Last of the Summer Sessions

Since my move back to Galway in September I have gotten to enjoy the local playspots more regularly.

At the end of September there were some great sessions in Clifden and Oranmore where we were basking in sunshine and would have felt more at home in a shorty cag.

The appearance of Tuam hole is a real sign that winter has arrived. Again, I have gotten to enjoy plenty of ice cream headaches it dishes out.

I have throw together a couple of short films of this paddling since September.

Hope you Enjoy.

bowsie

Last of the Summer Sessions

Tuam Session

DIY Neck Seal Repair The Walshey Way!

One of our regular Liffey Swimmers Mr Bernard Walsh popped into the store to give us an insight into his neck seal repair technique.

Armed with his sons football and a

Kokatat DIY Neck Seal Repair kit Available Here

The video in almost real time shows a neck seal replacement in approx 10 mins!

Thanks Bernard! Repairs ARE quick and easy!

Collign Gorge Games 2010

Colligan gorge games seemed to take over where over boater X’s in Ireland were being a premium Irish paddling and party weekend.

The Boater X itself take part in a section of the Colligan Gorge which is fairly continuous grade 2/3. As always the Colligan Gorge Games Crew had worked hard in the build up tapping in suppliers and sponsors for prizes and support. With 200 pre registered it was looking for a high attendance.

 

On a cold Saturday morning I left a dark Dublin for the long trek south to deepest Waterford. To my surprise the route which used to take forever has a nice new shiny motorway the whole way down so even in the I-Canoe truck it cut down the journey time considerably.

Along the way the dawn was breaking in the east with the sun melting off the ground frost and showing us the extent of the previous nights rain with the Barrow notably “in the fields” As we approached the morning was upon us bright sunshine lit up the road. I arrived at the Colligan guest house to roads full of paddling cars and vans full of boats and personnel donning wetsuits and dry suits galore. With the work van I cruised through the masses to a nice close area for sponsors :-)

 

After unloading a supply of demo boats and hanging banners and flags around the course I took to kitting up myself, With well over 150 people there it was an equipment explosion from people looking cold in damp wet suits to the dapper in their dry suits. I personally chose to use separate cag and trousers choosing the Sandiline splash range as is light and nimble and the twin neo seals not only insulate but do not chaff or rub, This with my K1Pro PFD I felt gave me an advantage as opposed to the lads in the full suits and rescue PFD’s. The games opened with the Men's sport as the many men made the long trek up the river over the bridge and up to the start the experts gathered around the final drop looking for lines and extra tactics.

 

after the men's sport went ladies sport, junior men, junior women, expert women and finally expert men. This was to be a hotly contested event after the Crana event 2 weeks previous and colligan events of previous years this event was sure to call in all the big names from all over the country.

 

The River was low with lots of rocks causing people to get stuck up and bouncing off the drops were low with tricky exit lines causing lots of bracing, and the competition was quick.

My first heat started badly getting myself spun at the beginning whilst paddling backwards with the pack I took the opportunity of an outcrop to fire the tail of my boat into giving the boat momentum to turn also blocking off the approaches from behind, after this fun I was sitting in 2nd just behind the leader, Having taken part on a few of these events now I've learnt the key is persistence the top two go through so stay close to the leader and if the opportunity to take the lead arises go for it. In my heat this game plan paid off with the leader just catching a eddy line losing speed I lifted the bow onto the slow moving water and charged forward into the lead and headed for the last drop and safely to the finish line.

The reward for a win the long walk all the way back to the top of the course for the next heat.

My second race put me against Dave o Sullivan, Conor Healy in the Flash C1 and Brian Keogh one of the pre event favourites this was one of the toughest races with Dave taking the lead at the beginning leaving myself and Keoghser to get tangled up with boats and blades entangled and the persistent threat for Conor in his C1 we fought our way down at one point pushing each other to the point Conor saw a gap and went for it before we blocked his move, Back to the game tactics I kept on his tail waiting for the error and once again it came with a small drop just taking the bow of Brian's boat slowing him just enough for me to get ahead as we entered the final drop I caught Dave powering to the finish right on his tail not giving up whilst still defending from the continuous threat behind coming home in 2nd place put me into the Semis.

 

 

Once again into the semis this time I faced a strong field containing more of the favourites Paddy and Wongie. From the start the lads forced me left and into the wall of the gorge slowing me down pushing me into last place as I came out I could see the lads steaming on, I put down the hammer and went for it, Around the halfway line I made my move into 3rd taking at an eddy from here all i could do was paddle with Paddy monstering ahead just out of reach making no mistakes at the finish I cruised through and finished up 3rd in my semi leaving me in 5th Place as i did in Crana.

 

Next up was the team event for this I pulled in Ronnie and Jemma to make my team. Jemma had flown over especially for the event all the way from the Custard County. We cruised to the start and got in the queue with each team going in a timed run to determine the winner.

As we headed off we set a good pace keeping the team tight and strong as Ronnie went for the roll I moved to the front like the mighty ducks in formation I hit the river left eddy as Jem went by I made my move smoothly to the river right eddy where i hit the banner, I watched Jem wave to the judged as Ronnie bailed down i eddied out back into the flow before powering for the finish line.

 

We had a clean run completing all the tasks and smoothly with no problems. We made our way back to the van.

 

This is where the drama started with a solid days paddling behind us we climbed the slope up to the top this had been getting progressively muddier as I reached the top I lost my footing on the mud and slipped forward trying to regain my balance with my paddle, I managed to hit myself in the face with the blade, I can confirm AT2’s are a very stiff and solid blade, resulting in a split lip and cracking a front tooth. So as a warning to everyone don't try to eat your paddle!!

While I was cleaning myself up the final took place with an all star cast, Paddy McGovern, Colin Wong, Rob Coffee and YanniMan The Greek. With the Paddy/Yanni rivalry fired up after the Crana event here was the rematch. In what was a close and powerful race all of the lads gave it their all, But Paddy took the win to make in 2 wins in 2 events, With Colin Wong 2nd the same as last year and YanniMan The Greek in third place and Rob bringing up the rear in 4th.

 

In a side not I can honestly say I was very impressed with the sandiline splash range with lots of good feedback it looks great and really did keep me dry and warm the perfect kit for boater X and adventure racing where the performance matters!

The event was hugely successful even with the low water levels and lower than expected numbers, everyone had a great day and the prize giving was really good with Prizes from I-Canoe, The Great Outdoors, Total Experience, MDAC, Bantry Bay Canoes, and lots more The most notable class was the junior men with Neil Slevin and Eoin Keyes  taking the top two places winning themselves Peak creek Cags also taking the junior men's team title to win Peak throwlines and then the Event award of a Palm PFD for their club these two will step up to the experts men next year and will take no prisoners in their quests for back to back titles, These two are some of Irelands best young paddlers.

 

The evening party took place back in Waterford with most people choosing to stay at Villa de Travelodge, It was warm and cheap :-) the party started in the rooms before moving to the road and down to the club, unfortunately due to my terrible injury I found drinking to be painful but was helped greatly with the aid of a straw. With the band rocking and the Nintendo themed fancy dress sporting Mario's, Luigis and various other blasts from the past.

The event was run professionally and smoothly with a knowledgeable team who have a system which works. This event has potential to continue to develop and improve, Roll on 2011

Thanks to the Colligan Gorge Games Crew

Crana Canoe Weekend

Crana Weekend is an action packed weekend of all aspects of paddle sport in a small town in the North West of Ireland Called Buncrana.

The river running through the area is called the Crana a dam released section containing grade 2 up to grade 4 drops it is here we find the venue for the event.

The event kicked off Saturday morning with the Sea kayak races having spent most the night driving I gave this a miss instead psyching myself for the freestyle event.

Next up was the open canoe skills where participants had to paddle pole and track themselves and their boats upstream against the flow a very interesting event to see.

Slalom popped up next with lots of classes for everyone to take part. The event went well with top paddlers making the long journey North to participate,

Last up was the freestyle a new event added this year and an event I was keen to participate.

The location selected was shallow but useful with lots of juniors strutting their stuff using the same scoring as the Sluice Rodeo gave lots of incentives for paddlers.

Up next was senior men with 2 heats into the second heat we noticed someone may of turned off the water leaving the feature increasingly shallow and the roll area below unsuitable for anything other than rocks but despite this we continued waving, kissing and high fiveing the judges with the odd helix attempt and a couple of Donkey flips for the brave.

Luckily I had done enough to take the Win with Declan O Donnell in 2nd and Ronnie in 3rd.

After a night out on the town and the arrival of Yanni The Greek, We were prepared for the Sunday highlight to the weekend! The Boater X

Up first were the intermediate and junior boater X using a section downstream of the main drop once over the attention moved upstream where spectators flooded the bridge and sanctions to take a glimpse of the carnage about to ensue.

  

The race format takes first rounds top 2 into the Gold event and the Bottom 2 into a silver event. With a few big names taking the hit and falling into the silver left the events with 20 in each from now on it was a straight knockout with the top 2 advancing each time.

 

I started the event well paddling fast picking a clear line through the bolder garden and cruising into the final drop with the field behind me taking a perfect line and into the lead this put me into the Gold event where I managed to face the same chap twice both time he tried his best to spin me off line but taking boater X rules as anything goes as long as no one gets hurt I may of let go of my paddle to give him a sharp shove in the opposite direction this didn't please him too much but he was behind me which was all that mattered. I had a small scare in the semi catching a rock and finding myself at the back of the pack had to work hard to push my way back into contention unfortunately I was left in 3rd and missed out on the Final :-(

The final was won by Paddy McGovern, Barry Loughnane 2nd and Yanni  in 3rd. Due to a disqualification to the leader for changing boats this meant that we all got bumped up leaving me and Ronnie in joint 4th for the event

 

a great result from a great weekend.

Paddy's Summertime Adventures, Part 2: Norway

Slightly delayed update after a busy month starting back in college. For this blog update I’m mostly going to write about Norway as this was the summer’s highlight for me.

During the second week in July myself and little Laura hit Norway for a stay of five weeks. Our first stop was the Sjoa River festival for a little bit of racing and a lot of partying! The festival consists of two main events the Ula Extreme Race and the Sweet Rumble. During the festival around 60 top boaters from all over Europe battled it out for some big cash prizes.
The qualifying round for the Sweet Rumble was up first, this was run in order to get the numbers down for the final heats. Here the top 32 including Sean Mac T, Eimear and myself managed to qualify for the final race. Next up came the Ula extreme race. This was a very cool time trial race run over about a 300metre course which finished in a crux move on the final 4 metre drop pictured below.

Here, competitors times were recorded when their kayak was flat on the water at the bottom of the drop. So if you have to roll it add’s on quite a few seconds to your time. During this race I ran as hard as I could however when landing my boof I landed too much on edge and had to brace adding some vital seconds onto my score. I finished 3 seconds off the pace to qualify and into 25th place. Eimear O’ Donnell finished the race strong in 4rd place overall.

Soon after came the world famous Pimp’s n Hoe’s party, as you can see the Irish team made a strong appearance at this event-

The weekend ended with the finals of the Sweet Rumble a head to head boater cross style battle. The race contained many close encounters with some reasonably large sized holes and a tricky finish line, consisting of a throw bag touch on a boof move. This resulted in many unexpected finishes where anything was possible. Here Sean finished in 37th, Eimear a high placed 3rd position and myself in 14th.

During the next month we progressively toured northwards following water levels and paddling in a bunch of different areas these included; Sjoa, Otta, Oppdal and some others I can't remember how to spell. There is paddling for all abilities In Norway but the highlights are definitely the endless amounts of grade 4-5+ creeks covering this wild country. Therefore paddlers with a strong roll that enjoy grade 4+ white water will thrive here. After paddling different creeks nearly every day for 5 weeks we had barely made an impact on the paddling here. Some of the classics included:

The lower Rauma

The Upper Rauma

And the uber clean Ula slides

A couple of travel tips for Norway

• Essentials Include: The Norwegian whitewater guidebook, this is the bible when paddling in Norway. It contains a varied guide of many of the different paddling areas and a bunch of different grades from 2 to as high as you want to go.

• A good tent, tarp and rain coat as it will rain when you are there and these summer showers can sometimes last for weeks.
  

• Time of year to travel: From Springtime there is paddling to be done in Norway until the late summer, however water levels vary in different areas during the summer. Generally the more southern areas like Voss work in the early summer and the Northern areas in the late summer.

• It is definitely true that this is an expensive country to travel in, in comparison to Ireland. However your journey can be made cheaper if you happen to be travelling from mainland Europe. Laura and I bought most of our staples for the 5 week trip in a €200 euro shop in France. All that was left was meat, dairy and veg. The cheapest local supermarket for this stuff is the Kiwi.

Pictured here is our paddling buddy Brian illustrating one of the many dangers of running waterfalls, after a close call landing a bit too flat.

Coming up next are some gear reviews and a video of the trip!

Kanumesse 2010

Kanumesse 2010 kicked off during the first week in October in Nuremburg, Germany as per usual.  This is easily the World’s largest display of paddlesports equipment and showcases all the current and new gear for the coming 2011 season.

Here is a selection of gear that caught our attention

A beautifully finished full carbon Gatz canoe with wood effect trim

Freya Hoffmeister’s record breaking round Australia Touring Kayak 

 

The much anticipated and eagerly awaiting Project X prototype…  It’s roomy!

 

The New Journey from Mad River (to replace the Explorer)

Beautiful composite Expedition 186 – would make a great Liffey Descent Boat!!

Captain’s Chair attachment from Harmony

New Big Dog Kaos 2.0, kinda looks like a….

Composite OC1 Big Dog Kaos with Big Dog Squirt Boat in the background

New Big Dog School Kayak.  Basic Spec from €450 (ish).

 

Wai Har with Nookie’s “Iceman” fleece undersuit

Native Watercraft’s composite SUP Board

 

NRS had a great range of new product including denim coloured Drytop and Drypants, Inflatable SUP Boards and cheeky stainless-steel whiskey flasks

Steve Horvath (paddler designer/engineer extraordinaire) showed up with his new brand, Core Paddles featuring a virtually indestructible aluminium shaft and hollow carbon blades.  Available in both straight and bent shaft in 12 and 30 degree offset with Santoprene grips and with carbon or nylon blades.  Prices to start from €275.

No visit to Germany would be complete without some sausage!

Liffey Descent 2010

After what had to be one of the driest summers on record, the annual highlight of the Irish marathon racing calendar rolled around again with the 51st Liffey Descent taking place on Saturday the 4th of September 2010.

With a slightly lower turnout than recent years (but still at least a healthy 700+ competitors), slightly lower water levels and pretty much everyone admitting total lack of moving water training (there being no moving water in the country to train on!), it was obvious there were more than a few nervous participants making their way upriver to the start line.

This would be the 3rd consecutive year myself and the Good Wife (Wai Har) had competed in the Double Open Canadian class.  Paddling as a husband and wife team is a good test for any marriage but after getting the first one under our belts, it has been plain sailing since;-)  This year we got some minor flatwater training in a week or two before the event along with the Lower Liffey Ranking Race which freshened up our moving water paddling and re-affirmed we could still do it.

Our Liffey Descent performance (as with most C2s) tends to be rated by number (and quality of swimming) than anything to do with time.  For instance in 2008 (our 1st year) we had a good race but swam at Palmerstown (and finished 20th).  For 2009 we had a nasty swim at Straffan (nasty = time consuming) and struggled to regain all the positions we had lost (finishing 27th***).

Being a C2 in the Liffey Descent “Race” is always a surreal experience imminently preceding the “start” and fraught with danger; be too aggressive and keep with the front of the pack and risk getting sandwiched at the weir in Straffan or, being too cautious, keeping to the mid or rear of the pack and you can lose the race before even crossing the “start line”.  I say “start line” because, being the last (and arguably the most entertaining) class to start the Liffey Descent means that once the aftermath of the G.P. class has been cleared, the Canadian Canoe start is something like: “5,4, just Go!” (with most of the starting pack having cleared the line before “5” being called).  Upon reaching Straffan Weir, the huge crowd amassed on the bridge and riverbank, rather than urging the competitors on with a successful race, are thirsty for blood and carnage, resulting with competitors who negotiate the weir upright getting boo’d and heckled by the commentator!

After reconsidering our line over Straffan weir, we eventually decided to stick with what we knew best, going down the boxes on hard left.  We ended possibly a little TOO hard left, giving the divers on standby a fright, but we got through cleanly with minimal water onboard.  We dodged the boats and bodies of those being rescued below the weir and charged on to make up some time in the Jungle.

Initially we managed to make up a good few places – passing swamped canoes and recreational GP kayaks.  Thankfully we didn’t have any mishap in the Jungle and weaved our way downstream towards Celbridge and Templemills and Vanessa weirs.  These didn’t prove any trouble and we bounced down Celbridge rapids getting to the lake still with some energy in the tanks.

Thankfully the wind on the lake was light allowing for steady paddling without correction.  We had hoped to make up a few extra places on the lake, which we did, but there were at least a couple of other  very fit C2 teams with the same idea meaning we probably held the place we had.

Our mountain-board wheels proved the fastest and most reliable method for the portage and gave us an edge over some of the faster teams on the water.  After a short queue to get back on the water, we cleared Leixlip Bridge and powered on towards the Sluice.

We had ran thru the Sluice on the Lower Liffey ranking race without issue but we did take on considerable water meaning we had to stop and empty at Lucan.  This time we took the safer, but slower, option of going over the chicken shoot but this meant we had a drier boat and no need for bailing.

At Lucan we again ran the chicken shoot but didn’t get as far left as intended and landed too straight which meant we took on more water than intended.  After some bailing we ran the fish slide on Anna Livia weir and kept the pace up for Wren’s Nest. 

At Wren’s we ran the left hand wall to avoid any chance of ending up in the right hand stopper and gained a couple of places from those who weren’t so lucky!  Over the next couple of Km we tried to hold a clear position but we were well aware that there were some faster crews closing in on us. 

At Palmerstown we had intended to run diagonally down the left hand wall but a recently washed down try had obstructed that line.  Having a poor track record with running the centre line, we drifted wide on the left before powering in at the V to cross the top of the left hand stopper and continue right down the centre flow.  Having been so delighted with clearing the stopper successfully (and seeing a couple of our competitors taking a swim) we straightened up to early and took the full force of the wave straight into our boat.  We ended up being swamped up to the gunwales but even without a centre airbag, we managed to hold our balance.

We stopped to empty at Rafting.ie’s ramp and kept going with an empty boat through the Broken weir, Chapelizod weir and then the final flat section towards the finish.  No matter how many times you paddle this section, it always seems to get longer.  We called on every ounce of energy left in our bodies, chopping and changing positions with a couple of other canadians, trying to capitalise position for the finish.  Eventually we rounded the final corner and the finish line came into sight which we crossed in 20th place and with the time on the clock just over 3 hours. 

We got changed quickly, grabbed soe food and swapped stories with fellow competitors of a great race run.

Wave Sport Project X – Press Release 17/09/10

Let the hype begin!

Playboating Hits the “X” Level with the Public Debut of
Wave Sport Project X
Easley, S.C. (Sept. 17, 2010) – Identified as an international competition fiend and a longstanding leader in playboat design, Wave Sport expands for the 2011 season with the fully redesigned and much-anticipated premier of the new Wave Sport Project X. The Project X’s highly refined design, new volume distribution
and outfitting system make it the ultimate in performance and visual excitement.  Created to drive the evolution of freestyle paddling, the Project X will make its public debut this weekend at Gauley Fest, Sept. 17-19, 2010 in Summersville, W. Va.

“The Project X represents a half-decade of freestyle research from the world’s top kayak design team,” explained Bryan Kirk, team manager for Wave Sport and top-ranked world freestyle championship competitor. “We have truly discovered a
new benchmark in paddler control both on waves and holes, with absolutely no sacrifices,” he added.

The new boat is a major evolution of the original Project and homage to the legacy of the X, however it is not a melding of the two popular designs. With a completely new look, new aggressive performance features, and a blazing white outfitting system, this boat delivers the extreme whitewater performance for
which Wave Sport is known.

According to Wave Sport’s lead designer, Robert Peerson, the progressive rocker shape of the Project X hull, combined with the new volume distribution, puts the Project X in new territory for performance and comfort. “The Project X is finely tuned to maintain speed, give explosive pop, offer easier release, and
provide smooth control over any wave for easier execution of moves,” he said.

“More volume has been added around the knees, which allows for control, maximum comfort, and a slicier performance at the ends.”
In addition, new sizing options, combined with the improved volume distribution, give a broad range of paddlers even greater comfort and control. “It delivers in all whitewater conditions,” Peerson said, “with a seat at the core of the system that allows a paddler to dial-in unlike any other on the market,” he added.

The stunning “White Out” outfitting system is a fully redesigned, welded-in seat with new ergonomic contours, tool-less seat adjustability, and an innovative new leg-lifter. Additionally, the new waterproof vinyl material means less slip, shorter dry time and better mildew control.

Wave Sport’s new Project X will be available at specialty retailers nationwide in the US in January 2011, in Ireland February/March 2011.

Specifications:

Model	Length	Width	Weight Range	Boat Weight	Price
Project X 48	5’9”	25”	100-170 lbs	31 lbs	TBC
Project X 56	5’11	25.75”	140-210 lbs	32 lbs	TBC
Project X 64	6’11	26.5”	180-250 lbs	34 lbs	TBC

Paddy McGovern’s Euro Road Trip Report (10/06/10)

Just off the river now after another fantastic day’s paddling in the Soca valley. And this is definitely one of my favourite places to paddle, the river is amazing, there are runs for paddlers of every level and the food and beer are cheap (€2 for a pint)! Today we hit the classic section, the slalom course, siphon canyon and the Otona run. This contained a healthy mix of Grade 3 and 4 and the very interesting Grade 5 Siphon Canyon. Which keeps you on the edge of your seat as you sprint to hit the must make moves!

The view:

Little Laura popping a boof:

A freestyle session on one of the many holes on the classic section:

Tucking up for a loop, in my rented diesel 80:

 

Damien Murphy:

During the past week we have been paddling in Italy and Slovenia and have covered about 2000 k on the road. The swim count currently stands at 3 to Laura (I’ll let you ask Laura about them). And so far I’ve broken 1 boat. A rather large hole appeared in my boat about 10 mins after this photo, during a run on the very beautiful Egua river. This is a must paddle if you visit the area of Val Sesia in Northern Italy!

A fantastic wake up hit in the morning!

Sean Mac T:

Kevo Egan:

Val Sesia is an amazing place to paddle for the intermediate or advanced paddler. There are a huge amount of runs to choose from with plenty of amazing slides and drops to paddle. The majority of the runs are Grade 4+5 and some of the memorable runs include; the Sermenza, Sermenzina, Sorba, Egua, Mastellone and the many sections of the Sesia river.

Laura on the last of the Sorba slides:

Next week we move onto France for some work with the I.C.U. in Bourg and some personal paddling in Briancon. And finally in July we will be hitting Norway for a month and checking out the Sjoa festival along the way.

A little bit of travel info for Italia and Slovenia:

Italy- Closest, cheapest airport is Bergamo close to Milan.

A really cool campsite to base yourself in is at Campertogno, here you will meet many other European boaters.

Info on the river get ins, etc… are available on a fold out map of the area at the campsite.

Slovenia- Venice is the best airport to fly to, about a 2 hour drive will get you to the Soca.

Here there are loads of cool campsites dotted along the valley, Kamp Koren in the town of Kobarid is well worth a thought with a fantastic Sauna to end your day.

Alpin Action is the main kayak shop in the valley, where you can also rent boats if you don’t want to fly with your own. This is located in Tronovo.