Paddle Expo 2012 finally opened it’s doors today to many visitors from all around the world.
It was very busy the whole day on the Palm & Dagger stand, people couldn’t wait to see our new products, colours and boats and we couldn’t wait to present it and tell everyone all about their features and qualities.
Later in the evening we had our stand party with free food, wine and beer and good crowds to enjoy together.
On the big screen the other side of the show Kayak Session put on a film showing of the new Congo movie by Steve Fisher, the best kayak movie I’ve ever seen. Starring athlete Benny Marr flew in specially for this occasion to present the film! Congo Movie Info
Check out the videos so far:
Fresh for 2013 Palm has a whole NEW Layering system. Seppi Strohmeier, Palms Product Coordinator shows us what they’ve been working on…
Palm/ Dagger paddler Dave Carroll gives us a look at the brand NEW Core 4 Thermal one piece suits – Tsangpo Mens suit and Trisuli Womens suit…
Here Seppi talks us through the new Blaze Neoprene Pants, lots of features that set them apart. Similar ideas and features used in all the new Neoflex & Neoprene line so lots of great ways to keep warm this Winter.
Have a look at the photos of the day below: Featuring some of our new products. Our dear customers,visitors and friends. Our beloved staff. The stand party and a glimpse of what went on today…
This morning PaddleExpo 2012 opens here in the beautiful german city of Nuremberg.
This year we have 50 items of new or updated kit to show to the world over the next 3 days!
Today was our last day of set up, so below you can catch a glimpse of some of the gear and boats we have lined up…
Throughout the exhibition we’ll be uploading videos, photos and blogs so everyone can see and find out more about what will be coming to stores near you soon.
I personally have seen quite a few new things I’ve set my eyes on
Paddeln im urbanen Umfeld finde ich persönlich ziemlich cool. Bei mir zuhause habe ich mit dem Rhein durch Basel auch eine wirkliche tolle Location. Man kommt sich dabei immer ein bisschen vor als würde man durch die Fußgängerzone paddeln
Beim letzten Hamburg-Aufenthalt war es daher das erklärte Ziel, einmal auf der Alster zu Paddeln und – Plan 2 – möglichst stressfrei und umweltschonend in die Innenstadt zu kommen.
Ich schulterte also morgens mein aufblasbares Stand Up Board und wanderte zur Bushaltestelle.
Das hat soweit auch ganz gut funktioniert. Lediglich das lange Paddel hat mich dezent behindert. Ich hatte irgendwie immer Angst eine Lampe zu treffen oder aus Versehen einen Mitreisenden umzuhauen.
Mit der S-Bahn ging es direkt zur Haltestelle Jungfernstieg an die Binnen-Alster. Den Abstecher in den Applestore habe ich mir angesichts der edlere Geräte und meines dicken Rucksacks erspart
Direkt am Ufer fand ich direkt ein nettes Plätzchen zum Ablegen. Flugs war das Board aufgepumpt, Schwimmweste und Paddelklamotten angezogen und das Gepäck auf dem Board verstaut.
Bei besten Wetter startete ich in Richtung Norden, vorbei an den schönen Seerestaurants, Ruderclubs und Parks. Ein echter Genuss! Das schöne in der Alster sind die schier unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten der Routenwahl. Unzählige Kanäle, einer schöner als der andere, machen diese Binnenrevier ideal für den kleinen Ausflug zwischendurch oder auch größere Touren.
Kurz vor Schluss kam ich an einem Café mit einer wunderschönen Terrasse vorbei, auf der die Hamburger bequem und chillig auf Liegestühlen fläzten. Stehend auf dem Brett kam ich genau auf Liegehöhe vorbei und hatte ein paar echt lustige Momente
Den Ausstieg am Jungfernstieg, direkt an der Schleuse, habe ich ganz besonders genossen. Fröhliche Menschen in der Sonne sitzend, leise Musik aus dem Hintergrund und entspannte Gesichter am und auf dem Wasser – schöner kann urban-paddling nicht sein!
Finally as the sun was setting and after more than nine and a half hours of paddling, poling, portaging, grunting and groaning, and enduring everything from bright sunshine to wind and rain I was treated to my first glimpse of my planned destination. That location was Sionascaig, a beautifully wild and remote loch in the far north of the Scottish highlands surrounded by some spectacular mountains.
Looking down towards Sionascaig
I had been wanting to explore this area for a while after having spent some time researching it and pouring over maps thinking how interesting the area looked. When planning I’m always looking at how I can link up watersheds or how I can extend previous trips. Being that I’m not a particularly sociable beast and that I enjoy my own company, plus I really like the challenges presented by solo expedition paddling, I felt that this trip would lend its self well to this style of expedition. Careful consideration should be given to any solo ventures remembering the associated hazards, especially should something go wrong. I always leave details of my intended route with a friend together with details of what to do if they don’t hear from me at certain times. As a safety system I carry a GPS tracking device which allows people to track me but also has a built in message service allowing me to check in and let the world know I’m ok, plus alert the emergency services should I really need them. As best I can I make sure Im self sufficient and that Im not going to be putting anyone else at risk.
Sionascaig is a part of a series of lochs in the Inverpolly National Nature Reserve which lies to the North of Ullapool in the Scottish highlands. It is part of a system which includes Cam Loch, Loch Veyatie, Fionn Loch and Loch Sionascaig. The skyline to the north is dominated by the peaks of Suilven and Canisp whilst to the south are Cul Mor, Cul Beag and the classic ridge of Stac Polly.
You can view the area and my route in Google Maps HERE
Blue sky and sunshine but the clouds were building!
As I left Dingwall the sun was shining with blue skies, however as I headed north the cloud thickened and the inevitable wind and rain started! I passed the track leading down to the fish farm on Loch Veyatie and found a small pull in off the road with good access to a tributary flowing into Cam Loch, loaded my boat and launched. I had chosen my Mad River Explorer 15 as my boat. I love this as my expeditioning boat. With its shallow “V” hull it tracks well and is equally at home on moving and open water.
It wasn’t long before the rain arrived, closely followed by the wind!
I spent a couple of hours exploring Cam Loch before heading to the South West corner in search of a waterfall leading to Loch Veyatie and the first of many portages on this trip.I was quite taken a back when I turned a corner in the narrowing loch, as the the water a short distance in front of me disappeared out of view! For some unknown reason I had been expecting the waterfall to be flowing towards me rather than away and into Veyatie.
The waterfall itself is quite spectacular and the short portage around it rather interesting as it drops 12m in a very short distance. Portage complete and with my boat loaded Loch Veyatie was now stretching away northwards for 7km to my front.
The view from the top of the falls with Loch Veyatie stretching off into the distance
Looking back at the falls
Wasn't expecting to see some of these!
The way ahead
After some 5 km of paddling a large bay opens up on the western shore. This marks the point at which there is a portage between the Lochs Veyatie and Sionascaig and as this was the portage I intended to use on my return I thought I would check it out, and also take the opportunity for a break and some lunch.
The bay leading to the portage between Veyatie and Sionascaig
This was the view of my forthcoming portage between the Lochs as seen from the Loch Veyatie side with Sionascaig just visible in the distance. Challenging me thinks !!
My View of Suilven dominating the skyline as I head out of the bay and back to Loch Veyatie
By this time the rain and wind had subsided and was replaced with sunshine which was an invite for the legendary Scottish midges to make an appearance. They don’t normally bug me but on this occasion as there was no other option available, they feasted on me! I carry a head net in my PFD for just such an occasion which I normally put on just before landing and for short periods. I also carry a full midge jacket which I then put on for longer periods once settled.
The famous Scottish Midges!
Would you trust this man? Not a good look but essential !
A few km’s later the Loch becomes a river and I was now being overshadowed by the classic peaks of Suilven. This gave me the opportunity to engage in a spot of downstream poling, which was a great way to stretch my legs. Not that this would be a problem soon with another portage looming. Some distance later after picking my way through the twists and turns, the flow slows and you find yourself in the calmer waters of Fionn Loch.
Time for a spot of downstream poling
Calmer waters of Fionn Loch together with much improved weather
I was now looking for a bay on the west side where the water leaves the loch and heads downhill heading for the Falls of Kirkaig. At this point I needed to leave the Loch and try and find a portage route across to Sionascaig.
Leaving Fionn Loch behind me heading over to Sionascaig
OK which way now?
On route to Scionascaig
This wasn’t to be an easy portage, with over 2 km of rough ground to cover and no chance of a trolley being used. I like to keep the legs short whilst portaging, sticking to 100m at a time, and always carrying my kit first and then returning for my boat. This then allows me to vary my route and select the best option for when Im carrying my boat. Several times I managed to loose either my boat or kit and on one occasion both whilst walking back and forth. Eventually I found myself looking down the final 500m of the remaining portage that would take me into Sionascaig, accompanied by some spectacular sunsets over the surrounding mountains.
After nine and a half hours of paddling, poling and portaging Sionascaig was now in clear view and it was all downhill
However the route down wasn't easy and took some selection
Stunning sun set over Cul Mor
Stac Polly at sunset, peering through the cloud
It felt good to have water under my boat again as I paddled a couple of km around to Boat Bay. After searching around a bit for a good bivy site, I eventually set my tarp up for the night in a sheltered spot opposite Boat Bay, sorted some food and went to bed tired but happy. Luckily I had taken a hooped bivy bag with me, which saved me from a night of misery courtesy of the midges.
Next day after a late start I spent the day exploring Sionascaig further before finding a new bivy spot very close to the start of the portage trail back over to Loch Veyatie. As I settled down for the night the weather was turning with the wind building and light but steady rain.
I was in for a wet and windy night with an early morning call!
I could hear the weather worsening as it whipped and lashed at my tarp making sleeping a challenge. This continued throughout the night until at around 0430 a huge squall flattened my tarp! Luckily because of the way my tarp was set with my boat along the back edge it didn’t take off and disappear. I crawled out into the pouring rain and wind and surveyed the situation. As it was nearly light I decided to quickly pack and retreat to Loch Veyatie via the previously mentioned portage route.
Kit packed I set off with my familiar routine of kit first and then boat, again with the legs kept to around 100 m. It was hard going as there was no real path just a wet, tussock strewn 2 km of slog, all slightly up hill and then there was few hundred metres descent down to the water in a sheltered bay. I was quite tired and hungry at this point so stopped for breakfast before continuing.
Looking back from where I had come from. Started the portage at around 0515 in the morning
Where I was headed never seemed to get any closer
Careful route selection was essential. This was the ground for most if not all the 2km, and its all slightly uphill !
Challenging times.. a picture paints a thousand words!
Portage nearly over, looking down into the bay where I had breakfast and that leads to Loch Veyatie
As luck would have it the rain had eased and the wind was blowing down the Loch in the direction I was heading. I quickly rigged my solo sail, sat back and enjoyed the swift journey down the Loch to the fish farm I had passed previously.
Luck was on my side so I grabbed the opportunity and sailed back to the fish farm
Glad to have my Aleutian cag with me. Great expedition jacket
The fish farm and the end of my journey, or was it?
Unfortunately there was no vehicle access down from the road to the farm, so I set off on foot back to my car, moved it to the gate at the top of the track and returned to my boat with a portage trolley. With my boat strapped on I set off on the last part of my journey back to my car before heading back to Dinngwall.
Using a trolley for the portage up from the fish farm and back to the car
I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, despite the bad weather that woke me and cut my trip short. There is lots of scope to extend this trip and include a few more lochs. I could easily have spent more time exploring Sionascaig, in fact I would very much like to head back there soon and maybe even take in one of the surrounding peaks or ridges. A beautiful place with stunning views and well worth a trip. Go and see for your self.
Meanwhile here is a little collection of memories from my trip. Hope you enjoy it
Music by Dan-O at DanoSongs.com
Happy paddling and see you on the water…..
Jules
Bespoke Canoe Coaching, Guiding, Safety & Rescue training and BCU awards
The last event of this World Cup series at the Nantahala Outdoor Centre, the biggest event of the 3, is the decider of the whole series. It’s also the site of the next World Championships.
So the results from here will give us an indicator of whose looking good for next years Worlds, what we need to work on and who are the ones to beat currently.
The feature is a challenging powerful hole. All moves go in there, but it’s not an easy feature and you need to be fast and powerful to get good rides. The bonus of this event over the previous 2 was also that we had a full week of practice to get used to the feature.
First up of the competition was Mens Prelims. Cutting the field to the top 20. I’d been resting just having a couple practice rides during the week to give my collarbone a chance to heal up a bit after the Pigeon event.
I was really happy with how I was doing in the feature and how the new Dagger Jitsu is performing for me so even without much practice felt like I could compete well here.
I had really good rides and got 3rd place in the prelims, Peter was 1st and Dane 2nd. In the quarters the last 2 weeks of competition caught up with me and I couldn’t push properly on my right sued and finished up 12th. Happy it total but in need of a few weeks off the water to heal myself properly.
I really enjoyed the feature and am looking forward to being at full strength, trained up and un-injured ready to do battle here next year. I think I stand a good chance
In the finals it looked set to be an epic fight between Peter and Dane who’ve been stepping it up against each other every run throughout the series. Then we had Quim Fontane, Nick Troutman and Jason Craig who could easily step up and match them both to take the win here.
It was actually one of the best finals i’ve seen. Peter looked like he had it won with his first ride score of 1246 only for Jason Craig to jump close in his last ride full of big snappy moves to go into 2nd with an 1186.
Then on his last ride Dane shot into the lead with a huge 1316, with only Peter left to go and have one last shot to beat it.
Peter paddled in and let rip, getting all moves pretty much and fighting his hardest to get the Win, the whole crowd was going crazy for him. We were so happy when the score of 1538 came in! Peter 1st, Dane 2nd and Jason Craig 3rd.
This meant his 3rd win of the World Cup and the Overall World Cup 1st for Peter Csonka!
Really couldn’t have been more pleased for him, he really excelled this series and I can’t wait to get back on the water properly next season and compete in such a strong field.
Also worth an extra mention is the great performance of Jason Craig whose been off the water the last two years since a very serious back injury.
It was so great to see him back on the water paddling so well. Another year of training before Worlds and I think he will be another top competitor to add to the growing list of potential winners.
In the Women’s prelims and semis GBR’s Claire O’hara was leading but the rides weren’t that high scoring. Perhaps due to the difficulty of the feature.
The finals started slowly, the Women were going for the hard moves but missed them mostly, and scores comprised mostly of felix’s and loops. The Hole is tricky and powerful and it’s just not that easy for girls to get the highest scoring moves to go here, it requires a big amount of power and snappiness.
However on their 2nd rides the Women seemed to wake up and started to fight for the medals. Ruth Gordon threw a big ride with some Phonic’s, Mc’Nasties and Loops to get a 495. It was the highest score of the women’s competition so far and it seemed to motivate the women to do their best.
Next was Emily Jackson, getting good phonic’s both ways in her ride coming close and scoring 430. Claire O’hara tried to beat Ruth and Emily and improved on her 1st ride but not enough to move up.
Until the very last ride of the final it looked like Ruth would win. Claire was still sat in 3rd position with her last chance to get the top spot being the last ride of the event.
She really put herself together and went all out going for Switch Mc’nasty, Mc’Nasty, Phonics, Felix, Splits, a huge loop and scored a ride of 633 – a ride definitely worthy of her World Champion status!
She said after the competition that she could not believe what just happened in her rides
The fight in this final was definitely good enough to be a World Championships final. Claire’s score was the highest scoring ride of the series for Womens and in one of the harder features!
Overall Women’s World Cup went to Emily Jackson with Claire just behind in the overall standings taking 2nd.
In the Junior Mens Palm/ GBR’s Bren Orton was once again the one to watch with a win at the last event on the Pigeon, a 1st in the Prelims and Semi’s, his dominating paddling looked like the other juniors would have a hard time beating him at NOC.
In the finals Hunter Katich went huge on moves but just didn’t do quite enough moves to beat Bren. Brandurn Hepburn also of GBR came close too but in the end Bren’s 2nd ride score of 836 was unbeatable and he had the luxury of a victory lap last ride to claim his 2nd win of the series. Bren 1st, Hunter 2nd, Brandurn 3rd.
Despite Bren’s domination of the last two events his unfortunate flush at Rock island made the difference in the end as the Overall Junior Mens winner was Hunter Katich of the USA with a 1st and two 2nds. I’m sure Bren’s great paddling will make him another tough competitor next year in his first senior Worlds.
It’s been a really enjoyable trip. With my injury I wasn’t able to compete on the level i’d have liked to, but was very happy with the results I did get. It’s left me and Katya really motivated to train and get ourselves in the best shape for next season.
The NOC feature might well be changed before next year, we really liked it but regardless of feature next September is going to bring a very good competition.
I only wish it would be events every week with such a high standard to compete in It’s always a bit sad when events like these finish. During the series its like a little life for each event and now its over we have to wait quite a while for the next big event to come around. It also gives us lots of time to prepare and get ourselves on the next levels.
A final Congratulations to the overall winners – Peter Csonka, Emily Jackson, Hunter Katich and Nuria Fontane!
So, what an amazing final race! 40 minutes flat out endurance on the steep rapids of the Vltava Devil’s Stream. We were set off in pods of three rafts and we had lane choice in our pod. We got the early lead and we clung to it the whole 40 minutes!!
Looking slick and giving it everything!
Our flat water endurance sessions really proved their worth as we stormed across the flat sections. But the Belgians gave us a good fight, and on the tougher rapids they were really close behind us.
The Belgians hot on our heels
For the last push though we pulled it right out of the bag, all 6 of us giving 100% and going lactic but not giving up. As we crossed that finish line we knew we had given everything we could and that is such an amazing feeling!
It got steep and intense but we kept it together.
The bus ride back up to the top was a hilarious medley of Queen Songs and “WHAT TIME IS IT!!???”, “MOJITO TIME!!”. We now have 2 weeks off training and finally being allowed alcohol and it was definitely going to start that night at the closing party!
When we saw our results were 4th overall we all felt incredibly proud. We would love to have come back with some bling, but it is such an achievement to get 4th place after two Czech teams and a Slovakian team who had the home advantage and get paid to raft train! Things will only get better from here if the dedication and commitment shown is anything to go by! BRING ON THE WORLDS IN NEW ZEALAND!!
And finally a huge thank you once again to Palm for the kit we get. It makes such a difference being in great kit and we are so proud to be flying that flag for them!!
Thanks To Pete Woods, Dave Hollins and the photo guys at the ERC for the photos. We are pretty excited about going through all the ones we took, so watch out for a few more coming this way,
The Palm team had a great time last weekend at the annual Cardiff International Whitewater Paddle Fest. Sunny weather brought hundreds of people down to the course to enjoy a paddle, with races, coaching and freestyle thrown into the mix, making for a fantastic day out.
We’ve been helping to recruit the new generation of paddling superstars by supporting the CIWW Kids’ Academy, and we were proud to present Cardiff’s youngest rippers with their brand new fleet of shiny red Axioms. A huge shout out to Dan, Cole & Ed, who were all tearing up the course, showing real style and great skills. Check ou the video below for a snippet of the action, these guys will be worth watching out for!
Check out the video:
The Palm team Boater X event was also great fun and a real crowd pleaser. This event involved 6 teams, each comprising of a pro paddler (kindly provided by the manufacturers present at the event), a junior, and two adults. All paddlers had to compete in a timed race with their own team, and then a free for all 6 way race against the other paddlers in their category. The races were all hard fought, and the junior boter cross category was a real crowd pleaser, with young Dan taking the title in style in his Axiom.
All in all, this is a fantastic event, and great fun was had by all. There was even a brief celebrity appearance of Rory Mcgrath paddling a bathtub!
Wether your paddling on open, or moving water, having a good understanding of and being able to apply the principles of trim are fundamental to being an effective open boat paddler.
One way to think about trim is as a footprint that is created in the water by the boat, or the amount of boat in contact with the water and the shape that is created in the water by the boat. The size, shape and depth of this footprint can be changed by both your position and that of any kit in the boat, both of which can have a dramatic effect on performance.
My boat trimmed as I would normally paddle it, slightly bow light
Usually when things aren’t quite working as they should be, or paddling seems like hard work then I encourage people to revisit their trim and adjust it accordingly as a first priority.
Think trim, trim, trim and trim again!
You can develop your understanding of trim especially in relation to wind with a few simple exercises. Firstly find a safe area of open water with a steady wind blowing. Then use extremes of trim by moving your position to either all the way forward to the bow or back to the stern and take note of the effect this has in relation to which end of your boat points into wind. Once this is confirmed try paddling around into, down and across the wind.
TOP TIP: You can help your awareness of wind and its effect in relation to trim with the use of a few quick and simple visual aids. Drop a couple of balls into the bottom of your boat and watch where they settle in your boat. More towards the bow or stern? Use a simple tell-tale flag on the bow of your boat to determine a definite wind direction and now relate this to the direction your boat faces with your given trim.
A couple of loose balls as a visual guide to trim
Simple flag to aid confirmation of wind direction
Very soon you will become aware that although these extremes of trim work they can effect your overall stability, control and ability to paddle effectively. So lets look look at changing our trim with more subtlety. After all Im sure you will agree that you really don’t wont to be getting up and moving around in your boat too much in windy conditions i.e. the middle of a lake or Loch risking a capsize!
Big changes in trim can be effective but you may loose some stability and control!!
So rather than making big changes to our trim by moving, lets look at being more subtle by moving our kit/bags. A good way to experiment with this is with the use of some dry bags full of water.
25 L drybag full of water is a good starting point
25 Litres drybag is a good starting point (you may need more) and will result in up to 25 Kg of weight. When placed right at the bow or stern this can can have quite a dramatic effect. View someone else in a boat using the bags full of water to see the effect or have someone photograph you in your boat. Pay particular attention to the where the bow stem or stern curls and under the boat and how much much if any of a gap is produced.
Look for the gap that is created in the area indicated above
Gap at bow stem no longer visible as the trim has been adjusted to bow heavy by moving the drybag forward
Now imagine your boat is sat in the center of a clock face with the wind coming from a12:00 direction. By using subtle movements of the bag/s, and then fine tuning with small movements of yourself (leaning forward/backward or simply moving slightly ) try and get your boat to point to the various numbers/hours on the clock face, and naturally stay there without much effort from yourself.
Next time your out try and achieve the same effects with your kit bag or simply carry a spare drybag that you can fill with water and use to adjust your trim.
Rannoch, the alternative way to trim your boat. Available from all good dog breeders!!
Hopefully with this new found knowledge you can get your boat to naturally point in your desired direction of travel and life will be somewhat easier! It makes sense that if your boat is already pointing in your desired direction of travel, paddling will be a lot easier and there will be no need for wasted energy trying to fight with any wind.
Remember think trim, trim, trim and trim again
In my next coaching dispatch I will give some ideas on how to use trim when paddling in windy conditions on open water, along with a few other strategies for coping with wind.
This along with more of my coaching articles will soon be available for download as PDF’s and in ibook format
Big thankyou to Andy Morgan for giving his time and helping with the photos and filming
See you on the water……
Jules
Bespoke Canoe Coaching, Guiding, Safety & Rescue training and BCU awards
Choosing what to pack on expeditions can be tricky, often limited by space and weight, meaning the things you take must be multi-purpose. This has never been so much the case than on my recent trip to the Outer Hebrides.
The islands are off the west coast of northern Scotland and a 5 hour ferry from the town of Oban. The chain of islands extends for 210km, most of them being uninhabited. Our target was to sea kayak around the southern tip and base ourselves on the islands to do some multi-pitch sea cliff climbing.
With a perfect weather window, the trip was a total success. The highlights being paddling in the 3m gap formed between the mainland and Liànamuil island in an exciting swell, a four way arch, multi-pitch abseiling and seeing lots of cool wildlife including puffins, seals, eagles and basking sharks.
Narrow Gap at Barra Head
The front hatches of our sea boats were filled with climbing gear leaving limited space for 7 days’ worth of food, something to sleep in and on, and some spare clothes. The only shoes I had were my Palm Gradients and were used with great comfort to paddle over 30km twice in consecutive days and on other days walk and scramble across the islands accessing the crags. I was so impressed with these in the mountainous terrain that I plan to use them again next time I head into the hills at home in North Wales. Their grip,
support and comfort over long distances is as good as any mountain boot.
A Bashing Shark.
My Oceana jacket was comfortable over the long paddling distances, a pleasure to use but also kept the wind off me whilst cooking dinner at base camp on the cooler evenings, again multi-purpose as it was the only windproof (& water proof) layer I had taken with me!
I can’t describe the extent to which I enjoy overnighting from a kayak. It’s hard to do within the UK in a white water context, but we have one of the best coastlines in the world so why not enjoy it!
On finals day the European athletes really shone! Winning all kayak classes (only C1 & Oc1 went to USA).
In the Junior Men’s Palm’s Bren Orton dominated as expected to take the win. He won in the first round with a ride that would be unbeatable by the others and then beat his own score with a 1066 in his 2nd ride. Hunter Katt from the USA did come close with a 950 to take 2nd place scoring huge almost on every move.
In the Junior Women’s Catalonia’s Nuria Fontane took 1st again with Germany’s Julia Spaaij in 2nd and USA’s Lauren Burress in 3rd.
In the Women’s Claire O’hara of GBR showed some real consistency to pull off two over 500 points rides. None of the other girls could beat her winning first ride of 586. Emily Jackson got 2nd with Nina Csonkova in 3rd
In Men’s it was an expected battle between Peter Csonka and Dane Jackson. After 2nd rides Dane had taken the lead with a 1373 point ride that looked like it would seal the win but then Peter fought back with an astonishing 1416 going for every move possible in the hole pretty much. Dane as the winner of the semi’s had the last attempt to beat Peters score and came very close with a 1380 but not quite enough. Peter was 1st, Dane 2nd and Quim took a well deserved 3rd place.
I just couldn’t push properly on my right side and finished 5th, I was mostly happy even be in the finals given my collarbone injury. I got an alright first ride of 916 but I hadn’t recovered enough from the previous rounds to compete properly this time.
