Hope this is helpful to someone out there its a quick and easy method:
Kokatat Wrist Seal Kit
The Walshy Way!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
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
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
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
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Palmerstown session.
Ok so last saturday the 8th. The liffey descent was on and it was good... really good. Lots of carnage to be seen.
Anyway we were not out for the race, just for the 4 meg release from leixlip.
We headed down to Palmerstown to find a nice big Juicy improved wave from the construction work that was done.
It went from looking like this:
To this:
To this absolute Beaut within a week :)
thanks for reading
laters,
Conor
Anyway we were not out for the race, just for the 4 meg release from leixlip.
We headed down to Palmerstown to find a nice big Juicy improved wave from the construction work that was done.
It went from looking like this:
To this:
To this absolute Beaut within a week :)
thanks for reading
laters,
Conor
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
ROCKING THE ROCKSTAR!
For the last couple of months ive been paddling jackson latest playboat the Rockstar which seems to have taken the freestyle world by storm they are everywhere! and with good reason they simply rule. I started paddling the Rockstar coming up to the worlds and my first impressions where that it was sick it went bigger faster and more retentive than anything i had paddled before. After the worlds i was set on the rockstar and have paddled on almost all of the features available to me during our dry spell here in ireland.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Kanumesse Update 2
2. Zets new carbon playboat with insane leg lock system
3. The new H2O Nano blade. Super stiff, light and strong
4. Full swing at the all you can eat/drink buffet
Kanumesse Update 1
1. New Zen rescue PFD from NRS based on their popular Ninja vest.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Kayaking Slovenia
So This September 8 Irish outdoor instructors and 1 Kiwi decided that they would round off the summer with a trip over to the Soca valley in Slovenia!!! After a long low summer on the barrow it was nice to get on some quality moving water
3 of us would drive from Ireland with all the kayaks and gear and the rest would Fly to munich and rent a car. The drive itself is a big ould spin taking in 9 countries and roughly 2200km from Waterford to Bovec in the soca valley! all in the drive including breaks, tunnel and ferry took about 30hrs.
Once we arrived we found the river at a very low level even for September locals told us it was particularly low afetr over a month of High temperatures and no rain, luckly our first night and day it bucketed down rain causing the river to rise slightly.
We started on the Slalom course which in the guide we had was graded at 4/4+ however we would give it a solid 3+ tight and technical! As we expected the river lived up to its rep of being S turn city with Boofs, Flares and rock spins to be made all over the place!!
Once off the river Slovenia is an amazing place with great people and amazing food and best of all its all dirt cheap we ate out every night and the cost was usually about €10-15 ahead for food & drinks (It was a big feed).
The season on the Soca starts in April and runs till October and judging by the amount of people there in September id say it gets very busy in the peak summer season!!
While out there we managed to get a day with the New Liquid Logic Stomper 80 whilst one of the girls paddled it for most of the day she loved it and then I took it for a spin and wow it is smooth, holds edge so well and moves on command I cant wait to take the 90 for a spin!!
All in all Slovenia is a great place to take a weeks kayaking with even enough to entertain in Low water!! The Perfect place for aspiring level 4 skills kayakers to go and get some practice!
Boat rental out on the river is also a cheap option if you only want to make a quick dash over Alpin action charge €18 a day and have a great stock of brand new kayaks, Fly into Venice or Munich and rent a car it really can be a cheap ass trip!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)