2016 French Adventure with I-Canoe

Fancy a new adventure in 2016?

I-CANOE will be running a number of week long whitewater kayaking trips to the Isere River in Bourg St Maurice in the French Alps.

All our trips are run be highly qualified and experienced instructors, feature full board accommodation and all transport is provided.

All you have to do is get yourself to Lyon Airport and let us do the rest!

Courses will be run for paddlers from beginner to intermediate ability and are perfect for those looking either for their first taste of Alpine Whitewater or for those looking to step it up a gear.

Places are limited and we are offering a 100 euro DISCOUNT to those who book by January 31st 2016!

First week, intermediate WW course

Suitable for Level 3 paddlers looking to spread their wings and experience Alpine Grade 3 white water in a safe, enjoyable manner with expert tuition. It is ideal for those who wish to progress their white water skills on a classic Alpine Grade 3 – 4 river.

Trip Dates: June 14th-19th 2016
Location: Bourg St Maurice
Number of places available (in total): 8
Price: €1200* 

***€100 Discount if booked by Jan 31st 2016***

* Price includes:
6 Day programme with 5 days white water kayaking 
Full board and accommodation in comfortable Youth Hostel 
Highly experienced and qualified Guides 
Supply of Modern Creek Kayaks 
Full in-course transport including collection and return to Lyon airport and all transport and shuttles during the week

Not included:
Flights 

Pre-requisites:
Level 3 Kayak Skills holder
Over 18 years old
Eskimo roll (at least on flat water)

Call Colm on 087-6701443 for booking by deposit and details of installment payment plan. 

Click Here for online store info

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

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,

British National Marathon Championships, Worcester, UK. 27-28th August

The weekend started with an early morning start leaving Dublin port on a long and slow moving path for Worcester, UK

Once we arrived we set up the tents on a quiet corner of the Worcester Race Course. This was followed by a quick paddle to learn the course and to practise the portage. As the night closed in we headed for a hearty dinner and early night before the Saturday races.

Saturday was upon us bright and early with clear skies and warm sun showering the tents. As competitors and coaches arrived and the course filled up their was a buzz off excitement around the place.

The venue was Worcester Canoe Club a large clib house located on the banks of the magnificent River Seven. The course ran from just downstream of the club heading upstream in a lap based course with different distances for each group. The portage was a tight beach in and beach out set up with tough hill to get up from the river. The track was grass and tarmac with lots of spectator space. The finish line was then back outside the club house for all to see.

With Wave upon wave of starts heading up the course all under strict instructions from the started giving the commands, The constant show of coloured boats and determined faces leading off into the distance, With different classes and distances set for each group some were off to achieve just a single lap, whilst others the tough 7 lap course encompassing 6 portages.

As a team Salmon Leap were one of the biggest clubs in attendance and with the addition of Neil Fleming the Irish were among the most successful,

with Neil Sweeping the honours both senior men's K1 and with the help of trusty partner Peter Egan taking the Senior men's K2 title as well.

Also in the Senior men we saw some excellent performances from Dermot Hudson (6th) and Pedro Lopez (9th)

In the under 18 junior men saw Sean McCarthy continue his excellent season with a 10th Place finished closely by Iomhar Macgiolla Phadraig with a noble performance paddling the last lap and a half without his rudder. Following them up was Dan Grimes (16th) Donal Devenney (18th) Kevin Croc (19th) and Brian Mcguinness (20th) once again the curse of the Zedtech continued one lost rudder earlier and Bearach then taking a spill early on leaving him out of contention. This was followed by Brady dropping out halfway through to record his first DNF of the season.

Through to the under 16 and Jack O Hagan who has been in flying form all season coming back from a bad injury to just go faster and faster with every session took a well deserved 15th in a very competitive class. Down the field Jack Seery took an unlucky spill off the start line got himself back into contention with an excellent performance pushing himself up into 24th Place just in front of Michael Croc in 26th. Unfortunately Fiachra ran out of steam clocking up his first DNF.

Down to the U12 category with Kate McCarthy steaming off the start line with an excellent start pushing her right up into contention and coming in a very good third place this was followed on the Sunday by an excellent K2 performance with Kieran Kilbane taking a well deserved 5th place these are 2 of Salmon Leaps youngest athletes and definitely have strong bright careers ahead of them.

In the U14s Brian, Mark and Osin have been making a splash all season training daily with huge improvements and strong performances this was their first international race with a tough field Mark came home in 29th just in front of Brian who took a spill just metres from the line and Osin in 35th Place a great achievement in their first attempt.

Into the veteran classes with some very strong performance Tadgh de Barra took a strong 2nd place staying with the lead group from the start in the over 34’s this was followed by Liam McCarthy continuing his fine form in the over 49’s with a 5th place.

Then the one man who like a wine just gets better with age, Deaglan O’ Drisceoil (Digger) taking the win on the over 44’s category by over 2 minutes in his distinct bright orange Nelo he is sure to reek havoc in the coming season giving many of the seniors a run for there money

The Sunday was followed with K2 racing again with some very strong performances and some just blowing up after 2 hard races. Needless to say the bus journey home was a quiet affair!

Well done to all and here's some videos of the weekend

K1

K2

Clifden Weekend and Oranmore Video

August bank holiday weekend saw the Clifden Beach party rodeo weekend return after a break,

This year was set to be bigger and better with 45 people in attendance,Thank has to go to team paddlers Billy, Bowsie and Barry giving flat-water coaching clinics on a wild windy salt lake, this was followed by a small flat-water competition and a 45 person long eddy queue for the evening hole session.

The Evening beach party was a little washed out but as always the Galway crew made themselves a party under the cover of the IFS tent with bottles of Bucky and anything else they could find.

Sunday saw a slow start to the day with most people opting to hide away from the rain in search of warmth and food.

The comp kicked off Sunday afternoon with a large tide due,

We ran he event as 15minute jam sessions a format favoured by most as it gives time to really work the score sheet.

Off went the heats with big loops and flurries of ends  right up until the tide changed when we ran a quick inflatable comp, this was won by Orky and his Airplane off the bridge. The Heats restarted with the Expert men, unfortunately the timing was slightly out as we spent 15 minutes getting eaten by the hole we were followed by another expert heat which as the hole died saw big rides from both Barry and Bowsie to see them take 1st and 2nd spot in the comp, other winners included

Expert Men – Barry Loughnane

Masters – Garvan Smith

Sport Men – Lee Doherty

Sport Women – Caoimhe Farrell

Junior Men – Billy Brett

Flat-water – Billy Brett

A special mention has to go out to Mairead Barnwell for finishing 2nd in the masters a great performance, well done!

Sunday saw clear sky's and the wind drop just in time for a nice BBQ on the beach,

Monday we decided to head to Oranmore to find out what all the fuss is about, a small tidal feature just outside Galway,

We were very impressed an extremely good spot! very jealous its not on the east coast!

Here's the Video

Team I-Canoe @ Oranmore

Salmon Leap National Marathon Championships 2011

To mark the clubs 50th birthday Salmon leap took the opportunity to host the 2011 National Marathon Championships, a prestigious race with Irish titles at stake.

For 2011 Salmon Leap set about inviting top European paddlers to attend to really make this a special event. in response World Champion Ben Brown, Rene Olsen, Mark Childerstone and Jon Simmons made the hop across along with other British teams for a great weekend of racing.

Saturday saw the K1 events with a fun race for juniors over a short 2.5km course with 25 participants an excellent spectator sport.

The afternoon kicked off with short course and long courses some fine racing and some fast portages kept the races close with World Champion Ben Brown taking 1st place just ahead of Neil Fleming from Celbridge paddlers

Saturday K1

Sunday went ahead after a night of BBQ and dancing, with the K2 crew boats in action some very noble performances today once again Ben Brown and Rene Olsen just sneaked 1st place by a metre from Irelands powerhouse of Neil Fleming and Peter Egan,

Sunday K2

Once again it was a fantastic weekends racing with some very close races,

Thanks to everyone for taking part, here's a few images captured by Mick Feeney.

2011 Paddling Equipment

As a full time paddler and coach using the right equipment really does matter, I am privileged to have good friends and sponsors to keep me kitted out whatever the weather, For the 2011 season I have chosen to use the following equipment for the majority of my paddling.   

   .Adrian Durrant,

Boat 

Jackson Rockstar M

Having owned 4 allstars at last it was time to step up to the new Rockstar, I chose the elite version purely because I preferred the blue and white colour, this boat has slightly more volume helping me stay afloat! with the lack of water their have so far been few opportunities to get this boat out but the few chances I've had I can honestly say she rocks!

new rockstar

Downtime UnderDawg

I am continuing to paddle my Downtime Underdawg Built so kindly for the last world championships, after a few injuries and swollen ankles I finally fit back in my boat its the same boat with a different set of padding lets hope she still works! 

Dry Wear

At present I am continuing to use the Sandiline range of equipment with both long and short sleeve cag decks and dry cags makes the perfect combination for all boats. The kit is dry, hardwearing and allows good movement, since changing to it I have been very impressed.

Decks

For 2011 I have changed over from my old faithful Playboater work deck to a new NRS Drylander Deck, First impressions were it looks silky smooth and the price tag is much less than I would of expected to pay for a new deck, performance wise this thing is unreal! the waist tube is a lighter comfier neoprene which stretches and moves and avoids unwanted bulk, the deck is 4mm Neoprene with latex layer to really hold close to the cockpit rim, and another latex trim on the top to give some protecting from abrasion. If your after a cheap deck that is high on performance this is the one! the deck is shaped to really fit the boat, I've used the deck on a range of boats and its not failed me for comfort nor performance,

 

Paddles

Over the past year I have used and tested many different blades with my current list of paddles exceeding most people lifetime list so here's a quick breakdown of what I think,

AT2 Standards 194-30 – big powerful foam core blade, Current blade of choice for creeking

Werner Double Diamonds 188-12 – Big play blades good catch and response lots of power transfer.

H20 Team 185-12 – Good grips and stiff shaft indestructible blades bounce off everything

H20-2 191-30 - Good grips and stiff shaft indestructible blades bounce off everything

Mitchell Squirt Bade 185 –12 squirt specific shape smooth and fast entry and exit.

Helmet

Play- Sweet Strutter

This classic helmet offers both protection and style in a lightweight shell,

Creek- Sweet Rocker

The ONLY choice for a full protection helmet if you really like your head, safe as houses this helmet is the daddy worth every penny!

Work- Protec B2 helmet

this lid has a great style fantastic colour scheme and fit lots of ventilation and will bounce all day long!

PFD

For 2011 I have upgraded from my Peak river guide to a beautiful shiny blue Astral Green jacket, after testing one of these over the winter I knew their was no competition great fit with full movement big side pockets gets stuff off your chest and space for the extra mars bar a solid safe choice for 2011

For freestyle I'm still with the Sandiline K1 competition Pro PFD nice and light with a low cut and loads of movement make it great for freestyle!

 

Media

Headphones

Currently using the new H20 Audio Amphibx fit armband as a lighter case weighs less and offers easier access to the phone and touch screen, the case is a perfect training aid both on flat-water and in a feature,

when the water gets tougher I switch back to the older style amphibx case which offers better protection against bumps and bangs.

To pair with these great cases I use either the new flex all sport super hero headphones  or the Surge sportswrap for moving water to guarantee the headphones stay close with no excess cable.

Camera

For 2011 I have received a brand new Olympus T-810 I have only just got this but look forward to taking on my 2011 adventures its the top end indestructible camera with gps and compass

here's what Olympus say!

toughest ever technology, the new TOUGH cameras are virtually indestructible. They’re waterproof**, shockproof***, freezeproof and scratch resistant to an unprecedented degree. A sliding double lock mechanism for port and battery protection and additional lens barrier mean your TOUGH will survive just about anything

• Waterproof to 10m, shockproof to 2m, crushproof to 100kg and freezeproof to -10°C
• 5x wide optical zoom (28-140mm*)
• GPS & Electronic Compass
• Eye-Fi Card compatibility
• 3D photo shooting mode
• 720p HD Movie and HDMI Control

 

Thank you to all current supporters and sponsors for the help, guidance and equipment offered

Thank you to I-Canoe.com for the continued support.

Happy Paddling