Lee Valley Olympic Course

Last week I got to paddle the new Lee Valley whitewater course for the first time with the rest of the squarerock team as well as freestyle legend Eric Jackson.

I’d heard how clean the water was before going but didn’t release how nice paddling clean water that you could see the bottom in would be.

The Olympic course was really tiring with constant whitewater and fast eddy’s. There are a few good drops with fairly chunky holes at the bottom of them. There was lots of carnage at one particular drop as everyone tried to play on a wave directly behind the drops big hole that was also being played on. Under its current setup there weren’t many good playspots but it was definitely a lot of fun.

Cardiff British League Event

Last weekend saw the third of six British League Freestyle Kayaking events to determine this years British Champion. This stage was held at the newish whitewater course in Cardiff and it was the first uk freestyle competition to be held there.

Through the day the course was open to all on 8 cumics. At this level a nice hole is produced before the main bend in the course. The hole is quite friendly so is good for practicing moves on. The water is really clear so the bottom is easily visible and although the hole is shallow you don’t hit the bottom to much.

At 6pm the course was closed to the public and turned up to 12 cumics for the competition. At this level a much deeper more uniform hole is formed making for an excellent competition venue. One of the best things about Cardiff was that spectators could watch from the cafe when the really heavy rain hit.

Up first were OC1 with Alan Ward making his debut in this class making for a lively event. Paul King managed to stay focused through Alan’s swims to cartwheel his way to victory.

In the junior girls Rachel Bovill won with some snappy loops.

Matt Rogers won the junior boys with some big space godzillas and mcnasty’s. Local James Cooper got some impressive air in his small Rockstar and Sam Stephenson, who seems to be improving fast, came second.
In the mens Matty Nicholas kept flushing on his first two rides but had an awesome third ride to put him second. Alan had some really big moves in his rides and finished third. I chose the right moves to get three consistent scores in my rides and this was enough for me to take the win.Photos by Andy Aldred & Dale Mears

Tryweryn - British League pt 2

This weekend saw the second British League Event at the Tryweryn in the top hole above the chipper. Its quite hard to stick moves but I really like the hole. The rapids below are pretty rocky and there’s also a big rock in the middle of the hole that you need to watch out for but unlike everyone else I decided to use my carbon boat anyway. It meant I couldn’t plug hard so my loops and space godzilla’s weren’t as good but it was easier to retain mcnasty’s and phonix’s.

In the end my carbon boat only helped me score 50 points more than last year but my rides felt much easier. Results below:

Photos: Andy Aldred / Jack Gunter

End of 2010

2010’s been a great year for me kayaking with two main highlights, becoming British Champion for the first time and coming in the top 5 at the Europeans which was probably the most enjoyable competition I’ve had. The only down side of 2010 being the cold weather and Hurley hardly running. The main goal for 2011 is to do well at the Worlds in Plattling, Germany.

Winter 2010 Video

Video from my 3 favorite spots in the UK: Hurley and Marsh on the Thames and The Anvil back home on the River Dart.

European Freestyle Championships 2010 - Write-up & Results

I finshed 5th in this years European Championships in Austria.

I've done a write up with links to the results on the squarerock site http://squarerock.co.uk/2010/blog.php?subaction=showfull&id=1277325408&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&

Flowerpots Rodeo

This year the Flowerpots Rodeo organised by Exeter Uni and AS Watersports saw 40+ paddlers entering. Rain overnight had pushed the level of the Exe up and Flowerpots had turned into a flushy but extremely powerful hole. The event format was 6 heats of 6-8 paddlers having a 10 min jam session with the top 2 from each heat going into one semi final which was then cut to the top 4 for the final. I was judging to a very basic scoring system of marks out of 5 for each ride awarding points for the usual freestyle moves but also air guitars, harry potters, beat downs or just keenness and then tallying the points up at the end.

Crowd gathers

Craig Aryes variety of blunts, loops, felixs and cartwheels saw him fly through the first heat. He was followed by Nick from Exeter Uni who landed the biggest move of the competition by sticking a huge loop in his creak boat.

Nick goes huge

In the 2nd heat local favourite Andy Illy was beaten into first spot by Dan Whitlun who again showed a lot more variety than his competitors and landed some nice back loops.

Once the remaining heats had been completed 12 competitors took to a single semi final. Mid-way through the semi’s a free for all on the wave was declared and Dan was given some bonus points as he back surfed between two boats to hold position on the wave.

Dan and Craig share a moment on the wave

The free for all was soon ended when the rear end of Matt Tidy’s Centrafuse gave one of the students a hard smack across the jaw.

A student takes a face full of Matt’s stern

A well executed reverse harry potter saw Craig sale into the finals ahead to Dan, Matt Tidy and Andy Illy. Despite the basic scoring system clearly the best 4 paddlers had got through to the final.

Reverse Harry Potter!

Craig led the final from the start and sealed victor with a huge front loop. Dan was just beaten into 2nd place by Matt Tidy’s impressive cartwheel sequences. Desperate to gain some extra points Andy Illy pulled his deck and swam at the end of the final but it wasn’t enough and he finished in 4th.

A respectable 4th for Andy “Fatman” Illy

Winner Craig Ayres

By Sam Anderson
Photos Fluid Skills and Yak
Thanks to AS Watersports, Exeter Uni, Yak, Fluid Skills and Big Dog Kayaks