JackieOnassis

I’m just home from 2009 World Surf Kayak Championships which were held on Santa Rita beach in Santa Cruz, Portugal. The event was held in conjunction with The Ocean Spirit Festival.

me in the 666 competing in ladies IC

This festival showcased some of the worlds best competing in kayak surfing, surfing, body boarding, kite surfing and skim boarding all on one beach.

The event was well structured with lots of great benefits for athletes including physio, lunch every day and entry to the event village for the festival at night. Another great feature was the pool where children could swim and where people could demo lots of kayaks.

Ju learning to Roll in the Pool

The atmosphere was electric. I have met so many amazing people joined together celebrating the surf and sea.

The Hat

Everyone has been so friendly at these worlds from USA west team for inviting me to so many nice meals enjoying the local seafood, Carlisle for all the lovely pictures from the event.

some of Team Portugal

The Portuguese team were always there for the party in the evening in the festival village. And a huge thank you to Bruno Melo for giving me a place to stay in his house for the whole event.

Bruno competing in The Bandit

I had plenty of highs and lows in the competition but am happy I did my best.

Unfortunately I didn’t do as well as hoped in the Ladies Hp class. I was up against Valerie Bertrand defending world champion and rising talent Emma Wynter from England. The conditions were messy and the other girls did better on the day.

Emma Wynter

Emma went on to finish 3^rd overall and Valerie made the semis! Naomi James was on fire in ladies Hp and went on to win the event in great style showing that the women’s standard has indeed improved.

Naomi James

In ladies IC however I did much better. In the first round I was delighted to win my heat against Lizzy Johnson from Jersey/ Channel islands and Kristina Ferrer from Basque Country. The heat was close but I was happy to qualify for the next round.

Me Again

Over the next few days the beach was filled with flags for the team event and the atmosphere was great.

On one of these days I went on a road trip south to try one of the many other surf locations in the area. We headed to Ribeira d’ Ilhas following some local advice. In tow were myself, Bonnie Tregoza from Australia, Roberta Borsari from Brazil and David Priddis from Jersey.

Bonnie Tregoza competing in quarter finals of Ladies Hp

We found a lovely peeling wave that was quiet and a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of Santa Rita. We followed the early morning surf up with a tour of some more surf spots courtesy of a local sit on top surfer and a nice afternoon lunch in the beautiful town of Ericeira.

On Thursday I had my quarter final heat. Brent from Canada was there with lots of positive coaching and I was feeling good at first. We were in the first heat of the morning and the surf was big and heavy but it wasn’t going to be my day.

On the way out for my heat I had a heavy hit on a wave and both my contact lens were ripped out of my eyes! Disaster as I am pretty blind, thankfully with help from Dan and Tamsin Green, Devon Barker, Wayne Waddington and Bonnie, contacts were found from my bag and put in right on the beach. Not Ideal but that is life sometimes and the heat was well under way before I was back in my boat. The Guys rallied around me though and with cheers of support I managed to catch a few waves on the inside and pull a couple of flat spins. However the other girl’s wave selection was better and they finished in front.

Brent celebrates after his heat

I was still delighted in the end with a 7^th place finish overall and although it’s the same ranking as the last worlds I did feel that I had done well considering the standard was much higher in all classes.

Myself and Carlisle both finished seventh

A few days later the whole event was over following so many great nights out and parties. I had a lovely surf session with the Portuguese crew on Santa Rita beach as the sun was setting one evening.

View near Santa Rita

I then had to face the long drive home to Ireland. On the way home I had a tour of the Nelo factory near Porto and saw the whole production process. It was great to see the Watertech Kayaks being made and while there Joné did a small repair job on my fin box. A big thank you to him!

View of Roman ruins near the Nelo Factory in northern Portugal

I then had a lovely drive through inland Portugal and Spain, seeing Salamanca and Leon.

Windmills near Leon in Spain

Up through Basque country and onto Biarritz and Bayonne for the night. I had a surf on a break right beside Biarritz the next morning and was treated to head height surf. Then I headed to La Rochelle and camped.

The following day I reached the ferry in Roscof.

Homeward Bound

I made it home to Rosslaire Friday morning and by the evening I was in my home in Galway ready for bed after 3000+ miles of driving in 3 weeks and a wonderful trip to Portugal.

Pictures by Carlisle Landel and myself.

Well there has been absolutely no swell in almost two weeks and as soon as there was even the smallest of waves I decided to head for a surf. My thinking was that “a surf session on a small wave was better than no surf session at all”. So in spite of the doctors orders I took the medicine, stuck in my ear plugs, I ignored my ear infection and simply hoped for the best.

Now there was no point going alone so Aisling Gilchrist decided to come along and rent a board. She used to do a lot of surfing before she took up kayaking so was looking forward to a dip in the sea. Barry Loughnane has been asking a lot lately for a go in one of my surf kayaks so he came along too. Kev Egan came along for the spin, poor lad was on the shore with an eye infection so we gave him the camera to keep him entertained.

Now it was small, maybe 2 foot, busy and the sun was out. I was not overly pleased but once I got on the water my attitude changed. The surfers were friendly and there was lots of banter and in spite of the soft waves, I decided to look on the positive side!

One thing is for sure the 666 was still able to pick up the waves with ease. Ive also had it out in a lot bigger messier conditions and found it real easy to get out the back. It seems to be a flyer in a variety of conditions. I’m looking forward to spending a lot more time in this boat!

Barry liked the Speedy and was doing great for someone trying a composite boat for the first time. It’s a pity the waves were so small as I was hoping to show him how fast these boats really are on a proper wave. He will just have to go surfing again!

After a surf we went for some food in Joes Café and then Kev went home and the 3 amigos got an ice cream and headed back to Galway. On the way home we stopped to take a picture in the Burren as Ash had never been. A great day out in the end

Well  I was really hoping to get some surfing done in the last week with Portugal Worlds just around the corner but the swell has died so instead Ive just spent some quality time in Clifden in glorious weather. The shorty cag was out in force and the cues were small. To be honest after the competition I was glad to see the shrinking cue…. I was paddling mainly with some of the NUIG diehard playboaters. Barry, Cian, Conor and Andrew were the main culprits. I managed to squeeze in about four sessions over a few days.

Also during this time the wave came up and was great fun as the tides were quite high. So lots of oldschool was on the cards and smiling fsces all round.

While there I took the camera out and decided to do a response video to my recent video of curragower a wave in Limerick. That video featured many UL paddlers telling us why they love gower so I thought who better to tell us why they love Clifden than some NUIG paddlers….

So I’ll let you decide who is showcasing the better playspot, I have my opinion which I will keep to myself

Why ULKC likes Curragower

Why NUIGKC likes Clifden

Part 1

Part 2

Also big up to Cian Mc Comb for putting us up in the Mobile Home and to Barry for giving me the Ibuprofene and the two of them for listening to me whine about my very sore ear.

Of course it didnt stop me going to Oranmore for a sneakey session on Sunday evening.

Im off now to take a trip to the very small swell for a despeation surf……..

The Clifden fun rodeo was the second event of the 2009 Irish Freestyle League.

The event included freestyle coaching, a flatwater rodeo, beach party, barbecue, DJ and of course Fun Rodeo. There was a squirt event too! A lot of variety made sure everyone was happy.

There was a great turn out for the weekend with 50 paddlers registered and plenty of spectators. It was great to see so many new faces at an Irish event and many competitors were experiencing the joys of Clifden for the first time.

Big Up to the organisers from Nuig kayak Club and Irish Freestyle for running a great event that put the fun back in freestyle.

There was plenty of great performances! Conor Bredin was delighted to win his first Senior Event in the Mens Expert class. He pulled off a fantastic ride including an entry loop which he copied from another competitor. He was also getting plenty of air throughout his runs and made sure to include some of the fun moves too.

The Sport Classes were putting on some great performances such as Scooby from Cork, and Andrew Regan from Nuig who threw away his paddles much to the delight of the crowd. Michelle from Nuig was spinning and rolling in the hole although she has only been paddling for a year, this was great to see. However Dee won in spite of a hefty hangover!

I really enjoyed the ladies class and it was a nice relaxed atmosphere and we were having plenty of banter in the eddy with smiles all round. Fran O Donnell came first. She took plenty of risk with some nice entry moves. I finished in second with Muireann Lynch in third.

The Juniors were ripping it up as usual and were having a blast with the fun moves throwing in air guitars and paddle spins, cartwheels and plenty more. Neil Slevin came in joint 1^st place and was delighted with himself, fair play to him!

I can’t remember all the results but for further info see www.irishfreestyle.com

All pictures by Donie McLoughlin

For the past 3 weeks my home town Galway has been a festival of fun because of The

Volvo Ocean Race. We have had sun, atmosphere, concerts and good old Irish Craic!

The highlight of the festival had to be the arrival of the boats into Galway docks in the middle of the night!

We have enjoyed lots of free concerts featuring some great Irish acts including The Coronas, The Stunning, The Saw doctors, Mundy and Sharon Shannon.

I went kayaking in Galway bay during the In Port Yacht Race and had an up close and personal look at one of the Irish navy ships. I also met some lovely folks from Longford on the bay out touring for the day. This was a great place to watch the race away from the huge crowds gathered along the shores of Galway Bay.

On top of the festival I also managed to escape to a variety of destinations.

I went playboating in Oranmore, Clifden and Limerick.

I went kayak surfing in Lahinch and Fanore. I had a nice flatwater session on Lough Corrib and the river Corrib heading out from my home in Menlo.

I even managed to sneak in a climbing session in the beautiful Burren. Life doesn’t get much better than this!