Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre
The National Watersports Centre, Holme Pierrepont is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent.
Now run by Leisure Connection Ltd on behalf of Sport England, The National Water Sports Centre is one of five National Sports Centres.
The facilities
Set in 270 acres (1.1 km2) of parkland, the water sports centre is an ideal environment for water activities. The centre is made up of three distinct pieces of water:
- Regatta lake, a 2,000 metre regatta sailing facility which features an international standard six lane rowing course
- A 700 m purpose-built white water canoe slalom course
- A water ski lagoon equipped with slalom course and ski jump as well as a ski cableway
Further, the River Trent is also accessible from the site. This is supported by an indoor training hall which is suitable for testing and is also available for indoor sports. The facilities provide a full range of award courses in:
- Dinghy sailing
- Windsurfing
- Canoeing
- Rowing
- Water-skiing
- Powerboat handling
A sports science and medicine centre is purpose built and is available for use by governing bodies for physiology, sports injury/rehabilitation and physiological testing.
This is supported by an indoor training hall which is suitable for testing and is also available for indoor sports such as five-a-side football, badminton and volleyball.
The main centre building provides conference rooms, dining room, a bar, and accommodation for up to 85 people.
Whitewater course
Introduction
The course is a focal point for English whitewater rafting and kayaking, often holding international events for slalom, freestyle and wild water racing.
Location
The whitewater course is located between the weir on the canalised River Trent and the regatta lake.
Construction
The course, made primarily from concrete is approximately 700 metres long, drops just over 4 metres in height to produce Grade 3 whitewater rapids. The course is gravity fed, does not use electricity to power it, and therefore is relatively cheap to run.
Due to the nature of the design, swimming through the course is safer than many other locations around the UK due to deep channels and few significant underwater obstructions.
The amount of water flowing through the course depends on rainfall, and canal usage, but due to the large catchment of the Trent, flows between 16 and 25 cumecs are common. The course is more likely to close due to too much water (in the winter), rather than too little.
Sports
Rafting brings in the most people to the course, followed by slalom kayaking, playboating and standard whitewater kayaking.
The future
It was reported on 4 January 2006 in the Nottingham Evening Post that funding for the centre was in doubt [1]. Nottinghamshire County Council, which owns the site, fears Sport England may pull out of its funding before its management contract expires in 2009, which could force the centre to close due to lack of funds.