The weekend of the 17th, 18th and 19th of June 2022, David Cadman and a group of enthusiastic walkers, cyclists and sailors tackled a 70 mile triathlon around Rutland Water to celebrate David's 70th birthday. 

 The triathlon kicked-off with a 20-mile designated walk around the Water, followed by a 26-mile cycle around the lake including the peninsular island. The event concluded with an adventurous 24-mile night sail on Rutland Water, beginning from Rutland Sailing Club.

 This took approximately 12 hours and was a damp one, with heavy rain coming around midnight.  

 Bill, who planned the night sailing route around Rutland Water, said: "David and myself just returned from the 3 rivers race and the mast fell off, so we were hoping that this weekend would be an improvement. Well, we were bathed for the first half as expected from the weather forecast. The top 5 crews were very evenly matched though, since Mike Payne is out of the running's. It made for a competitive evening." 

Bill also shared a joke, which we naturally decided to include:

 'Can you tell the difference between a stoat and a weasel. 

 One is weasily recognised and the other is stotally different!'

Mke Payne, one of the Sailfish fleet who missed the event due to illness

On Friday the 17th of June, the teams gathered at Rutland Sailing Club for a BBQ and to join David in handing over the donations to David's chosen charities, Sailability, the RNLI, and The Air Ambulance. 

John Batty, Air Ambulance Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, said: "David asked me to come along to accept the cheque because they have been doing this triathlon, which is a real achievement. We love coming to support the people who support us. Each mission that we fly is approximately £1700, and it is all voluntary and charity money. We are funded by the public, so these events are fundamental." 

 John Batty, whose wife works in the Air Ambulance Shop in Oakham, is also responsible for opening the collecting tins locally and shared a few statistics about the running of the charity in 2021:

• Total missons 3385.
• Traffic accidents make up 29% of call outs.
• Hours flown are 558 hours plus the critical care car, as they can't fly in dark. This covered 60,060 miles. 
• Counties attended is 8, as the Air Ambulance help other counties including Nottingham, Lincolnshire, East Anglia and more.
• Headquarters are located in Rugby. 

  Sailability representative, Sarah Forsyth was also in attendance to collect the funds raised through this event.

 Sarah said: "We are so grateful for any contribution to Sailability. I am in awe of what David is doing. It is so admirable."

 Over £1500 was raised for each charity, with a total so far surpassing £4550 and more donations expected in the coming days. 

There weekend saw a range of issues, from detached keels to broken rudders and 30 degree heat to torrential rain, but the teams have clubbed together to make this a roaring success, with two good groups of walkers and cyclists heading up the event on Friday and Saturday, and 10 boats concluding the event on Saturday night.  

Boats moored at Rutland Sailing Club

 Liz Carless, who sold David Cadman his current boat and is a member at Rutland Sailing Club, said: "This was all about camaraderie rather than racing, but these things get competitive." She laughed, "You know what these things get like, but it should be great. It should be added though that we are a social bunch and we support one another. We are all here to enjoy and to show support and share friendship."

 David Cadman concluded: "It's been better than I thought. The support has been great, even neighbours have donated generously. Two local companies has paid over £1000 and one sent 5 people to participate. With weather being typically English, some even threatened to pay me not to do it!

 However the walk was great, even in the heat, the cycling was a touch easier with cooler temperatures, and Sailing was damp but those who had enough beer on board shouldn't have felt it!

I would like to thank everyone involved for their contributions, financial or practical. It wouldn't have worked without so much enthusiasm from the people around me. Thank you." 

Find out more about what inspired David's endeavour here.

Alternatively, share your own events, endeavours or achievements by emailing [email protected].

We look forward to hearing from you.

Once again, huge congratulations to David and all who supported him.

Rutland Water Sailing Club at sunset