A ROYAL visitor will be paying a visit to Teesside tomorrow evening for the official opening of world canoeing championships in Stockton.

HRH Princess Anne will attend the opening ceremony of the ninth Marathon racing championships and the first ever junior championships.

A parade of flags from all the participating countries will take place as national anthems are played and fireworks are let off over the River Tees.

The canoeing actually began today, with the world cup singles for athletes over the age of 35, but the championships run tomorrow and on Sunday.

Today at 1.15pm the world cup doubles will be taking place, with Princess Anne coming to the championships' opening ceremony at 7.30pm.

Canoe marathons involve athletes racing down the Tees in their canoes, then getting out of the water for part of the race and carrying their canoes around obstacles on land before getting back in the water again.

The land part of the race is known as "portaging", and this will be taking place around the Captain Cook replica ship HMB Endeavour at Stockton, and at Preston Park, Eaglescliffe.

The course for the senior championships starts next to the University and paddlers then race through the centre of Stockton, upstream to Preston Park.

Here they "portage" for 350 metres over grass, before getting back into the water and returning to Stockton, where they leave the water again and portage around the Endeavour. They then turn at the Tees Barrage for another lap.

The total length of the course is 35.8km and will take two and a half to three hours to complete. Junior courses are slightly shorter, at just 22km but following roughly the same route.

The British Canoe Union recommends the best places to watch the race are at the start and finish area near the University, at Preston Park or at the Endeavour where the athletes leave the water.

Local band the Wildcats of Kilkenny will perform tomorrow at 12noon at the University of Durham, Stockton campus, and there will be Czech folk dancers performing there at noon on Sunday. Craft stalls and children's rides will also be on offer for spectators.