Galway Fest

A week on since Galway Fest the waters of the Boluisce and Clare rivers have quietened once more after the massive influx of paddlers from Ireland , England , Italy & Spain. Water levels have been so good since the turn of the year and it was no different for Galway Fest 2014. Prime levels for racing on the Boluisce were met with perfect levels for going big in Tuam to set up the weekend for some tight competition. This year saw some international attendances with Bren Orton from England making his first trip to Ireland to take on Galway Fest.

Saturday morning saw a huge gathering of paddlers at the bottom of the Boluisce to kick off the third event in the Jackson Kayak Irish Whitewater Race League. After the race briefing the mass shuttle commenced to the caravan park and on to the bridge launch start. Over one hundred races took to the water again this year with the best water levels to date.

Early drama was had with Bren Orton completing the course without a paddle after an unfortunate incident with a tree just before the finish. Some tired hand rolls followed leading to the first swim of the day along with one of the fastest times!

As the day rolled on more and more fast times came in with Luca Dapra from Italy placing second in his first appearance at Galway Fest. I managed to put together the fastest run of the day in my Jackson Karma having clean lines through most of the course. The karma is proving to be the boat of choice for all round creaking & racing!

Saturday night followed a good days racing with what has become an event in itself. A quiet start in the Victoria Hotel finished with Galway Fest's own private bar in Karma. Saturday night at Galway Fest is one night on the kayaking calender not to be missed.

A slow start on Sunday morning brought everyone east of Galway city to the Clare river and Tuam hole. After some heavy rain early in the day the clouds cleared and the sun make an appearance for what was the perfect day at Tuam. All eyes were on Bren Orton for the freestyle having taking 8th place at the World Championships last year and he did not disappoint with some slick combo's and big air. Another Englishman in George Hayward Hill was no less impressive going huge on his mcnasty's and other tricks to take second place in the freestyle.

There was some great competition in the women's class with a welcomed surge in numbers for both freestyle and whitewater. Niamh Cleary took top honors on both days to secure the Galway Fest title once again. In the men's class things got very tight with a tie break coming into play for the overall winner. Bren and I tied on points after both event with the tiebreaker of fastest time in the whitewater coming into play to separate first and second giving me the win by the smallest of margins.

A big thank you to all our sponsors of Galway Fest for getting behind the event again this year. I-Canoe, Great Out Doors, Palm, Dagger, Wavesport, Adventure Technology & Kokatat provided some brilliant prizes for all involved. Hopefully we can bring back Galway Fest bigger and better then every next year!

Here are all the results for Galway Fest 2014 with the updated Jackson Kayak Irish Whitewater Race League Results here.

Ennistymon Falls Race

Last weekend saw the second edition of the Jackson Kayak Irish Whitewater Race League take place on Ennistymon Falls in Co Clare. A short section right in the middle of town jam packed with drops slides and plenty of different lines makes it the perfect race venue. One again the rain obliged topping up the river level on Friday to give the perfect level come race day.  The first edition of the race saw a great turn out with paddlers from all over the country making the trip out west for a sunny day of racing.

The day started off with the time trial race with thirty paddlers going off at one minute intervals trying to find the fastest line through the falls and down the rapids. With a short course times were tight with only seconds separating most of the field. Colin Wong fresh from his second place finish in the Nile River Festival made a winning return taking first place by one second to Eoin Keyes in second place. Len Kelleher  had solid run to take third while I managed to take fourth spot just ahead of a tight pack of five paddlers tied for fifth place.

Susan Doyle took the win in the women's time trial  with Dervla McAuley a close second with the same result coming out of a closely fought boater x.

Next up was the Men's boater X with heats of six racing down the falls. Four heats sprinted down the falls with the top two from each heat going through to the grand final. Colin Wong , Eoin keyes , Dave Holden, David Horkin, Brian Cahill, Mark Scanlon, Sean Cahill and I made up the final and after a false start all raced to the lip of the falls.  I had a clean start and broke away in second behind David Horkin with Colin Wong close behind. David was to quick on the rest of the course so I had to settle for second place with Colin holding on to third.

The day was rounded off with mass paddle down falls making an awesome spectacle for the locals out for a walk. Hopefully this race will become an annual installment on the race calender as it was one of the best race days to date.

Results

Up next is Galway Fest in two weeks time and all is still to play for with the top prize of a Jackson Karma for the top unsponsored paddler along with sick line entries for the top three places in the League. Its great to see new faces turning up at every event and hopefully we might see a few new races popping up to.

Here's some gopro footage of the boater x final and more photos from the race below.

National Championships & Team Trials, Tuam

Last weekend saw the second round of the National Championships take place in Tuam hole County Galway. The event was also used as team trials to decide the Irish Team who will travel to Bratislava in September to compete in the European Freestyle Championships. Despite a truly awful day many braved the wind and rain to compete to earn a spot on the Irish Team. Levels were perfect following a top up of rain on Friday morning leaving the hole nice and deep but still retentive enough to stick all the moves.

David McClure mid loop

Men, women and junior men all contested their respective classes with semi finals and finals. The semi finals was the deciding round for senior men to make the team with fierce competition for places and a few shocks along the way. Galway local Aran Kilory left his mark making the team at his first attempt throwing down huge moves in his rockstar to take third spot in the semis. Aran turned some heads on the day and is sure to feature at the top end of competitions for some time. The biggest shock of the day saw Conor Macken go out of the competition at the semi final stage. Conor took a joint first in last years team trials at HPP Nottingham but just missed out on finals and a place on the team this year finishing in sixth place.

Aran going big

The senior women's class saw a field of six whittled down to three to make up the women's team. Muireann Lynch , Aisling Griffin & Niamh Cleary were joined by new comers Aisling Brennan , Aisling Ffrench and Roisin Millard. On the day the experience of Muireann , Aisling and Niamh proved key for each of them securing spots for the European Championships but its looks like they will have competition for the future. 

Niamh plugging for a loop

Junior Men saw Ross Graham take a convincing win with a score that would have earned him a spot on the senior team. Joining Ross are Calvin O Brien from Laois Kayak & Canoe Club and Sean Cahill from Cork. 

Ross mid space godzilla

  Men's finals was a more relaxed affair with everyone already assured of their spots on the team with five spots for senior men. The final was made up of Shane Little , Andrew Regan , Aran Kilroy , David McClure and I who had made it through semi finals. With the pressure off big moves where being thrown down by all and a few party surfs thrown in for good measure. 

Full results are here for Tuam and the overall National Championships rankings.

A big thanks to all who helped out on the day with judging scribing and timings as well as I-Canoe for bringing down some demo boats. It wasn't an easy day with hail rain & wind but everyone kept in high spirits all day despite the elements. 

Here's a one of my rides from the day in my 2014 Rockstar with more photos below. 

 

Winter Paddling

The last few weeks of rain has made for some great levels right across the country, here's a quick video of the last week at Tuam Hole