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information

booklet

For more check out

www.canoe.ie

12 & 13 april

kilkenny

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contents canoeing ireland club championships 2014

CANOEING IRELAND CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2014 p.3

COMPETITION TIMETABLE p.4

MAP OF VENUES p.5

THE POINTS SYSTEM p.6

Class Points p.6

Discipline Points p.6

Championship Points p.6

THE PRIZES p.7

TRAINING WEEKENDS p.8

Club Reps Weekend – 1st & 2nd February 2014 p.8

Polo – 15th & 16th February p.10

Slalom – 1st & 2nd March p.11

Surf – 8th & 9th March p.12

Freestyle & Boater X – 15th & 16th March p.13

Marathon & Sprint – 29th & 30th March p.14

River Safety & Rescue – 5th & 6th April p.15

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS p.16

Q. Where can we stay? p.16

Q. Where do we meet for each training weekend? p.16

Q. What is the minimum age for participants? p.16

Q. Who can attend training weekends? p.16

Q. Do you have to be able to roll to attend training weekends? p.16

Q. Who should compete in the event? p.16

Q. How much does it cost for Clubs to enter? p.16

Q. Can an individual enter more than one class in a discipline? p.16

Q. Does a class get points if only a handful of people enter? p.16

Clubs will compete across the board in nine different disciplines – Boater Cross, Freestyle, Marathon, Polo, Slalom, Sprint, Surf, Wildwater Racing and white water rafting. The Great Outdoors came on board to sponsor and support the event when it was still just an idea and will be providing a whole heap of prizes for competitors at the event. Prior to the event, Canoeing Ireland will host training weekends in each of the disciplines to give you that extra little boost before the competition! These will offer members a great chance to network with the best coaches & athletes Ireland has to offer.

The event and associated training weekends hope to offer an unprecedented opportunity for club members and individuals to access training and development opportunities in early 2014. Kicking off with a weekend for the Club Representatives on the first weekend in February, each discipline will then host a weekend in which they will provide you with all the expertise and knowledge of how to succeed in that discipline.

Training weekends will be held on the weekends leading up the main event - the Canoeing Ireland Club Championships on the 12 & 13 April 2014 in Kilkenny. The initiative provides a jam packed calendar of activity for the wet months of February, March and April, so clear your schedule, get your gear in order and prepare

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Canoeing Ireland, in conjunction with Kilkenny Recreation & Sports Partnership, and with the generous support of Kilkenny LEADER is proud to present the Canoeing Ireland Club Championship 2014. The club championships is an exciting new initiative for 2014 spearheaded by Canoeing Ireland. The goal of the event is to have clubs from all across Ireland compete across all the different disciplines that kayaking & canoeing have to offer.

The aim of this booklet is to give you and your club members a better idea of exactly what can be expected from this great event, a little bit of information about what will be going on over the next few weekends and an insight into all that the different kayaking disciplines have to offer.

Club Reps Weekend 1 & 2 Feb

Wild Water Racing Training Weekend 8 & 9 Feb

Polo Training Weekend 15 & 16 Feb

Slalom Training Weekend 1 & 2 Mar

Surf Training Weekend 8 & 9 Mar

Freestyle & Boater Cross Training Weekend 15 & 16 Mar

Marathon & Sprint Training Weekend 29 & 30 Mar

RSR 1 & 2 Training Weekend 5 & 6 Apr

Club Championships 12 & 13 Apr

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competition timetable

map of venues

SATURDAY 12TH APRIL

Time Discipline Venue

9.00am Wild Water Racing Clashganny

9.00am Surf Tramore

1.00pm Slalom Clashganny

1.00pm Polo Kilkenny

6.00pm Optional Dinner Langtons Hotel (Pay on site) Kilkenny

8.00pm Club Champs Party Langtons Hotel

SUNDAY 13TH APRIL

Time Discipline Venue

9.00am Marathon The Nore, Kilkenny

9.00am Freestyle The Nore, Kilkenny

9.00am Boater Cross The Nire/The Nore, /Extreme Race Kilkenny

1.00pm Sprint The Nore, Kilkenny

1.00am Boater Cross The Nire/The Nore, /Extreme Race Kilkenny

1.00pm Freestyle The Nore, Kilkenny

4.00pm Prize Giving Langtons Hotel

With so many disciplines, there’ll be plenty of events for people to participate in. Whether you’re a game hand at Sprint or reckon you’ve some sweet moves for Freestyle, it’s time to stop all that talk and walk the walk. The running order for the Club Championships will be:

What you compete in and what you attend is totally up to you so long as you can make it to the start line! Just contact your Club Champs Club Rep and tell them what you want to sign up for and see if you can work out the logistics to get there. Obviously it will be tough to compete in two competitions that are on at the same time! It’s that simple, and every paddler counts - so grab your spray deck and buoyancy and get ready to compete in the 2014 Club Championship!

The three principle venues for the club champs are Kilkenny City on the Nore, Clashganny Lough on the Barrow and Tramore. There will also be a training weekend for Wild Water Racing run from Thomastown.

Slalom training & competition and the WWR competition will be run form Clashganny. For the slalom training weekend we will meet at Clashganny Lough on the Saturday morning. We suggest people stay in Graignamanagh if possible to be close to the venue for the mornings. For the WWR training weekend we will meet in Thomastown on the Saturday morning, again we suggest people stay locally in Thomastown.

Sprint, Marathon, Freestyle, Boatercross and Polo training weekends will be run from Kilkenny. We will meet in Kilkenny Aqua Club at the start of each weekend. We suggest people stay in Kilkenny city to simplify networking and meeting up over the course of the weekend.

The Surf training weekend will be held in Tramore. We will meet on Tramore Strand for this weekend. Tramore is quite the spin from Kilkenny so we suggest people arrange accommodation in Tramore for this weekend to simplify logistics and drive times.

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the points system the prizes

Class Points First place in each class in any event will get awarded 100 ‘class points’ pretty simple so far. Here is where it gets a little more complicated so read carefully - The 100 points are then divided by the number of people who entered that class to create the points interval between positions. The points are distributed to the remaining places on that basis. We call it an inverse proportional scoring system and is the fairest way to score the competitions.

It’s simpler than it sounds – We promise! Easiest way to understand it is with examples!

So if 100 people enter a class (take for instance Senior Mens GP) then we get intervals of 1 point between competitors (100 points ÷ 100 participants = 1). So first place gets 100 points, second place get 99 points, third place 98 points...The person coming in 100th place will get 1 point. However, if 5 people enter a class (Say Womens C1 Slalom), we’ll get point intervals of 20 points (100 points ÷ 5 participants = 20). Therefore first place gets 100 points, second place gets 80 points, third place gets 60 points... 5th place gets 20 points. And who said you’d never use Junior Cert Maths!

In this way, every paddler on the water will contribute and count! Everyone counts, from first to last and everybody in between. Another benefit is that all of the 1st positions are weighted the same - be they mens, womens, juniors, K1, C1 etc. We hope that this will encourage your participation across the board and that everyone will assist their club to get some much needed points.

Discipline Points Once the individual class points are calculated, each clubs discipline points will be calculated - The ‘discipline points’ a club scores in a discipline are simply a sum of all of the ‘class points’ the members of that club has achieved in the discipline. Clubs will then be ranked in each discipline – Will you come out on top at Surf, or is your Club better when it comes to Slalom? It’s all to be played for!

Championship PointsTo finish each club will be awarded the all important Championship points – these will determine the podium finishes of the Club Champs. Championship points will be allocated in a similar way to class points. First place in each discipline will be awarded 100 ‘championship points’. The 100 points will then be divided by the number of clubs who entered that discipline to create the points interval between positions and points distributed to the remaining places on that basis as per the class points system. The club with the most Championship points at the end of the weekend will be the Club Champions!

As with any competition, there needs to be a winner and the Club Champs is no different! So with the first ever Club Championships coming ever closer, we’ve devised a point system that we feel to be the fairest method for all competitors!

So you’re interested in taking part – but you still need a little more of a push? What? You mean… getting to consider yourself the Club Championship winner isn’t enough for you?

Well, then isn’t it good that we have some massive prizes coming your way. We can’t reveal all, but you can rest assured that this lot is not to be missed with a prize fund running into several thousand Euros with generous support from the events main sponsor, the Great Outdoors. We will be awarding prizes for a range of things over the weekend with spot prizes galore.

Just some of the great stuff that you can be in with a chance of winning, include paddles, cags, buoyancy aids, helmets, spray decks, safety equipment, foot wear and maybe even a brand new boat. Keep an eye on our webpage for more details.

So the prizes have you swayed but now you’re a bit unsure whether you’re actually up for competing in all the different events, eh? Don’t worry about that cause we’ve got you covered! Canoeing Ireland have teamed up with all the different disciplines to bring you a training weekend in each and every one – starting with a weekend to get your Club Representatives more aware of how this is all going to work.

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training weekends

Club Reps Weekend 1st & 2nd February 2014

The club reps weekend, held on the first weekend of February, is aimed at providing an opportunity for club representatives to meet up in an unofficial and relaxed atmosphere, go for a paddle together, maybe go for a couple of drinks on Saturday night and discuss all of their successes and stumbling blocks in club development. This weekend is primarily a networking opportunity, a discussion around the events logistics and an opportunity to paddle the event venues - perhaps culminating with a few friendly club rivalries!

We hope to answer any questions Club Reps might have about the competition, illustrate the sites for each of the competitions, as well as informing Club Reps on some of the other going ons for Canoeing Ireland during 2014. This is all in the hopes of furthering club collaborations so that canoeing & kayaking in Ireland can continue to grow and improve some much needed points.

Wild Water Racing 8th & 9th February 2014

The first of the Club Champs training weekends will be in Wild Water Racing, taking place on the 8th & 9th February. Consistently efficient forward paddling in a turbulent and dynamic white water environment, in a fast but unstable boat is the speciality of the Wild Water Racers.

Taking its origins in Europe (with the first World Championships held in Switzerland in 1949), Competitors will need refined technical skill and endurance as well as an ability to read the flow of the water!

Inherent balance and accurate edge control allow Wild Water Racers to direct the boat onto the ideal line in rapids - catching the fastest water and the cleanest lines. The training weekend will be one not to be missed with the opportunity to take part in a local Wild Water Race as part of the training. The Wild Water Racers providing the training will offer a wealth of international experience, from coaches and rivers around the world. This weekend is sure to make you faster and put you in control on white water.

The Club Championships race will be held on the morning of Saturday, April 12th on the Clashganny. Competitors will be spread across the categories below:

Polo 15th & 16th February

This weekend will focus on the skills of Canoe Polo. Canoe Polo requires a broad range of fitness bases, paddling skills and ball control. Teams of five players do their best to score goals in suspended nets against the opposing team. Polo requires endurance to last the duration of a match, mixed with explosive power to sprint for the ball and drive boats hard in offensive and defensive manoeuvres. Polo players turn quick, paddle fast and drive hard while maintaining tactical awareness - and that’s all before we even consider the ball skills.

Classes Genders Age Categories

K1 Womens Under 16

C1 Mens Under 18

C2 Senior 18+

Masters 40 +

Are you ready to take on the Wild Water of Kilkenny?

This training weekend will consolidate peoples manoeuvring and forward paddling skills to increase power and speed as well as allowing for some great team work. Using the ball as a focus allows the subconscious to take over and create great opportunities for deep skill consolidation. Tactical awareness and set plays will be covered to give polo teams the edge in competitions. Ball skills will be trained and a range of drills provided for training on your home turf. Pool sessions will be included on this weekend with opportunities to try out some of the wetter skills and tactics in the warmth of the pool, including handoffs, and hand rolls. Expect to be wrecked and very entertained on this Polo training weekend with experienced coaches and excellent athletes to work with.

For the Club Champs event on afternoon of Saturday 12th, each club will put forward a team of eight people – composed of at least one male, one female and one junior (or student).

The training weekends will be provided by Canoeing Ireland in partnership with Kilkenny Recreation and Sports partnership and with incredible support from Kilkenny LEADER.

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Kayak Surfing is exhilarating to participate in and a spectacular sport to watch. The sheer enjoyment of feeling the force of the surging sea and learning to harness its power is a feeling which is difficult to surpass. To feel your boat being lifted by a large green swell, to experience the wave steepen underneath as you gradually pick up speed and take control, carving out turns as you cut across the steep face of the wave - pure magic.

As in Board Surfing, Paddle Surfing competitions are based on a knock-out structure. Similar to Freestyle, it’s a score based competition where the scores are based on wave selection, manoeuvres, style, judgement, and skill.

Ireland is home to many of the best surf spots in the world, as the increase in Surf videos over the last few years can attest to. Surf kayaking requires excellent edge and boat control combined with wave tactics and accurate timing.

Rides often involve controlled accelerated turns at the top and bottom of waves, which can translate to big aerial moves on top turns for the skilled paddler. The speed and glide of a surf boat on a wave is like nothing you have ever experienced, but be careful as it is totally addictive! The training weekend in Tramore will focus on surfing skills and tactics which are unique to this discipline to maximise participant’s success on the waves.

Our competition on the weekend of the Club Championship will take place on the Saturday morning with paddlers taking part in their choice of the following categories.

Surf 8th & 9th March

One of the most underappreciated disciplines in Ireland, despite the world class conditions along the full length of the West coast of Ireland. Surf kayaking in Ireland usually involves surfing specially designed boats on the swells and waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

training weekends

Classes Genders Age Categories

Short Boat Womens Under 16

Long Boat Mens Under 18

Wave Ski Senior 18+

Masters 40+

Will you take on the might of the Atlantic Ocean to lead your club to victory?

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Slalom 1st & 2nd March

This weekend will focus on the skills of Canoe Slalom. Canoe Slalom is one of the most challenging competitive disciplines in paddlesports and combines speed and manoeuvrability with fluid white water skills. Competitors race alone against the clock. The challenge is to pass through gates suspended above the water, avoiding a touch with any part of the boat, paddle, or body.

training weekends

Classes Genders Age Categories

K1 Womens Under 16

C1 Mens Under 18

C2 Senior 18+

Masters 40 +How’s your turning ability? Is your sweep stroke up to the challenge?

Slalom requires not only speed but quick thinking, as athletes have to complete fast and controlled descents through gates staggered through challenging rapids. As one of two Olympic Paddlesport Disciplines, Canoe Slalom requires excellent technique and boat control matched with explosive power to sprint down the slalom course and charge out of upstream gates. This training weekend will be one of the most technical and physically challenging weekends of the lot with training and practice runs on short and full length slalom courses on both flat water and through rapids. Day two will also allow for participants to partake in a slalom race to put their new skills to the test before the real test on Saturday afternoon of the Club Champs. Skills, Tactics and physical training drills will be explained and tested to get the most out of your future training sessions. Participants in the Club Champs Slalom Race can compete in the following categories:

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Freestyle & Boater X 15th & 16th March

Freestyle kayaking requires agility, balance, coordination and speed while being retained in a single feature, usually a wave or a hole. Paddlers need core strength and boat control to throw the boat around in the features often launching the boat clear out of the water. This ability combined with refined stroke work and balance to recover and link moves makes Freestyle one of the most dynamic disciplines of kayaking. One wrong stroke, one second too late or early with your edge transition and you could capsize and mess up the rest of your run. Participants do their best to pull off some intense moves on some of the biggest waves around.

Marathon & Sprint 29th & 30th March

This weekend will focus on the skills of K1 paddling across marathon and sprint canoeing. The fundamental skill of all of the paddling disciplines is the forward stroke and nobody does it better than these guys! In both Marathon and Sprint, Competitors race from Point A to Point B in the fastest time they can manage.

training weekends training weekends

Boatercross is a new, rapidly increasing competitive paddling discipline. Boatercross is a fast moving and demanding sport where contact between competitors is not uncommon as they negotiate white water rapids. Racers paddle head to head down sections of rapids where an error-free path will allow competitors to lead the heat and move to the next round.

This training weekend will begin with fundamental freestyle concepts and simple freestyle moves and tactics to help participants score points at future comps, including (but not limited to!) our very own Club Championship. We hope to include a build up to some of the more advanced moves on one of the features for participants who have a solid roll and want a bigger challenge!

This weekend will also focus on the requirements necessary to get your boatercross skills and tactics up. The competition on the Sunday afternoon of the Club Championship, as well as the training weekend, will be based in Kilkenny where two ideal features sit side by side on the one weir face. The birth place of the local lads, Billy Brett & Dave McClure’s, freestyle career - which saw them ranked 9th and 10th at the 2013 World Championships, Kilkenny will be the perfect site for the competition.

Participants will compete across the following categories in Boatercross and Freestyle:

Perfection is in the set up, the catch, the pull, the release and the recovery - all while sitting in one of the fastest and most unstable boats on the water. The K1 paddlers have the fundamentals of forward paddling broken down to every muscle movement and associated body angle to create the most effective & powerful forward movement. The K1 boats create a perfect platform to get rid of any bad habits in your forward paddling including bobbing of the boat (forward and back motion), swaying of the boat (side to side motion) and poor body tension (leaning back).

Some of Irelands best and fastest paddlers will help to tweak your forward stroke to perfection to get every ounce of power out of the energy you put in. Your core is guaranteed to get a workout at our training weekend, and your boat balance is certain to improve as you work towards the race on the Sunday morning of the Club Championships. Traditionally, marathon paddlers race take to the water in the unstable K boats. However in modern races such, as the Liffey Descent paddlers can partake in whatever boats they like and the Club Championship race will be no different, with the following categories:

Classes Genders Age Categories

Kayak Womens Under 16

K2 Mens Under 18

Senior 18+

Masters 40 +

Classes Genders Age Categories

K1 Womens Under 16

C1 Mens Under 18

Senior 18+

Masters 40 +

How’s your roll in the moving water?

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Boater Cross Classes Freestyle Categories

Classes Genders Age Categories

K1 Womens Under 16

K2 Mens Under 18

Wildwater Racers Senior 18+

Open Singles (Composites & Plastic WWR’s)

Masters 40+

GP - (Plastics)

Open Canoe Doubles

Open Canoe Triples

Sea Kayaks

Touring Doubles

Boater Cross Classes

Classes Genders Age Categories

K1 Womens Under 16

K2 Mens Under 18

K4 Senior 18+

C1 Masters40+

Sprint Classes

To test your balance further the Sprint Race will take place in Racing K boats and in the following categories:

Better get working on that balance!

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River Safety & Rescue 5th & 6th April

A must for anyone looking to improve their safety awareness when out paddling. As with any other sport, safety is an integral part of paddling and as everyone who has ever had a swim (Yes that means you!) can attest to, none of us would be the paddlers we are without a rescue once in a while!

Q. Will boats be available at the training weekends?Yep – Each discipline committee will be bringing along their fleet of boats for use at their training weekend. However boat numbers will be limited so bring your own boat if you can as it will cut down the nuisance of sharing boats! Everyone will get a chance to try the discipline specific boats.Q. Where can we stay?There’s plenty of accommodation in and around Kilkenny to suit any budget for those who wish to overnight. Depending on your preferences this can range from hostels to hotels to campsites, from self catering to Bed & Breakfast. If you wish to see a list of our proposed accommodation venues check out the Club Championship section on the Canoeing Ireland website, www.canoe.ieQ. Where do we meet for each training weekend?See the Map of venues for details of locations for each discipline. Directions and exact locations for each training weekend will be sent out to you and your Club Rep the Thursday prior to any training weekend by email. If you don’t have the details of the training weekend by the Thursday prior to the weekend go to your club champ rep for information.Q. What is the minimum age for participants?There’s no age limit for the Canoeing Ireland Club Championship however participants must be of an intermediate standard (close to level 3 skills) in order to participate and should feel confident in the boat they usually paddle and be happy to self rescue (swim to the bank with paddle and boat) should they capsize. Juniors will be broken down into two categories – Under 16 and Under 18.Q. Who can attend training weekends?Any club member with an interest in improving their paddling skills! As long as that person is willing to dive right in (figuratively speaking) and participate then we’re happy to have them along. Participants must however be of an intermediate standard (close to level 3 skills) as all training weekends will assume a basic knowledge of certain paddling skills – forward paddling, sweep strokes, rudders, capsize drill, bracing etc. Once you’re comfortable with these skills then we hope you’ll come along.Q. Do you have to be able to roll to attend training weekends?Rolling will not be a requirement to attend training weekends, but it won’t do you any harm!Q. Who should compete in the event?Competitors can be anyone in your club who wants to contribute in making your Club the Club Champion for 2014. As for who should compete – well, you & all your fellow club members! Who knows what you’ll contribute to your club or how much you’ll improve by participating?Q. How much does it cost for Clubs to enter?There will be an initial cost of E250 as a club registration – this will allow for free participation in any and all training weekends. For entrance to the competition there will be an additional per person fee of E30 for adults, E20 for students and E10 for juniors. This fee will cover entrance into any of the competitions run over the course of the weekend of the Club Champs!Q. Can an individual enter more than one class in a discipline?Every class will run so long as a minimum of 5 people enter, however a class will only get points if a minimum of 5 different clubs enter that class.Q. Does a class get points if only a handful of people enter?See the Map of venues for details of locations for each discipline. Directions and exact locations for each training weekend will be sent out to you and your Club Rep the Thursday prior to any training weekend by email. If you don’t have the details of the training weekend by the Thursday prior to the weekend go to your club champ rep for information.

If you have any further questions that you feel haven’t been adequately answered here, feel free to e-mail us on clubchamps@canoe.ie.We look forward to seeing you all the event and plenty of the training weekends. Happy Paddling!

training weekends frequently asked questions

This weekend is sure to be one of our most popular weekends with coverage of the full RSR 1 & 2 syllabus plus some sneaky tactics and techniques added from the RSR 3 to help keep you and your mates safe on the rivers. The weekend will focus on the main safety tactics to keep you out of trouble in the first place and follow up with the bread and butter rescue skills you need to be proficient enough to sort out problems that arise quickly and efficiently. There will be plenty of scenarios on offer to practice and hone your skills on. There will be paddling and swimming on this weekend so make sure you bring your paddle and boat plus some warm gear and prepare for full River Safety and Rescue immersion!

And now, after all those training weekends, there’ll be no denying that you’re more than capable to take part in the Canoeing Ireland Club Championship 2014!!

12 & 13 april

kilkenny

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