It must be that summer has arrived in the UK as I have found myself cursing my ineptitude at ever remembering to use sun cream several times over the past few weeks and my shorty cag has been seeing a lot more use than its’ long sleeved counterpart. Low river levels in the North of England and Wales have meant that I have mostly been out playing at the usual summer locations of Nottingham, the Dee, and the Tryweryn.

I used to think that polo players were an odd bunch and a little too keen on their lycra, but then I discovered road cycling and realised that things could be worse. Much worse. While driving around Morocco last week, Chris and I were getting quite fired up for BUSA this week; the blue skies and warm water over there made it seem far more appealing than the reality of a cold weekend in Hatfield.

The sun makes a rare appearance.

We were feeling pretty confident that Manchester could do OK this year, we hadn’t ever trained together or anything as keen as that, but Chris knows most of the rules and most of the other guys on the team are pretty strong paddlers. In the end the Mens team finshed 9th after some closely fought games. My favourite game of the weekend was our Saturday evening match against Bangor, we lost in extra time, but it was a fast paced, fun, and evenly matched game with a great atmosphere. I think Bangor came 3rd in the end, so well done there guys.

Manchester Ladies lining up en-route to a well earned 13th place.

Thanks to all at Loughborough for the organising and a great 80’s themed party on Saturday night. I am still impressed that after some pretty hard partying, everyone was still able to get out of bed and play polo for 8am on Sunday morning!

Crunch!

Kayaking has taken me to some amazing places over the past few years, through the pursuit of quality whitewater I have met some incredible people and seen sights that will stay with me forever. The driving force behind that travel has always been the kayaking, the promise of amazing whitewater and phrases like “five days of continuous class 4/5…” are what has driven me to explore new places, and the experiences that I have had were just been icing on the cake. My recent trip to Morocco was almost the opposite, it is the country, scenery, and people that made me put a trip together, and any good kayaking would be the bonus. Thankfully we got all we expected and plenty of bonus action.

Stunning scenery:

Friendly locals:

Plenty of Sitting Around and some relaxed multi-day paddling:

Great quality paddling in some stunning deep sandstone gorges:

The usual transport problems and associated Sitting Around:

Moroccan wildlife:

Classic North African skylines:

The enticing hustle and bustle of the Djema el Fna in Marrakesh:

And some great whitewater kayaking (Chris on the Sources of the Oum er Rhiba):

Over the ten day trip, we had some great paddling from grade 2 to 4 through some beautiful gorges and valleys. The paddling wasn’t the hardest and we didn’t get as much boating in as we could have if the van had been a bit more co-operative or the had been a touch more snow melt in the High Atlas, but as an experience and a chilled out trip with good friends, it would be hard to beat. Often on kayaking trips I can get quite stressed in focusing on trying to maximise the amount of boating, but I on this one I was getting quite into participating in the national pass-time of Sitting Around. I would recommend that everyone add Morocco to your destination wish list, regardless of your level of kayaking, and the sooner the better as we did encounter a few large dam construction projects on the trip, so some of these rivers, especially the Oum er Riba may not be around for much longer…

Oh, and the food beats any other country I have been to.

I’ve been a bit quiet on here of late, either that’s because I have been so engrossed in my PhD work that I haven’t done anything interesting to write about, or I have been so busy on a combination of ski trips, paddling wherever and whenever it rains, talking at canoe shows, and coaching, that I just haven’t found the time. I’ll let you make your own mind up on that…

A year ago I confidently said that the UK’s biggest and best kayaking event, the National Student Rodeo would be even bigger and even better this year. A tough ask, but bless them, those chaps at Leeds uni always seem to manage to find space for more competitors, more prizes, and an even more epic party each year. With over 640 competitors and 800 partygoers, this year’s pirate themed NSR was a masterpiece of organisation and probably the world’s biggest freestyle kayaking event, ever. A massive thank you and well done is due to all involved in the organisation of the event, especially the dynamic duo of Tim and Nick who managed to fit in winning the duo event around organising the whole thing.

That’s what it’s all about - going deep in the Magic Roundabout (Photo: Paul Wilkinson)

Ollie, Ash and myself on the podium for the squirt event (Photo: Paul Wilkinson)

It was a busy weekend for me, with plenty of rushing around between squirt and float boat heats, and helping on the coaching session. I was chuffed to win the squirt event again, especially as this year there were over 60 entrants in the squirt category and a really high standard of competition. I also got to take my shiny new M-Long Rev for a play, I haven’t had a lot of time to play about with the boat yet but it instantly feels great. I think I’m going to have to head down south for a few days on the Thames weirs soon to see what it can really do… Full results from the weekend should be up soon on the NSR website.

Rather embarrassingly, especially given that each competitor was given a copy of the latest CKUK in which I pretend to be a photographer, I managed to only take empty batteries with me and so took virtually no photos all weekend. Big thanks to Paul Wilkinson for these shots, more of Paul’s photos from the weekend can be found here.

It has been exam season in Manchester over the past few weeks, meaning that the usual suspects that I have begging lifts from of late have all been busily pouring over textbooks and spending unhealthy amounts of time swotting up in the library, so apart from a couple of “revision breaks” on the Etherow and Irwell I have been lacking bum-in-boat time and the hard working students of Manchester had been lacking quality party time. The BUSA slalom this past weekend was time to right both of those wrongs.

Joe and I in the C2 (Photo: Tom Laws)

I’m sure that after last year’s slalom I promised to myself that I would make an effort to make my paddling a lot more efficient and precise. It was quite evident from my first run on Saturday that I haven’t, the previous night’s gin consumption may have had an effect however as I managed to pull my finger out in the second run and produce a semi-respectable time. It was interesting to look at how my paddling style differs from the guys and girls who were geting down the course significantly faster than me, it has certainly given me a few things to work on and think about in my paddling. The C2 on Sunday was much more sucessful, with Joe and I managing to better our 5th place from last year and earn ourselves a very respectable 4th. Manchester earned themselves 5th overall, so well done us.

Thanks to Durham Uni for a well organised event and well done to all who competed. Thanks (or maybe applogies?) to whoever’s 50th wedding anniversary a selection of party hungry reprobabtes from Manchester, Bangor, and Aberystwth crashed on Saturday night. Any tales of eating soap, drinking gin, garlic dips, potato conkers, or mass spooning are clearly lies and should never be repeated…

No comment. (Photo: Tom Laws)

View from Sgurr a’ Bhuic

It’s been a busy, and varied, couple of weeks, ranging from epic levels in the Devonian rivers through to empty and frozen riverbeds in Scotland and various fun, games, and adventures in between.

The Gene 17 Adventure Paddler weekend in Dartmoor was as entertaining as ever, with some inspiring talks from around the world and the kind of water levels that we get once a season if we’re lucky. I headed down with the Pyranha van and so was in the enviable position of essentially having a van full of boats to choose from for the weekend. For the Saturday I was in an Everest for big water runs down the East and West Dart and a creek boat play run down the loop. I was loving the injection of speed and wave wheels on the Dart Loop felt huge! On the Sunday levels dropped a bit and I pulled an Ammo out of the van for a bit more river play. It was great to catch up with so many people over the weekend and swap stories of death defying exploits and dering do from around the world. Cheers to all who presented on the Saturday evening, and to Simon and team for another great weekend.

All Revved up on the Dee (Photo: Joanne Mackin)

The boat on the Pyranha stand that was generating lots of interest over the Gene 17 weekend was the new Rev, with lots of folk taking the boat out for a play and coming back with big grins and lots of nice things to say about it. I didn’t get a chance to have a play in one over the weekend, so I nabbed a demo one to take it away and have a play for a while. I’m probably a little large for the medium, but I’m having a lot of fun in it all the same, so I’m keeping hold of it for as long as I can (I’ll get it back to you soon guys, honest). I’m still learning what the Rev is capable of, but for now; it is, fast, loose, balanced and FUN.

A Frozen Spean Gorge

Finding myself with a week to spare before Christmas, I headed up to Scotland with a few Manchester folk in search of some quality time on Scottish creeks. What we found was a succession of empty or frozen rivers and clear blues skies, with even the usual low water runs being empty. Still, we got a run down a low, but beautiful Spean Gorge (icicles everywhere) and a play at the tail race in Inverlochy. The rest of the week was spent making the most of the unseasonably clear skies and walking in the hills and glens and taking in some of the stunning scenery on show in the Scottish Highlands.

On the way to the summit of Ben Nevis

So, there’s a new year about to start and a big band of rain forcast to hit the UK any time soon. There are a bunch of exciting events coming up over the next few months, add to that a few weekends coaching and trips here and there, all making for a busy season, culminating in a Moroccan paddling trip in April. Lots of adventures to be had….

The Glaslyn at a fun level - always raises a grin (Photo: Rhiannon Walker)

So we all went boating. Here’s hoping that the season, now that it has actually gotten underway, continues as per this weekend, with good water levels and lots of friendly faces on the rivers. The forecast is currently looking good for next weekend’s shindig in Devon…

Manchester girls styling the Ogwen

Last year I swam out of a C2, that was embarrassing. This year I swam out of most things, that’ll teach me to be cocky and assume that I can paddle a fast kevlar boat using wings.

Student events always produce the best carnage moments

Anyway, the weekend was fun. The paddling was fast. The carnage was hilarious. And the party was, well I cant remember really, but I woke up in a tent full of people I’d never met before and twenty minutes late for my C2 run, so I assume that was suitably good too.

Well done too anyone involved in the organising, anyone who had fun, and those who won medals.

Camping it up (photo: Tom Laws)

When Tom suggested a few months ago that we enter the Adidas Sickline World Champs, I assumed he was joking or had gotten all confused with his swanky new PDA / phone / camera / espresso machine and dialled the wrong number. However, the chance to paddle and party with some of the worlds best and to have a crack at racing on the infamous Wellebruke rapids seemed to good a chance to miss and soon ferries were booked and training was being studiously avoided.

“Hmm….” inspecting the Wellebruke rapids

Upon arriving in Oeztal a few days before the event, it was evident that the weather was much warmer than we had anticipated, with shorts and flip flops being preferable over the collection of hats and down jackets that we had packed. A quick drive up to the qualification stretch on the middle Oetz revealed a nice course of grade 4 with a grade 2 sprint at the end, but before jumping on for practice, we had important athlete things to do, namely buying some board shorts and playing a swift round of crazy snooker. Turns out that I rock at crazy snooker.

Tom tries in vain to master the subtleties of crazy snooker

After proving my dominance at crazy snooker it was time to hit the water for some practice runs on the qualification section. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning were spent perfecting lines, watching other paddlers and discussing race strategies. It was interesting to watch how different paddlers tackled the course and how the various lines affected the overall speed. After a few runs down the course, Tom and I were quietly confident of not reaching the final and decided it was time for some well earned ice cream and lager.

Tom, training hard

We’re not athletes, we’re kayakers (photo: Sarah Nash)

Due to an unfortunate combination of unseasonably high waterlevels and issues to do with event insurance and permits, the race itself was postponed and eventually cancelled. This was a great shame as the event organisers had evidently worked to create a great event and showcase for modern competitive whitewater kayaking. It is also a great shame that I didn’t get to claim my inevitable title as world champion (ha!), but I guess with the event being cancelled, we are all world champions. It is testament to the organisation and work put in by the organisers and sponsors that, even with the race being cancelled, all in attendance appeared to have a fantastic time. It was great to get to meet, paddle with, drink with, and dance with a whole bunch of new people from all over the globe and I’m certainly looking forward to next year’s event, and maybe even racing…

Rich Brooks taking the new Everest for a spin on the Finster Munster

On another note, I got a chance to try out the new Pyranha Everest. It was responsive, fast, and fun on the Slalom course on the Oetz and it inspired some interesting conversations and vague plans for future big trips…

Sporting a particuarly colourful kit combo on the Finster Munster (Photo: Lyndsey Evans)

In time honoured tradition, here, in no particular order, are some recollections of the past few days. Between Tuesday morning and Sunday evening, the following happened: drinking, doing the robot, dancing, Austrian paddling with sunshine, ice cream, the middle Oetz, faff, carnage, dancing, a smart chalet, preposterous lies, the Finster Munster, singing, abuse, training, loafing, drinking tea, “I was never really going to hit those Germans”, an epic party, jagermeister, losing my jacket, drinking, a well aimed bucket of water, running around in the rain, traffic jams, driving, apfelstrudel, James Blunt.

There was a sad reminder of the extreme nature of hard whitewater kayaking on the eve of the event when Sickline team member, Tim Weinmann met with a tragic accident that cast a shadow over the whole event. I’m sure that the thoughts of paddlers all over the world are with his family and friends at this time.

After last year’s Wet West paddle Fest, expectations were high for the event that signals the start of another whitewater season. Expectations were exceeded. Big thanks to all the chaps behind organising another epic weekend, I know they have been working non-stop in the past few weeks to put all the logistics together. I travelled North with some guys from Manchester Uni and had a great time chilling out on some classic Scottish rivers and catching up with a bunch of folk that I hadn’t seen for a while. I have just got back and my brain is a bit fried, what follows is what I can remember of the weekend.

Crowds gather at the carnage spots on the Upper Morriston

Between Friday morning and Sunday evening, the following happened: drinking, Party Mitch, dancing, Scottish paddling with sunshine, Scottish paddling in the rain, midges, drinking, the Etive, faff, carnage, dancing, camping, an inebriated presentation, preposterous lies, the Garry, pop outs, singing, abuse, the Moriston, Morrison’s, “I’m not a stalker right, but…”, a 70’s party, an after party, a wig, drinking, polo paddles, N2O, running around in the rain, traffic jams, driving, haggis supper, Fleetwood Mac.

Beth on the first big hit on the Morriston

Some things that didn’t happen include; washing, sleeping, and rehearsing the Thuli Bheri presentation.

Crowds and wigs: shaking off the hangovers on the Garry

Cheers to Banzer for hosting a sublime after party. Bring on next year’s…

Party time (Photo: Mitch)