STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTORS

Over the last few weeks and months it’s rained, and rained a lot. That consistent precipitation has caused the flow on the River Thames to consistently increase, and over the last few weeks the river’s flow rates and levels were so high that both Thamesides 1 and 2 have been cancelled.

Naturally, these cancellations would have prevented several crews from gaining first had knowledge of the river section of the Devizes to Westminster course, something that is extremely important, especially when it comes to knowledge of weir locations, channels to navigate and where to expect turbulent water.

The conditions have also led to flooding in areas, and given the high river levels, it will take some time for river conditions to return to “normal”.

The DW Directors are constantly monitoring the river conditions as part of their contigency planning, but we can confirm that at this time no decisions have been made about the staging of this year’s race.

Entries

Perhaps through a combination of the river conditions and the general reluctance of crews to commit to DW, the entries are very low. Just over 20 crews in Senior Doubles, a handful across all the stages classes with just over two weeks to go before entries close.

We appreciate that potential crews want certainty that the race they want is going to happen. We are just not able to give that certainty at this point.

The knock-on effect is that unless the entry numbers increase significantly, DW 2024 will not be financially viable.

For example, it costs over £30k to enable a Westminster finish. If there aren’t sufficient numbers then Senior Doubles may need to finish at Teddington, saving the vast majority of this cost.

Should the race be significantly altered from that stated in the latest Handbook, all entered crews will be offered a full refund, partial refund or deferral to the 2025 race.

At the current levels of entry, the 2024 race will not run.

We have fixed costs of approximately £70k to run the race, most of which we can recover if we cancel the contracts within the notice period. The Organisation has limited reserves and cannot run the race at a loss - that would present a risk of the Organisation becoming insolvent and in turn that would probably be the end of the DW.

We need the commitment of paddlers now.

If you have trained for the race and are going to enter, don't wait for Waterside D, enter today. There is no financial risk to you. You don't have to pay until the closing date – as part of the entry process you will get an email asking for payment after receipt and subsequent acceptance of your entry. If we require more information from you before we can accept your entry, you will be contacted.

You can even change Class if your circumstances change – right up to the Wednesday before the race.

A full copy of the statement can be found here.