20% Off Sale!

So just because its almost the end of August we have decided to clear some stock room space,

we have 20% off of some great items to get you on the water.

20% Off Five Ten Canyoneer 3 Boots

20% Off Yak Vanguard Drysuit (size Medium)

20% Off Yak Kallista PFD

20% Off Astral Green Jacket

20% Off Kokatat Centurion PFD

Plus lots more specials can be found here!

Sunset Sea Kayak Sessions

With the warm bright evenings, I-Canoe decided to do something a little different, As Ireland Premiere Kayak retailer we decided that with all this experience instore we should put it to use on the water so we started running Sea Kayak Sessions, easy beginner sea kayak trips around Dalkey or Howth, two beautiful trips for novice and expert alike, with the Irish Seas ever changing conditions no two trips are ever the same from the glass like seas upto the rolling wet stuff to keep everyone entertained.

Over the past few weeks these trips have become ever popular, and no with the evenings getting shorter again we have had the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful sunsets this side of Ireland

With only a few weeks left of bright evenings if your thinking about coming along get in touch we hope to run these through to late september but as always it depends on the weather.

I-Canoe Web Page – Sunset Sea Kayak Sessions link

Heres some of the latest photos from the trips

 

Outfitting a Kayak

So after I spent some time with Muireann outfitting her boat I recieved a number of messages asking for input and help outfitting their boats

So heres a video guide to help outfit your boat

Boat Outfitting Video Guide

I used a Wavesport Project X and then shows The Jackson Rockstar at the end but most of the sections will cross over to most boats.

 

The most important thing is to be comfortable you will learn more and have better control if you you have good point of contact with the Seat, Backrest, hip pads, thigh braces and footrest. If you are missing any one of these you will move independantly of the boat and cause the wibbly wobblies!

Hope it helps

Adrian

 

Paddle4life.eu

Eye Feel Good Open Canoe Expedition

After a short 3 days to recover from the marathon I was back on the road, this time headed for Northern Ireland and the town of Antrim. I arrived Thursday afternoon to a clear view across lough Neagh. The sun was beginning to set as the familiar freelander rolled up to greeted by Sonya and Kevin to unload boats into the eye feel good container.
After a quick bite we then set off headed even further North to the Atlantic coast which would mark the end of our trip. with the shuttle done we hit the hay for a few hours sleep before setting off early Friday morning.
As the dawn broke we greeted the participants at the lake we packed up the boats with barrels and bags of all our needs for the next 3 days.

The trip was a charity fundraiser to paddle from Antrim across lough Neagh to Toome before heading onto the River Bann through Lough Begg and all the way to the Atlantic in Coleraine.
As the group gathered for pre trip photos and smiles the craft were launched with a selection of boats, mad river canoes, Legend, explorer and journeys in a selection of materials along with a fleet of Venture Prospectors made up the majority of the flotilla. 2 Dogs, 39 paddlers in 20 boats plus a small rescue rib made up our trip.
As we set off with the wind in our sails or umbrellas we made a good start heading around the Lough headed for Toome. As we hit the dog leg into Toome the wind decided to hit us with a nasty headwind slowing the hole group to a slow crawl. A few boat changes and we made the trip to Toome with no dramas. At Toome we hit the first of 5 locks we would descend as we paddled into the lock and the water started dropping the group disappeared into a lonely basin away from the wind above a moment of rest before emerging onto the River Bann and around into Lough Begg. As we pushed on the wind battered the boats creating small waves spilling into boats. The group pressed hard working to keep the boats straight and moving with the rafter Canadians struggling with the wind pushing harder to keep the extra weight moving. The safety boat really made its money worth, towing canoes back to the front of the group to stop them being left behind. As we turned at the end of the Lough the faces painted the picture grimacing and frustrated the group were battered but not beaten as we took to our first nights camping the sun withdrew from its cloud to give us a beautiful evening sun to set up camp and enjoy our first evening of camp food and tales.

The next morning we arose to the sound of sizzling sausages and boiling water. The morning broke with frost on the ground to give everyone a slight chill as we packed up camp and got set for the off knowing the hardest day was now behind us, all we could hope was that the wind would be good to us.
With a slight headwind we made our way along the Lower Bann headed for the promised land of Pub soup and sandwiches only 6km away. We wound our way along the meandering river with green fields and trees lining the banks with no other water users we were secluded calm gracefully paddling along our way.

As we reached the pub ahead of schedule everyone was looking in anticipation a warm pub filled with tea, coffee and a log fire lay behind the large wooden locked doors, as we waited patiently we looked at each other looking for expressions and signs of movement from within. As the clock struck 11 we heard the large metal bolt pull open and like the lock gates we all flooded in.
The warm food was just what the doctor ordered, with warm drinks and food to fill ourselves up ready for the next stage of our journey. As the group peeled themselves from the warmth of the pub for the cooler climate outside knowing we had plenty of miles ahead of us.
Back in the boats and with another change of crews to keep things social we paddled our way on. With the group making great progress the powerhouses of Ole and Elizabeth taking the lead pushing hard at a great pace leaving others in their wake
With Kevin excited by the game of Margery kept everyone in great humour and well motivated. With more locks to negotiate the feeling of achievement was starting to set in with half the trip already in the bag the group were running at a good pace and eating up the kilometres.

As we reached the Movanagh Fish Farm we knew we were finished paddling for day 2.
As we pitched camp we already had a gathering party collecting firewood ready for the cool evening ahead. The tents were pitched and the group fed as we sat around the campfire sharing stories and chatting till the early hours the tarot cards even made an appearance. This was the part of the trip which really pulls the group together motivating and relaxing. With future trips and ideas being planned even before this trip is finished.

As the group packed the kit into the boats for the final time knowing the distance to the finish line was ever closing we got underway after a slight delay as the Lock doesn't open until 10am we pushed on with the group refreshed and revitalised we caught up the time.
On the trip we had a couple of dogs bounding boat to boat exploring each persons craft except for the odd leap of faith into the water they were great company and happy to go with the flow.

As we approached the cuts we knew the finish line was in sight, with only a few kilometres to go.
On clearing the lock at the cuts the flotilla took to formation being led by flagship (a rafted Canadian with the eye feel good banner proudly waving in the wind.

As we passed the RNLI Atlantic lifeboat our goal was in sight the slipway at marina with parents, friends and family awaiting our arrival.

As we reached land their were hugs kisses and hand shakes all round their was a massive sense if achievement from everyone with the devastating headwind from the first day all but forgotten as the boats were pulled up and the final talk given from the expedition bosses Richard Fee and Mark Kennedy the trip was over.
Well done to everyone who took part paddled, supported or sponsored their was a great deal of support to make the trip possible.

Thank you to Richard Fee and Mark Kennedy for organising a very successful safe and professional trip for all.

Eye Feel Good is a charity foundation based in Northern Ireland. Our aim is to raise money through organised events donating to those living with cancer within the community.

Click the logo to find out what they are upto!

For anyone looking to do the trip their are a great series of open canoe trails which have been produced by CANI, this trip would be excellent for both sea and touring kayaks as well as open canoe.
They can also be found online

http://www.canoeni.com/

.Adrian

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

Wavesport Sluice Rodeo @ Stack Event 15th October 2011

After a long season the scores were in with all to play for in the last event of the Irishfreestyle League brought us back to Dublin well almost…… With no rain and the rearranged Liffey Descent unfortunately the ESB could not give us a flood on the river meaning no event at Sluice, so the back up plan was made….. Stackallan on the River Boyne, Co Meath. A small shallow wav/hole feature which was beginner friendly and good eddy access. The thought wasn't particularly appealing but on arrival we were greeted by a magical level seeing a sweet little feature where all moves were possible.
As the competitors arrived the marquees were up and the registration began, For 2011 the UK league was linked with the Irish League sharing Cardiff earlier in the season and this the last event, as a treat we had both World Champion and soon to be British Champion Claire O’ Hara, Soon to be British Champions Sam Anderson, Paul King and Kim Aldred plus Jack Mitchell who just came for the Guinness but ended up paddling with their bands of awesome supporters most notably the best supporter Laura King!
The event kicked off with 18 Junior men in heats full of entertainment big air loops and space Godzilla's leading the way. The standard was high with the ever improving junior men followed by the Junior girls with the same age old battle of Niamh against Caoimhe this time with the addition of UK team member Kim Aldred who showed the advantage of constant UK features to take the win, In the Sport Class Lee Doherty the ringer had a match set with Conor Mathews who recently reappeared on the scene with some cool liked ends and sweet spins Conor edged out Lee for the win. Both of these lads will be promoted to the Expert class for 2012 with some solid performances. For the Girls Sport Kate Mc Shearer Was left as the lone girl out for a paddle taking the win in style with some wicked waving and sophisticated spins.
The expert women showed the class of World champion Claire O’ Hara alongside Muireann and Aisling again proving why she's the best with some super smooth mc nasty's and air loops.
C1 this year had Orky showing off his Carbon for the first time on the east coast and it made the difference with the light swing weight hitting the air on both loops and Mcnastys into 1st place followed closely by UK Champ Paul King with his cool flurries of ends into splits really showing his class.
The expert men with all to play for saw UK Champ Sam Anderson take the win with his well practiced Felix's followed into 2nd by Adrian Durrant  and 3rd Eoin Keyes
The real competition was yet to start with the Masters grudge match Bernard Walsh and Garvan Smith tied for first in the league saw Bish Bash and Bosh take to the water in a fun affair of paddle spins air guitars and crown pleasers as Walshy surfed in for yet another ender he plugged, tucked and pulled through his first loop in competition. The crowds went wild did we really see a 53 year old ‘Cant teach an old dog new tricks’ learn and land a loop! this sent Garvan onto the back foot fighting back with cartwheels both ways and even a cheeky split to seal the deal. As the Scores were counted the crowds waited with Mairead 3rd, Richie Reade 2nd and the suspense was killing them JOINT first Garvan and Bernard the two of them were inseparable.

This was the final event of the year meaning it was also the final selection event of the year,
Event Results are here
league results are here
A huge thank you goes out to all of the sponsors for the day,
Wavesport Ireland have been a constant support of Irish Freestyle based on the banks of the Liffey the whole event really couldn't of happened without them,
You will all be glad to know Wavesport have already signed up as Title Sponsors again for 2012 with new ways to make the event bigger and better a huge thanks to Shane Cronin the man behind the scenes of Wavesport Ireland.
Outdoor Community provided you all with hot soup and sambos from their riverside marquee as well as media and photography
Canoeing Ireland for all their support from the office staff through access, insurances, and trying to book water.
South Dublin and Fingal Co Councils for their support with using the St Catherine's park access and safety management.
H20 Audio For there great prizes for the sports Category winners
Keen Europe for there wicked prizes for the Masters Category
I-Canoe for their support and demo boats as well as competition prizes for the event
Arc Cafe Bar for Party Venue
Paddle4play for event organisation
Event Photos thanks to Vinny @ Outdoor Community.ie


Heres a Quick edit from Conor Macken