Marcus Barnett - Paddleboarding the 2024 Avon Descent
Marcus Barnett paddled 124km through Western Australian rapids and bush on his Red 12'6" Voyager, becoming the first person to complete the Avon Descent on an inflatable paddleboard. Here’s how it went…
This year I took part in the 2024 Avon Descent – being the first person to complete it on an inflatable stand-up paddleboard. The Avon Descent is a 124km race from Northam to Bayswater. It showcases beautiful scenery weaving through farmland and national parks, including challenging rapids and ti tree mazes to negotiate. I was on a Red 12'6" Voyager expedition touring paddleboard which I had put a set of smaller keel fins in to help with
the rocks. I chose this board because it was a bit of a Swiss army knife. It has a good amount of speed for the flatter sections but is also really stable through the rapids and manoeuvrable through the ti trees. My main concerns going into the race were whether the board would be able to withstand the battering it was about to receive going through Grade 4 rapids, and whether I would be fast enough to make each section cut-off times.
On the morning of the event, standing on the banks of the Avon River in Northam, excitement was high. There were over 300 competitors in various craft all waiting for the signal to go. I hadn’t done the race before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect – but I knew I was in for a real adventure. We’d had a decent amount of rain in the three weeks before the event so there was a steady flow in the river, which I was hoping would cover up some of the rocks in the rapids and give me a bit of a nudge on the flatter sections.
The horn went – and we were off. The first day was 52km from Northam to Cobbler Pool and I knew that the first 28km were relatively flat through farmland. The 12'6" Voyager went really well and I was able to get a good, steady rhythm going to average a speed of 8kmph. The first obstacle was Katrine Bridge which has a bit of a right-hand bend and a steady flow as you pass under the bridge. You had to pick your line so that you didn’t end up nailing one of the bridge supports, but the paddleboard was solid at holding a line and I managed to get through unscathed.
I then continued to Williamson Weir, which is a pretty hectic weir made up of decent sized, irregular boulders with fast-running whitewater. Again, I picked a line and committed – the paddleboard took a bit of a hammering on the way down but I stayed on and came out the bottom feeling stoked. I was worried going into the race that the board wouldn’t be able to take the hammering that it was going to receive, but now my confidence in it was building with each new challenge.
The river started to slacken off after this point, with good kilometre-long flat stretches that needed a head-down approach to keep to a speed that meant I could stay in front of each stage’s cut-off times. I then hit the ti tree sections at the end of the first day – essentially thick mazes of scrub bush in the river offering various different routes that you can take through them, some of which lead to dead ends. This was difficult because you had to weave your way through the thick, tightly compact trees and pick different lines depending on the flow of the river. On one occasion I picked a route which ended up leading to thick, impassable trees, so I had to make a u-turn against the flow of the river and try another route. Again, despite the board being 12'6" it handled easily and I was able to get out the other side and through the finish line of day 1. It was a tough day on the water but I knew that tomorrow would be tougher…
Day 2 was the longer and harder of the two days. Not only was it 72km but it had the rapids sections of Walyunga National Park to negotiate. The horn went at 7am – and we were off again. The river really narrowed in places now and you could feel its power pushing you down. It was like a big natural water park and the adrenaline was really firing as I got sent through rapid after rapid. You had to pick a line early and keep the board
on course as best as you could. Once out of a rapid section you had to be on the look-out for the next section. Standing waves and boulders made this hard – and going through Supershoot I was flung off the board and into the whitewater. I stayed with the board and pulled myself back on, which was nice and forgiving being an inflatable SUP.
Back on course I then went into the Washing Machine – and once committed there’s no changing your line. I couldn’t believe it when the board bounced through the rocks and charged through the other side. I was well into the rapids now and loving the thrill of being thrown down one after another. Next up was Syd’s and I took the left-hand line. Froth was lined up on both sides of the river and again once committed there was no turning back. I dropped onto my knees and used the paddle to keep me straight. The board flew down the rapids and I was out the other side, stoked that I had knocked another one off.
I was starting to feel it into my legs now. It had been a hard previous day, now rapid after rapid was starting to take its toll and I was living off a bit of adrenaline going into the final big set, which was Bells. The spectators were all lined up on the bridge and I had to give it a go standing up, so I picked a left line and headed down it. My bodyweight wasn’t far enough back for the drop and I got sent over the front of the board. In the mayhem I managed to grab hold of the board and then climb back on for Dogs Breakfast the other side to save my legs from taking a hammering.
Find out more about the Avon Descent here.