GMIT Intervarsity's 2012

So the time of year was upon us, where every paddling student in the country descends on one poor helpless town to run riot paddle hard and generally drink the place dry.

This year GMIT were hosting the event in Castlebar, Co Mayo.

The Friday saw the first event in a cold Crossmolina the coaches travelled pulling trailers laden with boats of all colours and sizes, as the Students arrived the polo comp kicked off with an exciting first round of games seeing a brave trinity narrowly miss out to a strong Limerick team, The 2 pre tournament favourites MUCK (Maynooth) and the GMIT had an opening round exchange with GMIT proving strongest taking the convincing win,

As the event continued so did the weather with drizzle and rain to contend with a wicked side wind flying across the pitch, One highlight was to see Carlow or ORK IT as its more affectionally known line up with a single man against a full team of 5. On his own Orky battled hard through tiredness and pain scoring 2 goals on his was to a loss knocking him out of the competition.

DCU took the wildcard place into the Semi-finals against an improving UCD having dispatched there local rivals they were pushed into a tense final against favourites GMIT

After a strong 1st half DCU were holding out at 0-0 and GMIT just couldn't find the net hitting all sides of the goal until finally into the 2nd half Kevin Pierce stepped up to finally score the first goal from then on it was one way traffic to leave GMIT convincing winners for the 2nd year running.

Friday Night the crowds headed to a busy Castlebar for celebration and socialising before the following days events.

Saturday started bright and early with a tough team white water race claiming many swims and a lot of pride after the white water the teams headed south to Tuam Co, Galway for the freestyle event.

The freestyle event took the format of team jam sessions with the top 8 moves of each paddler combined to create a team score, with many current and ex Irish team paddlers in attendance the field was stacked with talent, smooth cartwheels from Colin Wong and fast helix’s of Barry Loughnane saw some huge scores. The point of having a team event meant it was up to the whole team to perform for their combined total with ORK IT again a single paddler making it difficult to accumulate any real points.

A super strong University of Limerick team took the win with a great display working through the score sheet. In second was NUIG led by Barry and Andrew really working the score sheet and in third with an improving performance was DCU showing it could have been anyone's game.

The Evening saw the masses return the the Royal Theatre in Castlebar for a night of Soul with a James Brown tribute band in the house providing the music of the night.

A tired Sunday morning arrived with the long distance races to be held in Castlebar with a lack of rescue meant the race was cut from a healthy 8km to a short sprint over 2km

the K1 was first with a fast race led start to finish by Tom Brennan from Trinity followed closely in second place by Liam Banks of UCD next off was the high performance class again led by Canoeing Ireland athlete Neil Fleming taking a comfortable win with Colin Wong in second place. In the women's class Laura Griffin took the win with Aisling Griffin in second place.

Varsities LD

There were a huge number of GP paddlers looking for the points for their colleges.

The prize giving was held back in the college with some delay while the final points were added the results were announced

1st University Limerick

2nd UCD

3rd Trinity

With the decision made that the 2013 Intervarsity's will be held in Limerick once again.

Well Done to WeeMan Mark O’Connor for putting on an excellent event, thoroughly enjoyed by all!

 

Paddy Tec feeling worse for wear after a fast 2km race

Keeping your hands warm tried and tested!

Ok so from the first day people take to the water the first thing is always “I've got cold hands” this is only normal your hands are holding a cold non insulated shaft with exposure to wind and cold water, generally the hands aren't moving too much so the options…..

You need to be able to both grip the paddle and stay warm, lots of people have lots of opinions so here's mine.

As a paddler and coach I spend a lot of time on the water and can honestly say I've tried about every set of gloves on the market here's some of my conclusions

 

The Marigold

Ok so everyone does this at some point borrow your Moms marigolds with good intentions to put them back. But what usually happens is because of the grippyness of the rubber they end up ripping on the shaft. warmth wise they are good to keep the wind off but they have no insulation leaving your hands cold.

Sailing/Kayak short finger gloves

These were the very first glove I ever tried as a new person to the sport these are great for rope work and protection but for paddling in cold conditions the fingers are exposed whilst the material holds water keeping the hands cold also I found these gave blisters due to the stitching on the inside of the thumb.

 

Neoprene Glove thin

Due to the thin neoprene these lacked insulation great grip and movement due to the thinner material. great for rope work and rescue, offering protection and minimal warmth, great for ‘warm’ people.

Neoprene Glove Thick

 

Used a set of Gull thick neo gloves after recommendation from a friend, these gloves were bulky with lots of insulation and protection, to really feel the benefits the gloves would have to be wet ‘which meant cold hands’ the neoprene would then quickly heat up ‘giving you that awful reheat phase – which really hurts!’ once warm these gloves were toasty and really nice.

Neoprene Dry glove

The NRS Mavericks are a neo dry glove with the whole glove liquid sealed and a nice dry cuff to keep the water out these again much like the other neo gloves need to be wet the difference with these is usually neoprene traps water between the skin and the neoprene with the dry glove water doesn't get into the glove leaving them cool. The mavericks also have a very rough inner which will really hurt cold hands with lots of paddling. These gloves work great if you have warm hands when you put them on as they will trap the heat.

Pogies Neo and fabric

Pogies were typically always accustomed to Sea kayakers and K1 paddlers but in more recent years they are at home both on the sea and on the river.

Theirs lots of personal preference regarding neo and fabric, the fabric being slightly lighter usually with a soft fleece lining offering warmth and fast drying whilst the neo being heavier and better thermal property whilst wet.both offer superb protection from the wind and the elements.

Many pogies now offer a short or long option allowing easier access in and out for hands in the event of a swim or rescue. other hybrid style pogies like the motion mambas are a light neo material with a fleece lining offering good thermal properties and the soft feel of the fleece.

Open Palm Mitts

I never really saw the point in these personally a bit silly putting a nice neoprene glove then cutting a hole in them which cold water will flush in and out leaving you with cold hands

NRS Toaster mitts

These are the daddy! absolutely the best glove you could ever need. I can honestly say I can use these into the coldest winter days play boating or creeking with lovely warm hands, the neoprene insulates and allows small amounts of water in which because your fingers are together heats up quickly even from cold to leave you toasty warm. As a mitt compared to the glove some will want free fingers but personally I prefer warm hands, I have set up rescue and thrown ropes with these gloves on and as always as long as you practice no problem at all. worst case just take them off and you've warm hands anyway!

 

With all gloves I think the key is use what you need. A sprint paddler hardly needs big neo gloves same way a freestyle kayaker with lightweight fabric mitts is pointless. another great tip is make sure your hands are warm going into the gloves and that the gloves are not freezing as a cold glove will suck up heat in the same way a cold hand has no way of generating heat.

IrishFreestyle Calender 2012

As part of Irish Freestyles fundraising effort this year we have put together a calendar after a huge online photo competition the winners were selected and here's the result, A beautiful calendar available to buy.

Whitewater Calendar 2012
All proceeds go to Irish Freestyle Kayaking
Following the Irish Freestyle Facebook Photo Competition, we have put together a Calendar for 2012, which will feature the best whitewater kayaking pictures taken of Irish kayakers at home and abroad.
The calendar costs €15 (incl FREE postage)
All profits will go to support Irish Freestyle Kayaking
Order your calendar now!!
Thanks to:
I-CANOE for the help in making this happen
Sponsors of the calendar include: Wavesport, NRS, Sweet, Craft, Riot Kayaks, Liquid Logic, Kokatat, Big Dog, Peak UK, Elephant, H20 Paddles, Astral, Werner Paddles & Shred Ready.
The winners of the photo competition who allowed us use their pictures in the calendar.
All those who shared their best kayaking photos with us.

CLICK HERE

Adidas Sickline 2011

With the Autumn closing in it was at lest time for the Sickline White Water World Championships, The event was due to take place in the Oetzal Region of Austria.
For 2011 we had a group of 8 Irish paddlers heading out all descending on Dublin Airport on the same flight, some good will and helpful Eir Lingus staff ensured out 8 creekers and kit all made it onto the same flight, Once we arrived in Munich a group of us had taken the option of booking 2 large vans which equipment could easily be thrown into and we could sleep in, after a couple of hours driving into the night we had arrived at the venue, a quaint Austrian town full of character and scenery. The Oetz Valley some 820m above sea level
After a first night in the vans we took to the water in some big bouncy warm up type runs with the majority of us having not seen big volume water for a long time we needed some acclimatising running the lower Oetz the Upper Oetz leaving a cheeky spin on the race course Wellerbrucken for last thing that day.
The paddling was great cool glacial rivers with bright blue skies and sun beaming down made sure kit dried quickly.
The evenings were spent cruising around the town trying the local beers by the bottle, half litre, litre, 2 litre or even 3 litre glass just so we had tried them all.
With more consecutive days paddling warming up to the event we were feeling good about the lines.
As the event drew near other paddlers descended from all over the world for video nights and ceremony's the atmosphere was buzzing,
As the competition day arrived everyone knew it would be close, one roll, one rock or one bad line would really mess up your weekend, We headed up for our compulsory practise run bright and early not sure weather this was our best idea putting on thinking of our warm sleeping bags, as we left the top eddy and felt the cool water hitting our faces we knew we were in the game, dropping over a sweet boof into the turbulent water below lining ourselves up for the champions killer a sloping drop with a compulsory late right boof stroke miss the stoke and melt the drop before getting spat out eyes to the sky, as always with practice runs we missed the boof  ending up in the cold glacial water stinging our faces but knowing we have one chance to get it right as we cruise through the rest of the course looking for clean fast lines trying to memorise the scenery. once to the bottom we make the long walk back up to the get in ready for competition runs.
As the timed runs kick off we see a mix some sweet clean lines and others melting and swimming the champions killer really is a chancer.
This time as we leave the eddy we know what we have to do adrenaline pumping through us pushing us on Bang we hit the boof looking onwards at the killer no time for thinking just from feeling knowing what we need to do, lining up at the top looking into the pit pulling through off the fast green tongue and driving up with the knees presenting the hull of our boats to the stopper as we use the speed racing towards the slot and onwards down the fast lines, As a group we had mixed fortunes during the day with 2 sets of broken blades a couple of rolls and a bit of rock bashing, PaddyTec forced his way into the next round leaving him in 70th overall with Barry and Neil 84th / 85th next up was Colm in 99th Adrian 107th Dave 112th and Ronnie down in 124th
With the whole crew out of the event we took to the town in true Irish style to find the biggest drinks we could (3 litres of Austrian Beer)
We spent the rest of the week paddling and biking through out the valley with loads of great runs with good levels we managed to take Macca for a spin on the Vent, seeing his nervousness turn to smiles and enjoyment after a great run, We managed a cheeky run down the middle Oetz a classic section with lots going on, Dave managed to break his boat on the get in and then Colm went for an early bath seeing the only swim of the week (He drank his bootie juice!) and Neil found a nice hole to test the Raptors play boating skills.
As we waved goodbye to an excellent event and epic party we can reflect on our performance and take positives forward to next year as we will definitely be back.
We spent the last days of the trip in Munich checking out the Galaxy water park with over 1400m of slides before taking to the Oktoberfest in Munich central for a spectacular night of heritage, culture, beer and dancing. A truly spectacular way to round off a great week away!

Heres the edits from Colm Healy

Clare Glens Sunday 18th September 2011

Clare Glens 50cm-42cm

Bliss Stick Mystic Lightening

In preparation for the Sick line extreme race I've been looking for a new boat something fast something shiny and something light!, fortunately I kept coming back to my trusty Bliss Stick Mystic which is now over 4 years old but sill love it, The rivers we've paddled or the good times we've had I have a kind of sentimental attachment surely its not really that heavy….

At first look she tips the scales at a mega 25kg’s ouch yes she really is that heavy so I set to work weight saving,

After removing the seat, footrest, front and rear pillars, airbags, throw line, bit of water, random foam pads, Due to the big water I decided to keep the original thigh braces with cup and the backrest system as standard,

and back on the scales at 16.38 kg, right. now to keep the weight down

Firstly The Seat

So out with the old seat,

 

at 2.38KG she is a big plastic beast! So working with I-Canoe has its bonuses with some hunting we manage to find “here's one we prepared earlier” lightweight Bliss Stick Seat weighing in at only 0.68kg’s

Then I chopped down the Pillars

 

Starting at 1.14kg for the two I managed to take 0.16kg off the rear pillar and another 0.34kg from the front pillar saving 0.5kg

Next was the footrest,

Removing the standard Bliss stick footrest with its wide plastic and metal bars weighed in at a healthy 1.32kg this was replaced by foam blocks after making myself a template

Then cutting foam to fit

The footrest alone is now down to a tantalising 0.3kg

so with the boat back on the scales here is the moment of truth has the Mystic diet actually worked,

minus all of this stuff

 

she's down to…….

Just 18.6KG

 

Test

To obviously check how this was I rounded up some of I-Canoe’s Stock boats to test there weights

Lightened Bliss Stick Mystic	18.6KG
Liquid Logic Stomper 80	21KG
Wave Sport Habitat 74	20.55KG
Jackson Villain S	21.8KG
2011 Jackson Hero SL	18.8KG
2010 Jackson Hero SL	19.34KG
Riot Magnum 74	23.4KG

A successful days outfitting,