Come along and try punting
The Wednesday evening Taster Sessions include punting, so come along and have a try! Punting is great fun. It is also the most elegant and skilful of the traditional summer sports. Dittons has been an active punting club from inception and has provided many champions – including both the current men’s and women’s amateur champions with the club also winning the Morris trophy for the best punting club on the Thames. Join us for skiffing and punting at the Dittons.
There are two types of racing punts – 2 foots as the name describes -2 foot wide and around 30 feet long, and Bests which can be of any width but typically 14inches and again around 30 feet long. Both are narrower than traditional leisure punts as seen in Oxford and Cambridge and are punted from the well in the punt not the sterns.
Punts are flat bottomed but are typically raced on an edge to maximise speed and control. It probably takes longer to become a good punter than a good skiffer but the rewards are many. Punters face forward and the sport requires mental and physical agility with both body and mind getting a good workout as you read the river ahead and the bottom below!
There are around a dozen punting regattas a year often in conjunction with skiffing but alongside that we have pop up events and an annual meander. Racing is in singles and doubles, male, female and mixed and there are events for juniors. Excellent coaching and continuous encouragement is available all summer long from club members. Our aim throughout is to make punting enjoyable and inclusive.
Inevitably people think about falling in – we have all been there – but in reality you soon learn how to avoid that! Moreover there can be few pleasures greater than punting in the still of the evening (or morning) silently gliding along.
A first class resource from The Thames Punting Club, a link to two videos which demonstrate the skill and grace of punting.
https://us.list-manage.com/GESoCZ_d4mj?e=25b80beef8&c2id=7b9fe238b4512152a33a9b1105b942a4
Punt Racing at Dittons
Most of the summer sprint regattas hold a punt racing programme and DSPC always fields strong crews. Punt racing is handicapped to make racing fair and close and it is fiercely umpired!