Turkey Race 2015

Heres a timelapse of about 6000 photos from this years Turkey Race, its a bit crazy to watch but puts the whole race into about 3 minutes!

Well done to everyone raising over €800 for St Vincent De Paul.

Boat Testing 101

Having working in and around kayak shops for a number of years now including some great boat deals with various brands I've always had people asking me which boat to buy. Obviously as any sponsored paddler number one reason they are sponsored is to sell boats, But on the flipside that paddler is also been sponsored because they know a thing or two about paddlesport,
If you can pull an unbiased view from the paddler then its generally a good voice to hear
Below is a review written by me from my own thoughts of what I've seen, peoples views will differ and I'm not saying this is the definitive, just a personal opinion.
With all boats number one thing to do is demo the boats, most good kayak shops have a collection of demo boats, these are to be tried and tested in a reasonable environment, these are not boats to borrow until you have cash or boat to break as you yours is still shiny. Shops do actually have to pay for boats and they are actually not cheap. For Dublin based shops the usual testing grounds -Liffey -Boyne -Avonmore are acceptable, shops don't like to hear of epic adventures on the source of the Liffey or Dargle when their demos are concerned.
Boats should always be returned clean and in as close condition as possible as when you took it, usual rules would always apply, You bend it you mend it, or You break it you buy it.
When you get the opportunity in a different boat the major points to consider,
Fit
Do you fit in the boat?
Are you falling about inside?
Foot / seat positioning and comfort
Size
Can you engage the edges?
Are you lost in the boat?
Where does the boat sit in the water?             
Nose/tail heavy – Balance with kit
Hull ShapeFlat bottom or round hulled
Rails or not?
This is probably the most interesting of subjects for Irish Paddling, for those paddling in Ireland will know the nature of Irish rivers grade 1-3 generally wider and flatter but as you lift the grades the majority of Irish rivers turn into tight, steep, rocky runs, unlike the bigger volume alpine style of holes and wave trains through large boulders safely under the water. Irish creeks show every rock poking through the surface ready to trip or bounce you.
Boats which have historically sold well in Ireland
Dagger Mamba
Pyranha Burn
Dagger Nomad
Wavesport Habitat
Bliss stick Mystic.
Why have these boats sold so well?
Because they work!
The Jackson Villain S could be added as a late  contender to the list.
The majority of these boats are flat hulled river runners with plenty of volume, the Mystic and Habitat are still very creeky but have enough rail to hold a line the only round hulled boat would be the Nomad,
I feel the Nomad is now a classic and still works as a steep creeker with plenty of volume but slightly shorter than the newer boats making it far more manoeuvrable.
The flat hull offers a solid stable platform to plan your lines from with nice rails to provide a secondary stability to keep the boat riding high while hanging onto a line, then back in the easy stuff you can cruise about the river eddy hopping and ferrying to your hearts content.
The rounded hull allows good stability at any angle like sitting on a soccer ball. On big volume slides and drops the round hull eliminates the rail tripping for super smooth transfers.
Unfortunately some of the bigger round hulled creekers struggle in tight technical Irish Rock Gardens, with lots of volume they just want to bounce through anything you can throw at it but lacking that rail which helps manoeuvre the boat quickly in tight situations. You sometime end up as a pinball bouncing from rock to rock instead of smooth lines
All boats should be purchased for the majority of your paddling and not your single aspiration to run Niagara.
Buy something you can use and enjoy every week of the year, we all paddle to enjoy it.
Boat review time
After a nice few weeks way I had the opportunity to try a few different boats throughout Europe.
A some of you may have read my Large Shiva got stuck in Dublin airport for a few days resulting in a lend of a Jackson Karma Medium from Colm Healy @I-Canoe
I have for a while now been paddling 90 gallon plus boats in the big Villain and then the big Shiva so stepping back to a medium always gave me a sinking feeling. But I was pleasantly surprised. I loved my big villain one of the best boats I had paddled big, safe  and strong,  when I started the new job I had to give up the Jackson as my everyday boat so I was relishing the opportunity to at last try the Karma,
As a boat the Karma was like being back at home the same outfitting and seating arrangements I had been used to for a long time through three generations of All Star then the Rockstars, villains, fun runners,  through 9 Jackson boats previously. On the water the karma was responsive but I found nose heavy after some alterations with the seat she was running nose high in the safe responsive package I had always known, some people hate the outfitting but I love it, taking one fairly big impact, (I was running a slide on my head at the time, not my finest moment) she held strong and safe with no slipping of the ropes a roll in the bottom pool and I was off again..
A super boat, nice and quick in a straight line but responsive.

Jumping back into the round hull of the shiva – (once it arrived from the grasps of Aer Lingus) with the extra volume we could take on any drop, a super safe boat which wants to run the big stuff, skipping smoothly away from the foaming mess at the bottom, unfortunately she does the same skipping fast and true on a big drop as she does in a 3ft drop which without the rail usually ends up charging into which ever rock is in front of you. For tight technical creeking I found the Large Shiva just that bit too big.
For top to bottom, of any easy Irish run the shiva will storm in without slowing. But realistically its a big volume Norway boat, steep big volume the shiva will fly through.
The Shiva comes equipped with the standard Connect 30 with plastic pillars and heavy footrest I did a bit of boat lightening a few weeks ago to drop the weight down
Take a look Here - http://www.paddle4play.blogspot.ie/2013/05/pyranha-shiva-takes-diet.html
So the lightened outfitting held up perfectly, no issues at all the connect outfitting provides great control and security with comfy seat and secure backrest, I padded out the hip pads and shes ready to go, providing a secure comfy fit with good volume and space
I did actually try the Medium and was surprised it was much more manoverable and felt snug without all the excess volume, I think the large is just a little too wide with the knee position still very close not giving you the control to push it over.
For my second trip away after some chatting to friends I took a shiny 2012 Mamba 8.6 with the contour ergo play seat for a spin,
Having never paddled a Mamba previously.......... Ever!
I was in for a treat!

The big mamba was easy to adjust and make it fit me comfortably I left the seat central as straight from the factory, I inserted the extra seat pad and added hip pads and I was ready for the water. ive still to put in the foam heel blocks but these simply velcro in,
One thing with adjusting a boat is to fit it out with what your going to paddle in – if your using creek boots fit the boat while wearing them! it does make a huge difference,
heres some boat outfitting in playboats but gives an idea how to get a snug fit - http://www.paddle4play.blogspot.ie/2012/08/outfitting-kayak.html
So the Mamba,  like being back in a familiar friend, something I instantly felt safe and at home in. The seating was secure and comfy with the new leg lifter offering a snug fit to hold the legs up into the thigh braces.
First time on the water, the Passer in Merano Italy, A cruisey run down from the football pitches to the canoe club, alpine style read and run, waves and holes, with some weir style drops the boat moved around the river well, reacting safely on edge, carving and spining with ease. The big mamba at 89 gallons was as manoeuvrable as a much smaller river runner the flat bottem allowed the boat to plane and carve with the rounded nose and tail offering a great creeking shape, The Mambas first real test was the grade 5 + gorge just above the canoe club, which after a fantastic line utilising Graemes upside down boat the Mamba sailed through,
Check out more about this trip here - http://www.paddle4play.blogspot.ie/2013/06/king-of-alps.html
Racing the mamba was fast and furious with good hull speed and length it stayed on line and in speed, we have seen @Eoin Rheinisch  Paddling the large Mamba at this years Wacko taking the win.

So back to the boat, creeking in the Mamba is an absolute joy to behold, the boat is responsive and stable the mamba gives you a platform to push your limits, I felt I could put the boat anywhere on the river and really trust it to go where I wanted it, the boat wouldn't hold me back, On the Urnasch in Switzerland the Mamba enjoyed Boofs, Flares, drops and tight technical creeking on both slides and drops the Mamba performed well – Even a bit of hole surfing.
Check out the video -

Mamba on the Urnasch

Il definately be paddling the mamba some more this year, I cant wait to try it back in Ireland on familiar waters.
In short, get out their and try some boats!

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

Salmon Leap Slalom Course

During the past year at work we have been trying to put together an effective Slalom course which can be used by both our high performance athletes as well as beginners introduction to slalom, with problems on route, through lots of hard work we have finally got a course together.

The Course is set in the River Liffey along the grounds of Castletown house in Celbridge, offering an excellent facility for all paddlers.

Heres a quick video showing the course

Slalom @ Salmon Leap Canoe Club

Salmon Leap Canoe Club 1000m Winter Indoor League

After 2 months 93 races with 44 juniors paddling a combined total of 142KM the 1st SLCC Indoor league has finished.
Participants challenged one another to leapfrog up the table, With a high standard from all participants ranging from between 10 up to 16 years old. Comprising of Salmon Leap Canoe Clubs Junior C and D Squads.

THE FACTS

Races 146
Distance 1km Sprints = 146KM or 146,000 metres
Participants 44 Juniors
Fastest Time – 5.18 Minutes – Stephen Hyland
Biggest improvement – Sean o Malley Gannon – 166 seconds
Most raced – Mark Waldron (9) = 9KM
Most Wins – Stephen Hyland (5)
Fastest Loser – Brian O Neil 5.26 minutes

          2011 League Table

Place	Name	Best Time
1	Oisin Casey	5.20
2	Stephen Hyland	5.18
3	Brian O Neil	5.26
4	Mark Waldron	5.27
5	Mark Slattery	5.27
6	Ryan O Hara	5.45
7	Brian Mcrann	5.46
8	Dylon Flynn	5.42
9	Ben Kelly	6.14
10	Ryan O Connor	6.11
11	Kiaron Kilbane	6.21
12	Thomas Connolly	6.13
13	Conor Keating	6.20
14	Killian Tully	6.09
15	Alex Smyth	6.33
16	Odhran mac Aireinn	6.52
17	Martha Buckley	7.03
18	Stephen Harris	6.21
19	Cahal Brady	6.49
20	Gerard Quinn	6.40
21	Conor Beegan	7.14
22	Brian Loughlin	7.22
23	Karl Doherty	7.28
24	Ciaran Connolly	7.12
25	Mathew Byrne	7.34
26	Sean Kelly	7.45
27	Liam Mcarthy	8.11
28	Rebecca O Hara	8.02
29	Thomas Abraham	8.02
30	Aisling Duggan	8.55
31	Eoin Mcarthy	8.09
32	Thomas Nolan	8.11
33	Daniel Farrow	8.37
34	Michael Bierne	8.38
35	Andrew Tate	7.59
36	Cian Simms Powers	9.07
37	Sean O Malley Gannon	8.22
38	Claire Croc	11.08
39	Ruby Lawlor	9.15
40	Ben Murray	9.37
41	Emma Mullins	9.47
42	Carlos Pancorbo	10.33
43	Sam o Brien	9.54
44	Eoin Sweeney	15.30

The League champion 2011 was Oisin Casey Who has won himself a Long Sleeve Craft Thermal courtesy of the league sponsor I-Canoe.com



Well done to everyone who took part.

(Some of the junior C squad)
.Adrian Durrant (Coach)

Salmon Leap National Marathon Championships 2011

To mark the clubs 50th birthday Salmon leap took the opportunity to host the 2011 National Marathon Championships, a prestigious race with Irish titles at stake.

For 2011 Salmon Leap set about inviting top European paddlers to attend to really make this a special event. in response World Champion Ben Brown, Rene Olsen, Mark Childerstone and Jon Simmons made the hop across along with other British teams for a great weekend of racing.

Saturday saw the K1 events with a fun race for juniors over a short 2.5km course with 25 participants an excellent spectator sport.

The afternoon kicked off with short course and long courses some fine racing and some fast portages kept the races close with World Champion Ben Brown taking 1st place just ahead of Neil Fleming from Celbridge paddlers

Saturday K1

Sunday went ahead after a night of BBQ and dancing, with the K2 crew boats in action some very noble performances today once again Ben Brown and Rene Olsen just sneaked 1st place by a metre from Irelands powerhouse of Neil Fleming and Peter Egan,

Sunday K2

Once again it was a fantastic weekends racing with some very close races,

Thanks to everyone for taking part, here's a few images captured by Mick Feeney.

Nottingham April Sprint Regatta,

News from sunny Nottingham where temperatures reached 22 degrees and for once the wind blew the right way (on Sunday only).

Salmon Leap was the biggest club at the regatta, represented by 17 juniors and 5 seniors.

Well done to Fergus and Tadhg McTiernan, Kate McCarthy, Juliet Sweeney, Adam Kenny, Brian McGuinness, Míceál Cróc, Jack Seery and (a late starter) Sean O Casaide, who were all competing in their first Nottingham regatta and represented the club extremely well. Indeed, everyone who competed for SLCC were a credit to the club.

Many thanks to all those who helped out over the weekend: A Durrant, A Egan, S Sweeney, S O Casaide, A McGuinness, B Devenney, P Grimes, C O Reilly, G O Hagan, F McTiernan S McCarthy and I McCarthy.

Results: Saturday’s Finals

Boys D K4 1000m Final:

1^st. C Cróc/R Brady/F and D Devenney.

2^nd. J Seery/A Kenny/B McGuinness/M Cróc

Girls D K1 1000m B Final:

8^th Juliet Sweeney

Boys C K2 1000m Final:

2^nd. J O Hagan/D O Reilly.

Boys B K1 1000m B Final.

3^rd Iomhar Mac Giolla Phádraig.

Boys D K2 1000m A Final

1^st C Cróc/D Devenney

2^nd. F Devenney/R Brady

3^rd. M Cróc/J Seery

5^th. B McGuinness/K O Neill

Womens A/B K1 500m Final 1

7^th J Egan

Boys C K1 1000m Final

1^st B O Casaide

3^rd D O Reilly

7^th D Grimes

Masters K4 1000m Final

2^nd Sean O Casaide/V Pierce/B Buggy/L McCarthy

Boys B K2 1000m Final

4th I Mac Giolla Phádraig/A Forristal

Mens A/B 200m B Final

2^nd P Egan

9^th A Strevens

Boys D K1 1000m Final 1

1^st D Devenney

2^nd C Cróc

5^th F Devenney

6^th R Brady

8^th A Kenny

Boys D K1 1000m Final 2

3^rd M Cróc

5^th J Seery

8^th B McGuinness

Womens A/B 200m Final 1

9^th J Egan

Boys B/C K4 1000m Final

2^nd I MacGiolla Phádraig/D Mitchell/A Forristal/S McCarthy

5^th D Grimes/J O Hagan/D O Reilly/B O Casaide

Mens A/B K2 200m Final

4^th P Egan/T Brennan

Results: Sunday’s Finals

Mens A/B K1 200 Final 2

3^rd P Egan

5^th T Brennan

9^thA Strevens

Boys D K1 500m Final 1

1^st D Devenney

2^nd F Devenney

4^th R Brady

7^th C Cróc

Boys D K1 500m Final 2

1^st M Cróc

3^rd A Kenny

8^th B McGuinness

Boys D K1 500m Final 3

1^st J Seery

Boys B K2 500m Final

4^th I Mac Giolla Phadraig /A Forristal

Boys C K1 500m Final

1^st B O Casaide

6^th D Grimes

8^th J O Hagan

Womens A/B 200m Final 1

7^th J Egan

Mens A/B K2 200m Final 1

6^th P Egan/T Brennan

Boys B/C K4 500m Final

2^nd S McCarthy/J O Hagan/D Grimes/D O Reilly

Mens B K1 500m Final 1

2^nd T Brennan

Boys D K4 500m Final

1^st. C Cróc/R Brady/F and D Devenney.

2^nd. J Seery/A Kenny/B McGuinness/M Cróc

Girls D K1 500m Final 2

3^rd J Sweeney