DEVIZES TO WESTMINSTER WELCOMES STAND UP PADDLEBOARDERS!
- Sarah Thornely
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 19 minutes ago
Q&A WITH PAUL FIELDEN, DEVIZES TO WESTMINSTER DIRECTOR
Since its inception in 1948, The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race (DW) has taken place over the Easter weekend almost every year with a few exceptions.
Historically, it has only been open to canoes and kayaks, but in 2025 two paddleboarders were allowed to take part, as a very real test to see if including them as a fleet was viable.
After a successful DW 2025 completion by Patrick McCormack and Emily King, paddleboarders are now wholeheartedly invited to race from this year on, so we thought it was high time we chat to Paul Fielden (Director of DW) and get the low down on this iconic race.
Q: Can you give us a brief history of the DW race?
The first ‘race’ in 1948 was actually the result of a bet in a pub and 2 crews from the Devizes Rover Scouts completed the course in 90 hours over the Easter weekend. A few weeks later, 2 crews from the Chippenham Sea Scouts repeated the feat, but in 77 hours. More crews tried to beat that time over the summer weeks, but the weed growth on the canal was too thick, so Easter became the chosen time for future attempts and has remained to this day as the timing of the DW.
The following Easter, 20 crews started out from Devizes with the best time recorded being 49 ½ hours. Then, in 1950, formal rules for the event were created and the race, as we know it today, was created.
Over the years, the race has evolved significantly, with a Junior Doubles class stage race being created in 1953 and outside support for Senior Doubles being permitted in 1971. The Senior Singles class was established in 1985, and the Veteran-Junior class in 1989. In 2002, the non-competitive Endeavour Class was initiated, and this will now be a fully-fledged racing class in 2026. In 2025, the DW trialed a SUP class, and that will now be a formal class for 2026.
Since 1948, the course and challenge have fundamentally remained the same. The uniqueness of the DW remains – a race that covers canal, river, and tidal waters in the same event.
Q: When did the idea of allowing paddleboarders to race come about?
We were considering several changes to the race after the Covid years. The paddling community had undergone a change during that time, notably the huge upsurge in SUP paddlers. To reflect that, British Canoeing rebranded to Paddle UK in March 2024 to embrace the new and growing SUP community. DW also recognised this change and began discussions with various people within the SUP community in 2024, especially those engaged with SUP endurance racing, as to whether DW would have an appeal to them. From those discussions, it was a relatively obvious decision to run a trial event for SUP paddlers in parallel to the other 4-day stage races that we already ran.
Q: What were the main concerns regarding paddleboarders before they were included?
Our main concern was whether the canal part of the course with all the portages might be too challenging for SUP paddlers. There are 57 portages in 54 miles of paddling, so it’s pretty relentless. Carrying a SUP around all of them is much harder than a kayak or canoe. We also had a worry about the cut off times each day – would the SUP paddlers be able to maintain a high enough average pace to make those times? To be honest, we were prepared to extend the cut off times if needed – we wanted the trial to be a success and for that we needed the SUPs to finish.
We also had concerns about the impact of the conditions on the SUP paddlers. Not that we could control that, but we knew strong winds would cause a major challenge. As it happened, there was a headwind during the whole race, and we knew this would impact the SUPs more than the kayaks and canoes simply due to the profile presented to the wind by the paddlers.
Q: After Patrick and Emily completed the DW, were those concerns justified?
In a word, no. Were we right to recognise them up front, I think so. Both Emily and Paddy finished every day within the cut off times, despite the far from ideal conditions. I know that they are exceptional racers (Paddy finished 39th out of the 69 crews across all the stage races), but they showed that the DW course, whilst challenging, can be conquered by SUPs.
For 2026, we have increased the cut off times for each day of the stages race – hopefully that will encourage more SUP paddlers to take part as I know that was a concern of some who didn’t enter the trial event.
Q: We understand there are 2 different finish lines for the DW depending on craft – can you explain why?
The Port of London Authority (PLA) controls all the activities on the tideway (and for DW that means from Teddington lock to Westminster Bridge), and it is they who grant the DW an event license for the race. We have a close relationship with the PLA and work with them to safeguard the future of the tideway element of the race.
The tideway below Putney is a busy commercial waterway, and we must have special measures in place to mitigate all the risks that we identify before the PLA will allow us to race on that part of the tideway. These measures include having DW volunteers in the wheelhouses of the Clippers that operate on that stretch of water on Easter Sunday as well as deployment of a specialist water safety team operating in RIBs. We have only trialed the Clipper operation once, in 2025, and we need to prove its success over more trials before we can be certain that it offers enough mitigation of the impact of these boats’ washes on DW paddlers.
So, for 2026 we will repeat the Clipper trial for the Senior Doubles class and review the outcome after the race. That class will finish at Westminster. For the stages races (and that includes SUPs) the finish will be at Barn Elms, just above Putney, making the last day a 10-mile paddle on the tideway and a total race distance of 118 miles.
Q: What measures do you put in place to really help paddlers achieve their goal of finishing DW successfully?
We have a number of resources that paddlers can access to support their DW. Firstly, we have an advice page on the website (https://www.dwrace.co.uk/advice). Whilst some of the advice is geared towards kayaks and canoes (and the Senior Doubles), much of it applies to SUP paddlers. Time on the water is key – in all weathers. We can’t promise a dry and warm Easter! Perhaps the key one for SUP paddlers is to practice portaging – there are 77 of them on the DW – a minute lost at each one is over an hour on your time. Paddlers need to plan their fueling strategy for the race, and trial it on training runs. Support crews also need to be trained and familiar with the task – get them out on the longer training paddles.
There are a series of races before the DW that cover the route from Devizes to Marlow (the Waterside Series and the Thameside Series) – they are worth looking at as they will give paddlers invaluable experience on the course.
The other thing to engage with is the DW Community – there is a vibrant Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/411361872008) that is always there to offer advice and tips.
And finally, we want every paddler to complete the course. Before the race, if a paddler has questions, they should send them into the info@dwrace.co.uk email and we will answer them. During the race, we have 300 volunteers who will give every paddler direction at portages and encourage them down the course.
Q: If a paddler doesn’t feel quite ready for 2026, how might they get involved with DW?
My advice would be to volunteer for this year’s race. There are a whole host of jobs that need to be done, and we have a dedicated team that coordinates all of our marshals. Paddlers can email them at dwvolunteers@gmail.com to find out what roles might be available.
If marshalling is not an option, then just come along to watch along the route. Timings for the race are on the website information page.
And if you can’t make it to the course, you can engage with the race over the Easter weekend via the DW Live Hub and the GPS tracker website that shows where every paddler is along the route.
Q: Standup paddleboarders seem to be leaning quite heavily towards endurance events currently – what would you say to really encourage them to be part of this race.
The DW is one of the most iconic races in the paddle sports calendar. Not only because of its history, but it is unique in the challenge to the paddler of racing on canal, river and tidal waters in the same event. Nothing else gives you that. Once you become a DW paddler, you are immersed in a special community of people – not only during the race, but for years afterwards. Many of them say it has shaped their life, given them something to talk about in all sorts of situations, the sense of achievement stays with you forever. It really is a special event.
Q: I see that Thrudark Activewear are the headline sponsors for this event – how important has their role been in DW?
ThruDark has an enormous following on social media – not only as a retail brand but also through their founders and ambassadors. Their reach is way bigger than DW’s (at the moment!), and it also touches people that we don’t. Many of their followers are ex-Services, endurance and extreme sports people as well as outdoor active individuals. Having DW being exposed into these new groups is massive for us, and we are hopeful that it will turn into more entries in 2026 and beyond. ThruDark has a crew entered for 2026 – that in itself might generate more numbers in 2027.
Aside from the increased exposure, ThruDark has provided DW with advice on website design/modifications, and well as social media content.
Of course there is a financial element to the partnership, but it is the increased exposure of the race to a new set of potential paddlers that has the greater value.
Sarah: So, it appears that paddleboarders are not only being encouraged to enter the Devizes to Westminster race but are being given every opportunity to succeed! It sounds a real, but achievable, challenge and we would encourage all those who are interested tor who have further questions, o get in touch with the team – if you enter in 2026 or beyond, we wish you all the very best of luck! Thank you, Paul, for all the helpful information.
Website: https://www.dwrace.co.uk/
Official FB page: https://www.facebook.com/DWcanoerace/
Official IG page: https://www.instagram.com/dwcanoerace125/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DWCanoerace
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