There was success for local athletes Gerry and Darragh Murphy at the British National Masters Canoeing Championships Regatta held at National Watersports Centre, Nottingham recently. 
The regattas, of which there are five held in the year, hold a different championship event at each one and this time it was the Masters who were competing for National Championship titles.
The regatta was held in almost perfect conditions with glorious sunshine and a tailwind gently blowing down the course. 
Saturday was a busy day for Gerry with seven races in all and started with the heats of the 1000m K1 class and a second place in his heat saw him progress to the final an hour later.
In the final Gerry got off to the perfect start and lead the race until the last 150 metres where he was passed by D Pendle of Norwich and had to settle for the silver medal. 
Later in the morning it was the heats of the 200m K1 and a poor start saw Gerry struggling and with the fastest nine times from the heats going into the final he had to wait to see if his fourth place would be fast enough for a final spot. 
With the seventh fastest time from the heats Gerry took his place on the start line for the final of the 200m K1 and a better start seen him secure a bronze medal, and with less than .75 of a second separating the first five boats it was an exciting race to watch.
Next up was crew boats and Gerry was asked by Southampton Canoe Club to step into their K4 for the 1000m event as one of their crew had taken ill. 
A great race in the heats saw them progress to the final and claim the gold medal. 
The next race up was the K2 1000m and teamed up with Liam McCarthy of Salmon Leap Club in Lexlip the pair had a steady race to claim the bronze medal to complete a long day of paddling.
Last to race on the Saturday was Darragh Murphy and with promotion to Div 3 at last April's event it was time to see if he could mix it with the athletes in a higher division.
Darragh, who specialises in the sprint 200 metres event, was drawn in lane 2 and with a defective holding bucket it meant he had to physically hold his boat behind the start line which was a little difficult with the tailwind. 
Off the start he quickly took the lead and with 50 metres to go he held a one length lead which he held to win the race and record a personal best time in competition of 43 seconds. He must now wait to see if his time was fast enough to get promoted to Div 2.
Sunday morning saw the conditions on the course much the same as Saturday and with his last race being the 500m K1 is was time to see if the seven races from Saturday would have any effect on Gerry performance. 
A steady paddle in the heats saw him finish second and progress to the final with the fifth fastest time and he took his place on the start line he felt that another medal was possible. 
At this stage at last year's championship Gerry capsized his boat with a medal in sight a few negatives might have been running through his mind. 
From the start Gerry held the lead and with 300m of the course covered a lead of one length had been established and he held on to secure his first individual British Championship gold.