Big Boat Bonanza - Ireland's Boater X

I've been meaning to get across to Ireland for sometime now to test the rumour that Guinness tastes better over there. Well, I managed to finally book my flights to get across the pond and, as a bonus, there was a White-Water Boater X thrown in with the weekend's Guinness-drinking partying.

Unfortunately the wet stuff (rain that is, not Guinness) had not been falling from the sky and once again the river was at really low levels. This meant that there was just one route down the race course without getting stuck up on rocks, and it meant that Jacksons fall at the bottom of the course was at the perfect level to provide plenty of carnage. However, the course was still runnable and no one was put off by the water levels as plenty of people turned up to compete in the event. The event catered for all, and there were huge numbers of club and university entrants.

The team event was on the Saturday, where teams of three paddlers raced against the clock and had to complete two tasks: rolling on the way down (quite a feat in the shallow water!) and catching a small eddy on the final fall. This was a good opportunity for those new to the river to find all the rocks and figure out where the deepest lines were. The fastest expert men were the Dutchies just beating local/international paddlers Rob Coffey, Dave Carrol and Simon Westgarth. The expert ladies event was won by locals(ish) Kim Siekermen, Kate Harris and Rosie Cripps.

Well done to the Rescue Rangers who were kept busy on both days with plenty of this:


The evening's entertainment, which was of course the main part of the event, took place in a Marquee, which was thankfully a lot warmer than the outside temperatures. The theme was Country and Western, and many people put a lot of effort into making some imaginative costumes. Cheesy and Ollie were on the decks...



...the Guinness flowed and flowed, and the party went on into the early hours of the morning.

Needless to say, the next morning was a slow start for everyone. When the Irish say 10 O'clock start they mean 12.30pm. Which was great for those with hangovers, but not so good for those that needed to catch an early evening flight! Once the event got started though, it ran quickly and smoothly. The crowd gathered at Jacksons falls to watch some fantastic carnage and to cheer on those that were still in their boats (and even some that were not) to the finish line. Contd below....