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

Video Update

So I havent updated much lately so heres a few videos from recent trips to Holland, European Championships in Lienz as well as some sluice Footage!

 

Sluice with Emily Jackson

Competition Rides

Cardboard Boat Race1

Cardboard Boat Race Gopro

Poor Muirreann Takes a spill

Isel Wave Austria Session

Trip to Holland

Sluice Mega Mix

European Championships Lienz Austria 2012

At the end of June we sent a 7 strong senior team away to the European Freestyle Championships in Lienz, Austria l. A location we had previously visited for the same event in 2010.
The team consisted of
Aisling Griffin
Muireann Lynch
Ronan o Brennan
Adrian Durrant
Thomas Dunphy
Colm Healy
John O Rourke
The team travelled out a few days early to make full use of the feature. Unfortunately the changing levels meant the feature was low, shallow in places and had a nasty pit on river left which was best to avoid.
The free practices stopped and the official slots started with a higher more suitable competition level. The feature was a river wide hole on the river Drau which was suitable for all kinds of links and combinations.
The team worked hard in training putting together good ride plans for the competition.
An unfortunate swim and slip on a rock had left Muireann with a gashed ankle and 6 stitches which was never going to help her squeeze into a small playboat none the less ladies were up first putting practice into competition leaving Muireann in 21st and Aisling in 15th. Next up was C1 with Orky putting down solid rides to place him in 7th place and into the Semi finals, last event of the day was men's squirt with Adrian in action putting together solid rides to place 7th and into the semi finals
The following day saw the Senior men's chance to hit the hole with ride plans and tactics out of the window in favour of big scoring moves and bonuses, the men paddled well in a tough competition finishing
Tom Dunphy 26th
Adrian Durrant 34th
Ronnie Brennan 35th
Colm Healy 40th
With a top senior field the cut was to 20 so all missed out.

The C1 semi final was up next with Orkys rides not going to plan leaving him down in 10th place.
Last up again was the squirt men with Adrian in the semi final, some good rides left him in 7th place overall.
The sun was out and spirits still high leading up to finals day with the pride and glory still to play for with the Teva Cardboard boat race where competitors build a boat out of card and tape to successfully navigate the hole!

Team Irelands appearance in this event two years previous was an entertaining one attempting to surf the hole on a giant cardboard ..........

This year we went for a more standard design of a Viking ship but decided to go for size over manoeuvrability and built by far the largest boat in the field.

Overall the trip to Lienz was a successful one with some solid performances with the best European paddlers and some great results.

Coming up for Irish freestyle we have a Clifden Beach party competition and another famous Sluice Rodeo.

With the Liffey in a state of flood brings both Sluice and Palmerstown into play as exciting freestyle spots whether its learning to spin and front surf or attempting dynamic moves with big air the Liffey has something for everyone so get out, enjoy, and stay safe!

Adrian Durrant

 

GMIT Intervarsity's 2012

So the time of year was upon us, where every paddling student in the country descends on one poor helpless town to run riot paddle hard and generally drink the place dry.

This year GMIT were hosting the event in Castlebar, Co Mayo.

The Friday saw the first event in a cold Crossmolina the coaches travelled pulling trailers laden with boats of all colours and sizes, as the Students arrived the polo comp kicked off with an exciting first round of games seeing a brave trinity narrowly miss out to a strong Limerick team, The 2 pre tournament favourites MUCK (Maynooth) and the GMIT had an opening round exchange with GMIT proving strongest taking the convincing win,

As the event continued so did the weather with drizzle and rain to contend with a wicked side wind flying across the pitch, One highlight was to see Carlow or ORK IT as its more affectionally known line up with a single man against a full team of 5. On his own Orky battled hard through tiredness and pain scoring 2 goals on his was to a loss knocking him out of the competition.

DCU took the wildcard place into the Semi-finals against an improving UCD having dispatched there local rivals they were pushed into a tense final against favourites GMIT

After a strong 1st half DCU were holding out at 0-0 and GMIT just couldn't find the net hitting all sides of the goal until finally into the 2nd half Kevin Pierce stepped up to finally score the first goal from then on it was one way traffic to leave GMIT convincing winners for the 2nd year running.

Friday Night the crowds headed to a busy Castlebar for celebration and socialising before the following days events.

Saturday started bright and early with a tough team white water race claiming many swims and a lot of pride after the white water the teams headed south to Tuam Co, Galway for the freestyle event.

The freestyle event took the format of team jam sessions with the top 8 moves of each paddler combined to create a team score, with many current and ex Irish team paddlers in attendance the field was stacked with talent, smooth cartwheels from Colin Wong and fast helix’s of Barry Loughnane saw some huge scores. The point of having a team event meant it was up to the whole team to perform for their combined total with ORK IT again a single paddler making it difficult to accumulate any real points.

A super strong University of Limerick team took the win with a great display working through the score sheet. In second was NUIG led by Barry and Andrew really working the score sheet and in third with an improving performance was DCU showing it could have been anyone's game.

The Evening saw the masses return the the Royal Theatre in Castlebar for a night of Soul with a James Brown tribute band in the house providing the music of the night.

A tired Sunday morning arrived with the long distance races to be held in Castlebar with a lack of rescue meant the race was cut from a healthy 8km to a short sprint over 2km

the K1 was first with a fast race led start to finish by Tom Brennan from Trinity followed closely in second place by Liam Banks of UCD next off was the high performance class again led by Canoeing Ireland athlete Neil Fleming taking a comfortable win with Colin Wong in second place. In the women's class Laura Griffin took the win with Aisling Griffin in second place.

Varsities LD

There were a huge number of GP paddlers looking for the points for their colleges.

The prize giving was held back in the college with some delay while the final points were added the results were announced

1st University Limerick

2nd UCD

3rd Trinity

With the decision made that the 2013 Intervarsity's will be held in Limerick once again.

Well Done to WeeMan Mark O’Connor for putting on an excellent event, thoroughly enjoyed by all!

 

Paddy Tec feeling worse for wear after a fast 2km race

Keeping your hands warm tried and tested!

Ok so from the first day people take to the water the first thing is always “I've got cold hands” this is only normal your hands are holding a cold non insulated shaft with exposure to wind and cold water, generally the hands aren't moving too much so the options…..

You need to be able to both grip the paddle and stay warm, lots of people have lots of opinions so here's mine.

As a paddler and coach I spend a lot of time on the water and can honestly say I've tried about every set of gloves on the market here's some of my conclusions

 

The Marigold

Ok so everyone does this at some point borrow your Moms marigolds with good intentions to put them back. But what usually happens is because of the grippyness of the rubber they end up ripping on the shaft. warmth wise they are good to keep the wind off but they have no insulation leaving your hands cold.

Sailing/Kayak short finger gloves

These were the very first glove I ever tried as a new person to the sport these are great for rope work and protection but for paddling in cold conditions the fingers are exposed whilst the material holds water keeping the hands cold also I found these gave blisters due to the stitching on the inside of the thumb.

 

Neoprene Glove thin

Due to the thin neoprene these lacked insulation great grip and movement due to the thinner material. great for rope work and rescue, offering protection and minimal warmth, great for ‘warm’ people.

Neoprene Glove Thick

 

Used a set of Gull thick neo gloves after recommendation from a friend, these gloves were bulky with lots of insulation and protection, to really feel the benefits the gloves would have to be wet ‘which meant cold hands’ the neoprene would then quickly heat up ‘giving you that awful reheat phase – which really hurts!’ once warm these gloves were toasty and really nice.

Neoprene Dry glove

The NRS Mavericks are a neo dry glove with the whole glove liquid sealed and a nice dry cuff to keep the water out these again much like the other neo gloves need to be wet the difference with these is usually neoprene traps water between the skin and the neoprene with the dry glove water doesn't get into the glove leaving them cool. The mavericks also have a very rough inner which will really hurt cold hands with lots of paddling. These gloves work great if you have warm hands when you put them on as they will trap the heat.

Pogies Neo and fabric

Pogies were typically always accustomed to Sea kayakers and K1 paddlers but in more recent years they are at home both on the sea and on the river.

Theirs lots of personal preference regarding neo and fabric, the fabric being slightly lighter usually with a soft fleece lining offering warmth and fast drying whilst the neo being heavier and better thermal property whilst wet.both offer superb protection from the wind and the elements.

Many pogies now offer a short or long option allowing easier access in and out for hands in the event of a swim or rescue. other hybrid style pogies like the motion mambas are a light neo material with a fleece lining offering good thermal properties and the soft feel of the fleece.

Open Palm Mitts

I never really saw the point in these personally a bit silly putting a nice neoprene glove then cutting a hole in them which cold water will flush in and out leaving you with cold hands

NRS Toaster mitts

These are the daddy! absolutely the best glove you could ever need. I can honestly say I can use these into the coldest winter days play boating or creeking with lovely warm hands, the neoprene insulates and allows small amounts of water in which because your fingers are together heats up quickly even from cold to leave you toasty warm. As a mitt compared to the glove some will want free fingers but personally I prefer warm hands, I have set up rescue and thrown ropes with these gloves on and as always as long as you practice no problem at all. worst case just take them off and you've warm hands anyway!

 

With all gloves I think the key is use what you need. A sprint paddler hardly needs big neo gloves same way a freestyle kayaker with lightweight fabric mitts is pointless. another great tip is make sure your hands are warm going into the gloves and that the gloves are not freezing as a cold glove will suck up heat in the same way a cold hand has no way of generating heat.

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 from the day,