This year’s Devizes to Westminster coverage is brought to you by Tango Charlie Lights. Tango Charlie Lights aren’t just bike lights re-purposed to stick onto a boat: they’re intentionally designed and built by a paddler, for paddlers. Whether it’s the Front Light Bracket & Torch to light the way ahead (an ideal option for DW crews), or the Navigation Light Set to keep your craft visible at sea, Tango Charlie offers something for everyone. Learn more at tangocharlielights.com.au.

Get ready for another Sunday of close racing. In the final race of the Waterside Series, the top contenders to win this year’s Devizes to Westminster race will face off one last time before the DW itself. Not only is it the last chance for fans to get data on how these top crews are performing before DW, it’s also the first time all four top crews will race head-to-head this season.

These fast crews include some familiar names from 2024: Tom Simmons / Andy Birkett and Anoushka Freeman / Tom Sharpe, plus newcomers Joe Petersen / Brynde Kreft, and with a slightly outside chance, David Horkan / Dan Palmer. Listen to the most recent episode of Paddlecast to learn more about each of these four crews, and what their advantages are coming into DW.

Just as in 2024, it’s the crew of Simmons / Birkett that has shown the fastest speed during the Waterside Series. At Waterside B, they finished in 2:05:46 compared to 2:09:10 for Freeman / Sharpe. Simmons raced with a different partner, James Missen, at Watersides A & C this year while Andy Birkett was out of town, but Birkett will be back in the boat for Waterside D.

Anoushka Freeman / Tom Sharpe will be the only top crew to complete all four races in the Waterside Series, which you could chalk up to luck and schedules, but it’d be just as fair to say that this is yet another example of their trademark consistency that was part of what took them to the win at DW 2024. Not only are they bringing the consistency again this season, they’ve managed to improve on their Waterside times from 2024. Some of that will be down to better race conditions, but the strength of the trend suggests that this team is getting quicker. Will they keep up their speed gains, and beat last year’s time of 04:35:01 on Sunday?

After a rudder mishap halfway through Waterside B, Joe Petersen / Brynde Kreft finally got the clean race they wanted at Waterside C. They proved that when everything goes to plan, they’re the fastest boat on the water: Joe / Brynde won in 2:52:56, followed by Tom Simmons / James Missen 2:53:44 and Anoushka Freeman / Tom Sharpe 2:53:58. But at Waterside D, Simmons will have a speed boost with Andy Birkett back in the boat. Can the mixed crew of Joe / Brynde win against this men’s crew that won Waterside D by over 3 minutes last year?

Waterside D will also be the first race for Dan Palmer / David Horkan, a crew that came together more recently and faces a little geographic hurdle: Dan is based in Cornwall, while David is based in Ireland. It’s not the easiest commute for training together. But both Dan and David have enough years experience racing the Watersides and DW that their combined knowledge could make up for having less time in the boat together. Waterside D should provide a clearer window into what this crew brings to the table, and how much of a podium threat they really are.

A close look at the data from the 2025 Watersides so far shows just how tight the racing is. Using the races’ record paces as a benchmark, the teams’ times from Waterside C are so close they’re barely distinguishable on the chart. Over the 23 mile race, the three crews (with Andy Birkett subbed by James Missen) finished within almost one minute of each other.

Experienced crews will approach Waterside D cautiously: 34 miles is a long race any day, but two weeks before DW it’s more important than anything that the crews avoid injury or overtraining. We may see some of these top crews starting next to each other and forming agreements to paddle at a slower pace for exactly those reasons. Even so, these racers will have a hard time holding back their competitive nature… so we could still see some sprint finishes on Sunday.

Tune in live via Paddle Daily Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories, and subscribe for post-race updates via Paddler Media on YouTube and the Paddle Daily email newsletter from paddledaily.com.

Paddler Media will once again be live streaming the Devizes to Westminster senior doubles race starting Saturday 19th April, so mark your calendars now, and subscribe to the channels above to ensure you don’t miss the live stream!

Thanks again to Tango Charlie Lights for sponsoring this coverage, check out their paddler-first products at tangocharlielights.com.au.