Caher River, Ireland’s Gem

No need to edit this to make it look fun! Blast down the Caher river on the West coast of Ireland, choose you own music if you don’t like the raw sound of the wind. Thank you Palm as always for keeping me warm, dry and comfortable.

Andrew Regan
Palm Ireland

http://andrewregan.wordpress.com/

Save the Conwy

The Conwy is one of the UK’s classic white water rivers, a section of which, the Fairy Glen, being one of the best and most reliable grade 4+ to 5 sections we have on this island. And now it is under threat.

Paddlers travel from far and wide to paddle ‘The Glen’ – here’s American paddling god Erik Boomer being shown the lines by local hero Tom McLay and Devon’s Tom Rainey.

If you’ve not heard about this, then please take a look at the newly set up website www.savetheconwy.com.

In summary, RWE NPower are proposing to put in a 2 metre weir by the take out of Middle Conwy (above Conwy Falls). This will create a pool at normal flows, and is expected to back up into the last rapid of the Middle (or the best rapid of the Middle). The weir will be used to extract up to 75% of the Conwy’s flow into a tunnel and pipe which will be taken through neighbouring ancient woodlands and SSSIs until it is reunited with the river downstream of the confluence with the Lledr. This will result in far less water making it into the Fairy Glen.

But it’ll generate power, that’s good right?

If they are prepared to destroy a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and risk the economic affects of loss of tourism to the area (to mention just a couple of adverse affects), surely the scheme will at least generate a lot of power? Sadly not. Even when running at maximum capacity the scheme will only generate 5 Mega Watts – about the same amount used by a small town such as Betws y Coed. The scheme’s own designer readily admitted that over certain periods of the year, and certain river levels all year, the scheme would run at just a fraction of it’s full potential, or even not generate anything at all!

When you compare the proposed output of this scheme to that of the nuclear plant being built on Anglesey, for example, it seems like a drop in the ocean – and surely not worth the destruction. I’ll accept that some people will never like the idea of nuclear, but if hydro power is what we really need, there several other viable locations within just a few miles of this site; some of which have even been surveyed and declared viable by the same contracting company!

So why is the scheme even being considered?

Put simply: money. Land-owners (in this case the Forestry Commission and Foelas Estate) will earn a lot of money from these sort of schemes; while the Green Subsidy Tax on our energy bills provides most of the money for the initial construction. RWE NPower will earn vast sums of money, but only if the scheme goes ahead. It is in their interest to present “studies” that make the site seem perfectly suitable.

Why is this so important?

Well, it’s not just kayaking that will be lost (an estimated 42% loss in days when the Fairy Glen will be paddleable). There are many rare species at risk, local businesses will be affected – especially during the many months of construction works – and the knock on affects on tourism to the valley could be massive.

This could be the start of a slippery slope: RWE NPower are also looking at sites on the Mawddach and Gain, amongst other classic Welsh Rivers. We need to put a stop to it before it’s too late and all of our rivers are piped underground, with delicate ecosystems destroyed in the process.

What can you do?

At this stage we mostly need to make people aware of what is happening. Soon RWE NPower will submit a planning permission request and request a water extraction license: this is our chance to raise objections. We may also require letters written to your MP, especially if you live in Wales. The facebook page and website will be kept up to date with this information as it happens and calls to action will be made.

• Get informed: read the articles on www.savetheconwy.com and other sources
• Stay up to date: like the facebook page for updates
• Spread the word: let other people know what is planned for this unique and beautiful place. Not just kayakers… this will affect hundreds of people from many walks of life across North Wales too.
• Add a twibbon to your facebook and twitter profiles: twibbon.com/support/save-the-river-conwy
• TAKE REAL ACTION: if you have any means to help prevent this hugely-destructive-very-little-output scheme, please use it!

EDIT: First call to action is NOW! NRW are consulting now on the future management of rivers in Wales - click here to find out what you can do to help!

Yours in boating,

Lowri (on my way to another dam-endangered whitewater mecca, the White Nile… but that’s another story)

My year 2013

I started off my season 2013 while travelling in Chile. So I spent new years eve at the Rio Fuy – big water, carry out of the upper Fuy and paddling the lower section later on which was great fun at that level. Waking up my first time in 2013 at one of Chiles beautiful lakes “Lago Panguipulli” we started heading south. On the way we didn´t want to miss out to paddle the Michimahuida before we finally continued to the our next destination Futaleufu. After staying a couple days at Cara del Indio, lapping the Futa to get familiar with the big water in Patagonia we travelled further South to do the Baker once more before this lovely giant will get destroyed by some dam building project. So Chile was January adventure.

Rio Baker, January 2013, photo: Stefan Motz

Back home winter got me back and I went skiing in Tyrol a couple times, realizing that I have way more fun paddling than skiing so I started to look forward to the first snow melt in the Alps to get some good runs down the Brandenberger Ache (AUT). At the same time I started to prepare the annual kayak school trip to Corsica, which started mid of March.

Our first week in Corsica (FRA) was filled with building all the tents for the customer trips and paddling for ourselves to check all the rivers again. Due to the great snowpack this year in the mountains of the “Isle of beauty” and some recurring rain Corsica offered loads of good runs, new rivers for me and most important great to start the European paddling season 2013!

Rio Futaleufu, January 2013, photo: Stefan Motz

Back “home” end of April I had to do some Freestyle as our German tem trials and National were held beginning of May at the Plattling (GER) Eurocup. Being out of a Freestyle boat for the last couple months I did quite well at the event, even leading in semifinals and ending with a fifth place overall and in first position of all the Germans. As I realized that freestyle boating is a lot of fun as well I decided to take part in the 2013 Freestyle worlds at the NOC in North Carolina (USA) and do all the other Eurocups in Prague (CZE) and Cunovo (SVK) as well later in the season.

Plattling 2013, photo: Michael Sommerauer

In May I jumped back in my Veloc and went to Ticino (SUI) and Piedmont (ITA). I had an awesome time in beautiful Verzasca valley as well as on all the tiny little Creeks like the San Giovanni, the Cannobino, etc. Also, the Tyrolian kayak school season started and I had a lot of runs around Innsbruck. With a little stopover at the Soca river (SLO) time was running through my summer.

Verzasca 2013, photo: Michael Sommerauer

June was my racing month, so I jumped in my new red racing Raptor for the first time. I went to the “King of the Alps” in Merano (ITA) and the “Eporedia Active Days” which took place at the Ayasse river this year. Winning all competitions and taking home some prize money (and a crown :D) I felt being in a good shape and race mood my motivation to do more races this year increased a lot and I decided to go for the Sickline race later in the season as well.

Eporedia Active Days Ivrea 2013, photo: Alessio Avetta

Eporedia Active Days, Ayasse 2013, photo: Arnd Schaeftlein

In July and the Beginning of August I had to do some “real” work to earn enough money for my next few trips – so not much kayaking at all. I just spent a few days in Prague (CZE) for the Freestyle Eurocup. It took place in the last week of July and it was a week with about 40°C outside. So being in the water was the best thing to do and the whole event felt like having a big summer party. I ended up 4^th in the Freestyle competition and me and my racing Raptor kicked some guys asses coming third in the Boater X overall – even winning my first heat against some Czech slalom paddler

Boater X at Troja Freestyle Fest in Prag 2013, photo: Dobafotek.cz

Next stop was the NOC in North Carolina (USA) for Freestyle worlds. Getting my Veloc there I was able to do some “real” paddling in between the daily half an hour in the Freestyle whole. My highlight run was definitely the day on the Green followed by “The Cascades” release upstream of the NOC. In Freestyle worlds I managed to reach the finals and ended up in 4^th place just 2 points away from the podium. As I saw the other women paddling in trainings and I realised the huge rise of the standard I did not expect to even make semifinals so I was quite happy in the end with this result.

Freestyle Worlds at the NOC in North Carolina, photo: Olga Blokhina

Back home in September I did some kayak instructing again before I did a final Freestyle event in Munich (GER) and headed to Cunovo (SVK) to the last Eurocup of the season. The hole there was kind of shallow and not as fun as I expected it to be but seeing a lot of the German team members again made my stay there worth and I was able to claim the podium in my first Eurocup, ending up third and making the 2^nd place overall!

photo: Michael Sommerauer

October. I started to study again and time to jump back in a Creekboat and get ready for the Sickline race. Having only one day to train I concentrated on the qualification run knowing that for those who will make the cut will be another time for training on the main course the next day. I was happy with my lines and made fifth position in the qualification, only 0,12 seconds away from the third place. As the organiser of the event first wrote that we are five women going into the finals I felt clapped-out when he suddenly decided that there would only be three going through. So the losers party started right away before at dinner we finally were allowed to compete the next day in the finals – without any training then. So my first runs the next day have been miserable and unluckily I took a bath after the last drop in my first run. Due to the cold weather conditions on the final day I had hard times to find the motivation to step up again and do my second run. With a sweet line I was able to claim the second fastest time in the women competition that day – unluckily both runs counted in the female competition. So I stayed with my fifth place which was finally not too bad with all the Freestyle I did during the months before.

Adidas Sickline Race 2013, photo: Manuel Arnu

Doing a lot of studying since Sickline and some kayak courses on the weekends I was only able to do two short trips so far. One weekend I spend in Kuchl (AUT) to see if the wave there is still good to paddle and last weekend I went to the annual Hurley-Classic Freestyle event (UK).

Hurley Classic 2013, photo: Nouria Newman

As it is getting quite cold now in Europe and paddling outside is not one of the most fun activitys to imagine at the moment I figured that now would probably be the best time to work on my own homepage to start my own coaching business – et voilá! So sitting on my ass pretty much the whole day I really start looking forward to my this winters kayaking trip to Chile for Christmas holidays!

Rio Palguin, January 2013, photo: Stefan Motz

Big thanks to Palm Equipment for the for the excellent paddling kit with its perfect design which keeps me warm and dry while I am on the water!

 

Gear Review – Luna PFD

I have now been using Palm’s Luna PFD for about a year and after some rigorous product testing on and around many different rivers, countries, and scenarios I feel like I have put it through enough to have a good idea of its performance. I work predominantly as a raft guide, safety/photo kayaker, and kayak instructor as well as kayaking for fun and get in a race here and there when I can. I spend a lot of time wearing a PFD so it’s pretty important for me to have one that is both comfortable and functional.

Enjoying the slides on the Ula River in Sjoa

The Luna PFD gives you good freedom of movement which makes it great to race in…

Bit of carnage, upside down raft, no worries the Luna PFD will float you back to the surface

Good for raft guiding

Even if you’re guiding backwards

Doesn’t ride up when your swimming making it a great PFD to go for a swim in

Unrestricting for kayaking allowing you to get your boof on

Also room enough to get a good tuck on if you’re running bigger drops

Even if you want to dress up in a Santa suit and run down the river the Luna PFD wont let you down!

 

So in conclusion, I love the Luna PFD, it is by far the best PFD I’ve ever owned (previous PFD’s include Hydraulics River Pro, Stohlquist Descent and Palm AMP vest which I also liked a lot). I was impressed by how well it fits to your body shape, it feels like it hugs you when you’re swimming which none of my previous PFD’s have done very well. I like the mesh inner ‘boob hold in’ thingys which are great for preventing you accidentally flashing people when you bomb off a drop only wearing a bikini cause its so nice and warm. The front pocket is roomy enough to easily fit your basic rescue kit (sling, 3 carabiners, 2 prusik cords, knife, chocolate bar) while also being compact enough that it doesn’t make it difficult to get back on your upside down raft if you’ve flipped.

Also finally and most importantly it has awesome buoyancy. I spend a lot of time swimming, mostly for fun on the Kaituna river because we like to swim down the grade 3 section when its warm, good fitness and also good practice for rescues. The Luna is great for river swimming in that it doesn’t ride up or restrict your movement but it floats you very well. I also had one involuntary swim in Norway where I got a big beat down in a rather small but very sticky hole and after fighting it for a good few minutes I decided it wasn’t letting go, pulled tab, and popped up in time to make quite an epic swim to catch a small eddy before being swept over a big ledge hole. I was very pleased with the PFD’s performance in this situation because it floated me quickly to the surface allowing me to make the eddy in time. Thanks Palm for putting in the hard yards and designing an awesome women’s PFD!!!

Worlds, a Reflection and the 2014 Irish WhiteWater Race League

 

Yes, I know World Championships were months ago, apologies but I feel its worth mentioning some things, especially now that I have had plenty of time to reflect on the experience as a whole. I have not represented Ireland in any other sports before so this was a unique and really cool experience for me. I believe in the old proverb that pictures (with captions :)) tell a thousand words. So after you scroll through my favourite photos that summarise our trip maybe you’ll be ready to read some more ramblings about what the World Championships are really about and who made it all possible for us. (Photos predominantly by David O’Sullivan and Barry Loughnane)

 

 

 

 

My rides at world championships earned me 37th position which I was pretty content with for my first major competition but being at worlds also showed me the standard of the top athletes, even to break into the top 20 would take an incredible amount of commitment and training. I hope I can continue to push on in the right direction.  However more important then the competition for me was the people I was there with. There was definitely no team that spent as much time together as a group helping each other and having the ‘craic’ then the Irish team, we are all great friends and that was what made it such a great experience for all of us. We also got on great with many members of the other international teams and I know personally I made about 10 promises to visit people in different countries to go and paddle with them soon! That is for me what the world championships are all about.

 

I would firstly like to thank my parents who went along with what they didn’t understand in me for a long time, their support was the reason I was able to compete in NOC this year. Now they know more and are beginning to understand why I love paddling as much as I do. After that Roger McClure our team manager did an unreal job organising and keeping us all in line with a smile on his face, definitely one of the lads! Shane Cronin, owner of progressive distribution helped me a lot in getting me kitted out with Palm equipment, Dagger kayaks and AT paddles, this top of the range equipment has definitely brought my paddling up a level. Snowy Robertson and Chris Gragtmans from Dagger kayaks who are legends of the highest order. Lastly but not least I would like to thank the Irish Freestyle committee and Canoeing Ireland whose financial support was definitely needed and very much appreciated. Freestyle kayaking is on the up in Ireland this will be shown by the fierce competition for places on the European Championships team this year.

 

Since being back in Ireland I have taken up residence in the University of Limerick which is a great base to keep paddling and progressing. I’m also ecstatic that our plans to keep the Irish Whitewater Race League going for a second year have come to fruition. With the first of 6 races kicking off at the unmissable New Years paddler festival in Kerry, its a great time to be a kayaker in Ireland.

 

GalwayFest 2014 is also on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of March. It emerged as the aftermath of too much talking by myself and Barry Loughnane in a pub in the small town of Buncrana in 2011 and is now an event going from strength to strength, we are hoping to accommodate more then the 110 racers we had last year when we bring it back for its 3rd year on the trot.

 

Anyways I’ll leave you with a couple of preview edits of our first two scheduled races for the Irish Whitewater Race League 2014.

 

See you on the water, 

Andrew Regan

Palm Ireland