The first ever boater x event in the South East of Ireland took place last weekend in Co. Waterford, on the River Colligan. This river was not widely known outside Waterford but I think that is due to change now. With no rain forecast for the weekend and no pevious knowledge of the river, I was really not sure what to expect.
The final drop in the gorge.Carrying my boat into the event village through the early morning mist I just knew that the day was going to be well worth the long drive. Scouting the course it looked tight and technical, but the last two drops were still at a good level. "Not much room for overtaking!", I heard someone shout. There was only one way to find out.
Upper section of the gorge.
The walk up to the start was fun in itself with a super little 'suspension' bridge to cross on the way plus a zip line for boats, the Waterford guys really know how to run a great show.
The first heats to go off were Men's experts, and there was plenty of 'overtaking' going on. There were a lot of experts and I won't bore you with all the results just yet. There were a few Dagger 'Green Machines' brought over by the English lads and even on this narrow river they were cruising ahead in the heats.
The mens sport, womens expert and juniors heats were all run off before lunch, no mean feat considering the large numbers that turned up. There were a few swims but nothing major and the rescue was there when needed (as was the ambulance...).
After a quick break for lunch (and coffee!) the team event got underway. There were a few tricky tasks to do on the flat out run down including catching the last micro eddy before the final drop, and a few paddlers had difficulty ringing the cow bell at the end too! There were mens, womens, juniors and mixed teams (from clubs and uni's) with the dominant sex governing the category you were entered in. Some great prizes were on offer for the team event with two shiny new boats up for grabs. This time trial proved even more competitive than the individual heats with the winners only taking it by a few seconds. The fastest team overall was Brian Keogh, Kipper McGuire, and Jenny Kilbride in 2.22 mins. They won the mens class, with the womens won by Bosco Shaw, Joy Gillen and Muireann Lynch in 3.36. A boy in the girls team and a girl in the boys team...it all got very confusing!
Following that madness came the individual finals. People were starting to get a bit tired at this stage with some paddlers having clocked up a dozen runs at this stage. Fatigue certainly played a part in some of the final sprints. The juniors raced off first with Aisling Geoff and Tom O'Donoghue taking their wins in style. Next was the sport final (which I failed to make this time grrr!) which was very closely fought out but the first to ring the bell were Ger Keane and Susan Doyle, in the mens and womens respectively. Finally the experts let rip and there were some sparks flying as they teared down the course.
The womens race was won convincingly in the end by Rosie Cripps in her big green boat, however Paul Robertson (also in the long boat) was not so fortunate in the mens final. This was a real battle with team like tactics coming into play. The three Irish lads conspired against the Englishman in the faster boat (fairly it has to be said!) and it was obvious leading into the last drop that Brian Keogh was not going catch Colin Wong who had been on great form all day.
A super days paddling and there was even a 'little' party over in Waterford for afters. Thanks to WITKC, 180 Kayak Club and all the other organisers and sponsors. See you there next year!
For more photos and all the results from the weekend try the links below.
www.irishfreestyle.com/node/3922
www.witkc.com/colligan.html
www.colligan.cianclarke.com/
