Five members of the South Hams stand-up paddle boarding club Waterborn set off to compete in a set of races last weekend to represent the coming of a new chapter of the group.

Having recently taken over proceedings for paddle boarding down at the Crabshell Inn in Kingsbridge, Crispin Jones set about showing that Water­born will be a force to be reckoned with in competitions for next year.

The five set off for the first race of the day, in Bournemouth, for BaySup's third race in their Frostbite winter race series on Saturday morning.

Pegged as a technical race involving beach runs and sprinting in and out through the surf on the boards, it was looking to be a great race and one that favours the strengths Waterborn members have being able to train on the estuary as well as on the sea and surf.

However, the winds had dropped and swell that had been hitting the beach the night before had all but died off.

It therefore looked very much to be a short, flat water race, while still being technical with the buoy turns and beach run sections.

The temperature was the main issue of the day as it was just five degrees centigrade and keeping warm prior to the race but not overheating while racing was going on would be the difference between a good or bad performance.

The Waterborn team managed one podium slot in Bournemouth, with Jocelyn Jones taking first place in the 14' women's category.

Dan Ashford, Scott Warren and Jamie Harman all battled it out in a tough 12'6" fleet, putting in good performances in challenging temperatures, with Crispin Jones taking another fifth place in the series on his 14' board.

That was only the start though; there was still a trip for three of the Waterborn racers up to Bray Lake, near Windsor, for their night race.

With the lake hitting a staggering five degrees C and the air temperature at -1 it was hard to leave the club house and head out onto the lake.

Despite the conditions, the Waterborn posse claimed three podium slots, Scott taking a first in the 12'6" with Jamie in second and Crispin taking a second place in the 14' category.

Everyone got inside and warmed up sharpish with a well-cooked barbecue and mulled wine.

A brilliant day of racing was had by all; there are always new skills and techniques to be learnt and friends to be made.

As if that wasn't enough to make a busy weekend as it was, there was still a little matter of their Christ­mas paddle and lunch on the Sunday morning.

It was a jolly festive turn out for Water­born's paddle, 12 hit the water in various Christmas attire, the general consensus was that Graham Kerslake took the best costume for his inflatable Santa suit and it even got a fair amount of attention from passing traffic.

Everyone enjoyed cruising around a quiet Kingsbridge creek until the highlight of the day turned up, we had acquired the eight-man inflatable SUP.

Once on the water everyone piled on board and took her for a spin down to the end of the creek and back, a great showcase of teamwork and balance to which everyone stayed completely dry, top marks.

Once back on land and joined by other halves that were quite happy just to watch, 22 members of the club tucked in to a beautifully cooked Christmas turkey dinner back at the Crabshell.

After the meal it was time for the raffle and plenty of goodies were won, Christmas had come early for those attending.

The next club social paddle is on Sunday, December 28, at 10am from the Crabshell Inn, come on down and share in some Christ­mas stories and maybe for the lucky few try out some of your new toys Santa brings you.