Paddler Media’s coverage of the Scottish K1 Marathon Championships and Nith Descent is made possible by Starsky UK.

The wind whipped across the loch as low clouds threatened rain. In a few hours, this field would be filled with sheep, but for now, the grass by Loch Ken belonged to dozens of Scottish paddlers undeterred by a bit of weather.

For Andy Preston, the scene reminded him of the first time he’d raced on Loch Ken: “It was in the mid-90s, and it was a Hasler Final race. It was a pretty similar day to this, except the wind was blowing side-on.” There’s a hint of glee in his voice now as he recalls: “There were a lot of people from England paddling that race. They weren’t used to the waves, and us Scots are kind of used to the wind and the rain, so we did really well in that race. I think I won my division.” As impressive as it was to see longtime paddling vets Andy and the Liffey Descent legend Alan Tordoff represent their generations at the Scottish K1 Marathon Championships, the best racing on Loch Ken was from a new generation.

The race

18 year olds Sam Stevely and Rory Strachan both felt confident going into the 13 km, 2 portage race, knowing they would be each others’ biggest competition. “It’ll be a close one between me and Sam I think”, said Rory before the race. The biggest challenge? Having a good race start into the raging headwind. But at least with the wind blowing down the lake, it meant the racers’ efforts going upwind would be generously rewarded with a big tailwind on their way to the portages and finish.

Sam considered his chances before the race: “Rory got a medal back at the British Champs back in July… I wasn’t as fast as him [on that day], but we’ll see what happens today.” Sam’s specialty, along with his brother Will Stevely, is wildwater racing (WWR) where he often represents Team GB internationally. On Loch Ken, he had an extra advantage: the loch is the place he first started paddling. “I’ve paddled here basically all my life. I come here every summer for family holidays and end up paddling as well, can’t stop…” Would the home water advantage take Sam to victory?

The first start was for the long course: Sam defied the headwind to take an early lead, with Rory hot on his tail. In 3rd place, Alan Tordoff wasn’t far behind.

Coming into the portage, Sam and Rory arrived first. On the water, they were side by side. But in the blink of an eye, Sam seemed to have picked up 3 metres on Rory with a speedier get-out. From here, it was just Sam against the wind and the clock.

In the women’s K1 race, U23 paddler Imogen Hunter took an early lead and held it all the way to the end. She wasn’t expecting to win, but as defending champion Hannah Toovey had opted to race C1, the race was far more open than anticipated.

A rising talent in K1, Hannah picked up C1 just a few months ago and describes it as “more fun”. She was the only racer on Loch Ken to brave the conditions in a canoe, and even opted to add a portage to her short course race of 6.6 km. She looked impressively comfortable in a craft that’s notoriously difficult to handle in high wind, particularly for someone new to high kneeling – definitely keep an eye on this U18 paddler.

The next (next) generation

The final start for the shortest race was absolutely packed with the bright purple shirts of Glasgow Kayak Club. Fourteen U12 and U10 paddlers completed a 4.6 km course completely undeterred by wind that made some adults look askance. Scotland’s next generation of paddlers will be just as solid as the last ones.

As the day wrapped up with awards and hot, wood-fired pizzas provided by Kayantics, one bunch raced to put away the gazebos and tables as fast as possible to make time to get to nearby Dumfries for drinks and food. This crew had to start the celebrations early to make sure they weren’t up too late – Sunday was a new day and a new race.

The Starsky Nith Descent

The River Nith offers twists, turns, straightaways, flats, and rapids lined by lush greenery on its way from Auldgirth to Dumfries. And on Sunday, it was in perfect form. Hours of torrential rain on Saturday afternoon (starting just after the last paddlers left Loch Ken) took the river level up by 2x just in time for the start of The Starsky Nith Descent. And there was one exciting addition for everyone (but particularly for the South Africans): sunshine, from the start to the finish.

Newbies in canoes, kayakers in plastic playboats, and one stand up paddleboarder on an inflatable board lined up for the first start beneath the picturesque Auldgirth Bridge, as the experienced paddlers in wildwater and descent boats debated which positions were best for their Le Mans-style start.

Sam Stevely was ready to take another gold, but Alan Tordoff wasn’t going to make it easy. Stevely had selected his shiny orange WWR boat while Alan would be racing a K1, the faster craft on paper. And with no rudder, Sam knew it could be tricky for him to stay on Alan’s wash if the two of them were up front together.

With the slow boats having set off fifteen minutes earlier, the faster boats lay ready and waiting along the pebbly bank, Sam’s orange WWR boat positioned as far possible downriver as he could be without being in the bushes. Margaret Chapman, defending champion from 2024, positioned herself right next to Sam. They’d be cutting off a metre or two in distance, but would have to angle hard into the flow as fast as they could to make it through the centre of the next bridge downstream.

Sure enough, Sam’s strategy paid off. Race Director Rob Pretorius shouted “go”, and Sam shot off like a rocket. Within seconds, he was already multiple boatlengths ahead of the rest of the racers. The position worked for Margaret too – though she wasn’t quite as quick off the line, she quickly took the position of first in the small women’s field.

After about ten or fifteen minutes of Sam paddling alone at the front, Alan caught up. He’d taken time at the start to put on a spraydeck, and had to pass three boats to get to Sam. Sam was glad to have him there, and while it was difficult to stick on Alan’s wash in his rudderless WWR boat, he managed to hang on.

But Alan wasn’t content with 2nd – “At every rapid, he tried sprinting away,” Sam says. Alan confirmed, saying “I was trying to drop him at every rapid… but every rapid, I could  not shake him off. Flat out, every rapid, for 40 minutes! So I had to ease off a bit before the last one mile approach to the finish.”

The finish

The river widens as it comes into central Dumfries, trading rapids for glassy stretches punctuated by weirs. The racers round a corner and finish under another footbridge just downstream of Nithsdale Amateur Rowing Club.

As Sam and Alan remained neck and neck heading into the final stretch of the race, they approached the 90 degree turn in the river. There’s a big eddy, and Alan thought it would be the perfect chance to finally drop Sam. “We went absolutely flat out four minutes from the end. And still, he was there!”

Alan gave it all he had, despite knowing there were still four minutes to the finish. Sam did the same, but realised he didn’t have much more sprinting to give. He was just happy to stick as close to Alan as he did. They finished just 3 seconds apart, with Alan successfully defending his title from 2024. “I held him off! It was one for the old guys”, Alan said.

“It was a really good race with Alan”, Sam reflected, pleased to have some closer competition after his dominant win at Loch Ken on Saturday. “I still like winning races, unbelievably,” said a cheerful Alan after the race. He’s many decades now into his paddling career, but winning feels just as good as it did in the 1980s and 1990s: “I like trying to take on these young guys. It’s more and more difficult when somebody a third of your age is taking you on. But I still enjoy taking them on.”

Bringing South Africa to Scotland

As all the paddlers gathered for lunch and awards, the race’s timing proved perfect right to the end – a brief downpour arrived only once everyone was inside the rowing club. The winners in each category were treated to Starsky kit, including drinking systems and spraydecks, along with creative trophies. Race organiser Rob Pretorius had delivered on his promise to bring South Africa to Scotland, even down to Sunday’s sunshine.

And for those who made a longer journey to enjoy the weekend’s racing in Scotland? Friday night’s sky view from Loch Ken featured more stars than you could count, and even a glimpse of the Milky Way. When the sun rose on Saturday morning, a distinctive red kite could be spotted surfing the drafts. And one of the oldest fairs in the world happened to be visiting Dumfries on Sunday afternoon. All that and two days of racing? Not bad for one weekend.

To learn more about these two races, racing in Scotland, or Starsky UK, contact Rob Pretorius at tornfinfishing@gmail.com.