An Amazing few days for one of the main events of the Irish kayaking calendar @ the 2013 Crana Canoe Weekend in Buncrana up in Lovely North West Donegal, run by Adrian Harkin and his lightning sharp crew@ justkayak.ie.
There was something for everybody, and there was no shortage of smiles and laughter as everybody brought great inspiration and good vibes to the days. The venue is ideal as it’s guaranteed dam released water for these two days of the year and all happens within close proximity of each other so great for spectators also.
We were there running coaching clinics and to have the craic and join in the events. The mighty “Palm Throw Bag Olympics “ were in full swing where folks have to run through a wild throw bag assault course and winners being awarded the big prizes.
There was the first Irish rafting race with teams being drawn in from all different disciplines to go for gold.
The First Dagger Dash took place. A Le-Mans style running mass start around a course and then a 1km blitz down a whitewater course. Folks trying to gain advantage by not snapping their decks on in the maddness at the put in were awarded a slow sinking to the bottom mid course.
An incredible event for juniors with all classes catered for with slalom, down river, boater X, freestyle and coaching clinics, all held on the easier pieces of water at the venue.
River rescue clinics and intermediate and advanced white water coaching clinics were being run throughout the two days covering everything and anything.
The Main event is the Boater X. It is run on the Sunday. The course is about 800m long, starting out with a flat section sprint in to a few rapids and as the river squeezes it slingshots you into the mighty “ Claw”. A double drop rapid with various lines all with various outcomes. Needles to say, great spectating and some competitors left with permanent side partings and their buoyancy aids on backwards at the finish line.This years winners were Slalom King, Cieran Heurteau, just back from a top 15 result in the Sickline world championship.The ladies crown was taken by Laura Griffin showing the stylish lines in her Dagger Mamba.
A full list of results for all the events can be found @www.cranakayakevents.com
A really fun event,with great people, good laughs and some great racing. It was really magic to see so many juniors out there charging. Big thanks to everybody getting involved and bringing all the positive energy to the clinics and races, to Adrian and crew@justkayak.ie for running such a smooth event and looking after everybody so well and thanks to Shane @progressive distribution for taking care of the troops and having all the toys at hand! It was great to be there with the Palm/ Dagger crew, looking forward to next year already. All info on http://www.cranakayakevents.com Put it in your calendar for next year.
London has never been an unknown white spot on my kayaking map. With Hurley Weir as one the country’s prime freestyle spots close by and a vibrant boater community living in the region, the metropolis of England has always ment more to me than Tower Bridge, Big Ben and the Queen.
But now, London has gainded one more attraction: the Lee Valley White Water Centre. As part of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, no efforts have been spared to create one of the most challenging and modern whitewater courses in the world.
Since I moved to Bristol about two weeks ago, there hasn’t been enough rain to get some of the notorious local creeks running. Hence, when Rowie from Palm asked me whether I was keen on checking out the Olympic course before the world’s best Slalom athletes would occupy it for their games, I was in. Rowie booked the course and invited all her paddling buddies. And off we went.
Despite the chilly February wind and rain, the course was full of people. Rafters, whitewater paddlers and slalom kayakers braving the weather. But before we could all join them on the water, we had to undergo a mandatory assessment by an expert, proofing that we were skilled enough to cope with the difficulties. I was highly amused when the guy came up to our group. It was my old friend Matt, whom I haven’t seen for years. So we had quite a lot of fun with him during the following hour.
The whitewater park is devided into two separate sections: the easier Legacy course and the full on Olympic course. While the Olympic one is really fast, pushy and packed with stronger holes and waves, the Legacy course is way more relaxed but still good fun containing some really nice play features like stern squirt eddies, surf waves and a hole for big loops and enders. Both end up in a large pool where two conveyor belts wait for you to bring you back up to the start.
After passing the assessment in our red bibs (showing that we were capable of avoiding a number of rafts banging around with lack of control) we were allowed to pay for more time on the water (10£ per hour) and had to change to orange bibs (cameras monitoring that you’re wearing the right one everywhere). We were surfing it up, racing against each other or just cruising down both sections numerous times until our time was up. Cold, tired but smiling from one ear to the other we got changed and headed to the local pub to celebrate the great session with a delicious pint.
Can’t wait to come back. It’s just a shame that London is so far away from Bristol. So let’s hope for rain and see you all on the Dart or the Lynn :).
Seppi
PS: I also had the pleasure to try out the brand new Spark Suit and AMP vest from Palm, both in lime green. Check out the photos. The combination looks wicked.
A big weekend coming up for WW warriors here in the UK.
Sarting on Friday night team paddler Chris Eastabrook will be at CIWW in Cardiff explaining why, amoungst other things, Palm Gradient boots are so popular in Papua New Guinea. He kicks off at 8pm, but don’t forget the course is on the monthly 12 cumec release, so worth a bit of freeride action beforehand.
Further South West at about the same time, the one and only Big O, Olaf Obsommer will be opening this years Gene 17 Adventure Paddlers Weekender. This years show is a refreshing step away from the all action format covered so widely in WW kayaking. Instead it highlights how Olafs skill as a camerman, editor and veretan kayak adventuere have developed to recognise that whilst the purpose is kayaking, the desinations afforded by this means of travel are sublime in themselves.
Oh, and needless to say, there will be some boating. Water is falling from the skies and we will be bringing as many new Dagger Mamba’s as we can squeeze into the van with team paddlers Rosie cripps, Finn Burrows, Nick Horwood and Lowri Davies on hand to give you the lowdown. For those wanting to check kit we’ll have the sample Spark suit, Luna ladies PfD and of course prizes for the Saturday night raffle.
Wherever and whatever your paddling this weekend – have a cracker!
