lengthy task of scanning in and uploading the start lists and results sheets from slaloms in the 1970's. This task has been made a lot easier by my dear departed Mum who documented every event that I attended in chronologically organised folders for me - obviously thinking years ahead for when I would feel that the present day slalom community would enjoy seeing some of its history :-) I have a few photographs from some of the events and propose to upload these too to help give a feel for the sport in the 70's.


Firstly then, here is the Program & Start Sheet (6.2mb):-

1974 British Open Program & Start Sheet  


And here is the Results Sheet (1.6mb):- 


1974 British Open Results Sheet

But first, a few interesting facts to be going along with. On the start
sheet you will find the following:- 




There are 165 Mens K1 entries 




There are 50 Mens K1 (3 man) Team entries 




There are 17 Ladies K1 entries 




There are 17 C1 entries 




There are 17 C2 entries 




There are 6 Ladies K1 (3 women) Team entries 




There are 5 C1 (3 man) Team entries 




There are 4 C2 (3 boat) Team entries 




This event pre-dates Richard Fox so you will not find him appearing just yet! Check
page 4 of the Program for the previous years Champions (1973). I reckon there
will be a couple of names you should know even if you are in the British Team
today! A certain Alan Edge maybe or possibly a quick bloke in a C1 (then) by the
name of Albert Woods? Oh my goodness, I still come out in a cold sweat when I
remember travelling with the latter down those narrow country roads around Grandtully
in a 635CSI BMW at way too many mph! 




I think people like Albert and, I seem to recall, Gay Goldsmith in a 3litre
Capri and Peter Nardelli in a well sorted Escort all driving way too fast but
managing not to be some of the adrenalin junky canoeists that tragically lost
their lives on the roads. Get your thrills on the water lads and lassies as it
really is much safer. 




For your great amusement turn to the result list to see how difficult it was
to get the boats of the era down a 30 gate course with poles that sometimes were
in the water. All those individual and team runs listed above and how many clear
runs? Just the top 3 K1 men! Check out the pictures below. You can see gate 3
just above Miss Davis's Bridge (and yes, it was known as Miss Davis's Bridge
then too!) with the start line about where the Ski Slope control room is now
located. Gate 5 is the "s" below the rock as seen from the bridge
looking downstream. 




Yes, that is gate 11 on the way to Cafe Wave and the view down the long line
of slalom gates on the narrow overgrown section) is from Cafe Wave (before
Cafe Wave existed and then known simply as The Bend). At this point you were
about half way and the finish was beyond the jetty now on the left and just past
the footbridge! Phew, wears me out just recalling it all! Oh, it was green pole
on the left, red on the right, there were 30 gates over a half mile course
through the gatelines and at least 6 of those were reverse gates. Unsurprisingly
times were three and a half to four minutes long.  And just look at the penalties...
10 for an inside touch and 20 for an outside touch PER POLE! The 50 remains the
same today as it did then for missing a gate. But you could also get a 50 for "wrong
presentation". ie forwards through a reverse gate or vice versa. Judges then had
to decide not only which side of a pole you hit but also if your boat was facing forwards
or backwards through the gates with poles that were sometimes high enough
to pass under. I have added comments to most of the images for more information and clarity.




I will upload some more in due course. ENJOY! :-) 




PP

The British Open - 1974

This is something that I have been meaning to get around to doing for many years. I have now begun the lengthy task of scanning in and uploading the start lists and results sheets from slaloms in the 1970's. This task has been made a lot easier by my dear departed Mum who documented every event that I attended in chr ...

Updated: Apr 27, 2009 6:42pm PST