All photographs that appear on this site are Copyright © 2007 Board of Europe. Unless otherwise stated, pictures are by Neil Aldridge, Polly Greenhalgh & Rob Inett.
The 2007 Tour (Added 31st December 2007)
Click on any of the sample pictures below to enter the live gallery from the 2007 UK tour that took place in September 2007.
Board of Europe promotional artwork (Added 1st Octoberr 2007)
Promotional postcards designed and published for the 2007 tour, supported by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Over 400 were distributed to the public during the tour. Artwork by Rob Inett.
Floods of emotion.. (Added 10th September 2007)
It's all happened here lately. The worst floods in living memoryprovided some interesting times for the project, and also a very wet fundraising BBQ. The double board was named 'Summer Haze', and the two single boards 'Lusty Glaze' and 'Lazy Daze'. Click here for the full 2007 floods story.
Bring on the rain! (Added 13th July 2007)
'A wet squib' is perhaps an understatment for the exceptionally wet summer that we have had to date. Less and less opportunities have thus been available for river paddling, and work pressures have made ocean visits more or less impossible. In between the floods and thunderstorms, the crew made several forays onto local waterways, these pictures coming from Upton-Upon-Severn just hours after the flood waters dropped below the visible flood defences.
Spring Board (Added 27th May 2007)
Spring, a time of warm sunshine, cold water and lots and lots of river paddling. Also the prelude to notoriously busy summers for all of the BoE crew. With little spare time to travel and paddle, the team has been restricted to the local rivers in order to get the miles completed. A brief appearance 'paddling past' at Evesham Rowing Regatta (click here for the full story) gave some much needed publicity, however as the summer looms and times only get busier, the team needs this 'Spring Board' to act in their favour.
Click bordered images in this section to watch video clips
An old clip, but a great theme..
Click bordered images in this section to watch video clips
Carving it up in Woolacombe (Added 6th April 2007)
Woolacombe, favourite venue for the BoE project (close proximity of the Board God and awesome surf when the conditions are right) was chosen for a days training on the 31st March (click here for the full story). Rob, Fletch and Polly travelled down and met up with Neil, Lil Rob, Meg and Emily from Loughborough and enjoyed the lovely clean 3 foot swell on the sunniest day of the year. An amusing attempt followed at surfing the double board, but this proved fruitless and we shall have to have a good think about weight distribution if we are to ride it in any surf in the future.
Visiting a rowing event & testing the board on floodstream (Added 8th March 2007)
Worcester was the venue for some early March training, however the day chosen coincided with the local Rowing Clubs' annual Head of River Race. Rob & James, both fomer rowers from the Royal Grammar School Worcester, took to the water to support their old club racing the 4 mile course. The following day in Harvington, Rob & James got to grips with how the board handled in rough flood water as well as relaxing on a submerged bench with a crate of energy drink.
Video Clips (Added 19th February 2007) Click on image to open Windows Video File. Requires Windows Media Player
Balance testing the double board on the River Avon, February 2007
Making the most of the heaviest snow in 15 years (Added 15th February 2007)
As 7 inches of snow fell in the Midlands early in February, the Board of Europe crew jumped out of bed and straight into the freezing River Avon for two early mornings of paddling in some of the most dramatic and beautiful scenery yet. This opportunity was used to 'balance test' the double board ready for fitting of the knee pads later in the month. The team also discovered the untold pleasure offered by playing in the snow dressed in wetsuits :)
Collecting & testing the new double board, North Devon (Added 15th February 2007)
During the same weekend as the Napoli vist, the Board of Europe crew headed accross to North Devon to collect the newly completed double paddleboard from boardbuilder Alan Neighbour. The first test paddle took place near Combe Martin.
MSC Napoli, Sidmouth (Added 15th February 2007)
Following the well publicised wreck of the MSC Napoli off Branscome in January, the Board of Europe crew visited nearby Sidmouth and took the opportunity to be photographed in front of the stricken container ship on 27th January. Taking care to avoid the debris strewn beaches of Branscombe, the pair enjoyed a morning paddling the unusually busy seafront and talking to some members of the public who were there in force to 'keep an eye on' the wreck.
Winter training in different weathers (Added 1st January 2007)
The heavy fog was found on the River Avon in Pershore (Worcestershire) on 23rd December 2006, when the air temperature was down to -2 degrees centigrade. The sunshine was found on the River Trent in Nottingham on New Years Day 2007, when the air was a tropical 6 degrees centigrade but the water was moving so fast that paddling into the stream was nearly impossible.
