Clifden paddling

[Aoife S]

Aoife, Clifden had an actual competition last weekend. That's what Peter was originally talking about  .

Yeah I know, but considering its a nightmare to get a team together for something that was a main focus last year, I'm not surprised at the poor attendance at Galway

Hopefully with the extra training and focus that's planned for freestyle next year we'll have a better attendance next year, but basing the clubs commitment on one competition is a bit harsh!

[Diarmuid]

Varsities 2014 - here comes another half assed performance.

Peter, I'd just like to ask which Varsities you're talking about here?
Surely not Varsities 2012 where UCD finished 2nd, our highest finish in many years, or 2013 where we (with thanks to a good contribution by yourself) finished 3rd?

The sentence I quoted above insults every member of this club who puts time and effort into organising, helping out with and taking part in Varsities, our main event of the year.

Perhaps wasting your time belittling the efforts of other people isn't the best course of action when you see an area in which the club is lacking. With a little bit of time and effort you could have a group of people heading down to Clifden any weekend you like. That may involve countless texts and planning the trips more than 2 days in advance but as you can tell from the polo attendance, a bit of planning goes a long way.

[Tiny Tim]

Varsities 2014 - here comes another half assed performance.

Peter, I'd just like to ask which Varsities you're talking about here?
Surely not Varsities 2012 where UCD finished 2nd, our highest finish in many years, or 2013 where we (with thanks to a good contribution by yourself) finished 3rd?

The sentence I quoted above insults every member of this club who puts time and effort into organising, helping out with and taking part in Varsities, our main event of the year.

Perhaps wasting your time belittling the efforts of other people isn't the best course of action when you see an area in which the club is lacking. With a little bit of time and effort you could have a group of people heading down to Clifden any weekend you like. That may involve countless texts and planning the trips more than 2 days in advance but as you can tell from the polo attendance, a bit of planning goes a long way.

=Sound with more words nice work D

[kmck]

I would love to make it to Clifden but when I have to put around €70 into a car, may share that between some people or not it isn't a cheap option. Come Friday most weekends I can't afford to fill the car at all! Not to mention tolls, food, camping/hostel costs. Then add to that going home to take care of the house, collect the brother from the airport etc. I assume most other people have the similar issues.

There is an entire month left of holidays and I'm free for September for trips to sluice or malahide. We need 4 people to be competent in sluice next February for varsities, if you want people to place in varsities it's going to require a bit more than a couple of sessions anywhere. It will involve talking to people like Ash Corkery, Ollie, yourself and looking at running training weekends with good freestyle coaches many of whom we know. Taking second and third years off as a group at dun laorghie and doing flatwater stuff with them, same for static at lucan. Then trying to facilitate as many trips to the sluice as possible, with all the inherent problems that will involve.

At our most half assed at varsities I think our worst ranking was 8th overall. I was on the polo team when we came 4th, that was with the whole team so drunk we couldn't stand straight for pictures.

Personally where the club finishes in varsities or any competition is less important than producing competent well rounded paddlers who can safely run rivers together or with other groups.

To be honest, none of us are really gifted in the writing department so maybe take Peter's hyperbole with a pinch of salt?
http://xkcd.com/386/

[Ross]

To be honest guys, I think ye are all overreacting. Peter makes a valid point that without practice now, we won't do well in the freestyle in Varsities this year. Peter is just trying to giddy up and motivate people into doing it. Fair enough, people are busy, but I do believe there us a lack of interest almost in doing competitions in Freestyle. I don't think Peter is belittling the efforts if the club a much as the individual members who aren't making any effort. Again, I think that ye are overreacting, and if you can get offended by such a comment, then you should take some of the advice thrown around the club and man the fuck up

[Peter O'Sullivan]

I meant in terms of freestyle. ULKC had 10 people on the water over the weekend (it wasn't a club trip). NUIGKC are there regularly over the summer. Hard to compete with that come varsities.

Next time Clifden tides are good for a weekend are given below.  I'll probably be there only one more weekend this summer.

2013-08-09
04:30 IST  Twilight begins
06:06 IST  Sunrise
21:15 IST  Sunset
22:50 IST  Twilight ends
01:10 IST 0.78m. Low Tide
07:32 IST 4.72m. High Tide
13:20 IST 0.98m. Low Tide
19:42 IST 4.88m. High Tide

2013-08-10
04:33 IST  Twilight begins
06:07 IST  Sunrise
21:13 IST  Sunset
22:48 IST  Twilight ends
01:42 IST 0.81m. Low Tide
08:04 IST 4.68m. High Tide
13:53 IST 1.03m. Low Tide
20:15 IST 4.81m. High Tide

2013-08-11
04:35 IST  Twilight begins
06:09 IST  Sunrise
21:11 IST  Sunset
22:45 IST  Twilight ends
02:15 IST 0.90m. Low Tide
08:39 IST 4.60m. High Tide
14:28 IST 1.14m. Low Tide
20:51 IST 4.67m. High Tide

[Matt]

Let's just agree to disagree

[Peter O'Sullivan]

Ah a whole heap more replies I didn't see. To them I  say context. I meant half assed in terms of freestyle. By that I meant a very small pool of people that had little or no practice prior to competition to select from. Think, fail to prepare and so on. The club is very weak in terms of freestyle at the moment.

It would be nice to see for next year, a pool of 10 people with a minimum of 3 ladies that can do a few basic moves and not rely on 'fun' moves to get points.

I haven't been to Mahahide arches in years ( before the redevelopment ), has anyone, what is it like? This year coming I will continue to avoid Sluice because of the dodgy water quality. But I will gladly help anyone that wants to improve at freestyle where and when possible.

4.5m is the height Clifden is good from. Not sure why the description on line said 4.2m, I've emailed Seanie Byrne to get that fixed.

[Maryanne]

I don't think Peter is belittling the efforts if the club a much as the individual members who aren't making any effort.

I meant half assed in terms of freestyle. By that I meant a very small pool of people that had little or no practice prior to competition to select from.

For the sake of positive club relationships and morale it's probably better to move away from belittling or calling anyone's efforts half-assed, rather than narrowing the focus of the belittling to fewer people.



By far the most important message here is everyone agrees that working on freestyle as individuals and as a club is a positive and important thing.

Clifden is a cool venue that could be a nice excuse for a group road trip and in the good weather maybe even some good camping.

[Peter O'Sullivan]

Anyway, moving on.  There are two more possible weekends between now and September. The weekend of the 9th, 10th and 11th or the 23rd to 25th. Clifden is the only deep, retentive predictable playspot in Ireland hence I am plugging it so much. If you've only ever been playboating  at a flushy Stackallen or Sluice you will really enjoy Clifden.

If you miss either of these up coming weekends you probably won't see Clifden until the following summer.

2013-08-23
06:30 IST  Sunrise
20:45 IST  Sunset
22:11 IST  Twilight ends
07:25 IST 5.24m. High Tide
13:14 IST 0.58m. Low Tide
19:40 IST 5.37m. High Tide

2013-08-24
05:06 IST  Twilight begins
06:32 IST  Sunrise
20:43 IST  Sunset
22:08 IST  Twilight ends
01:39 IST 0.46m. Low Tide
08:05 IST 5.10m. High Tide
13:55 IST 0.73m. Low Tide
20:21 IST 5.14m. High Tide

2013-08-25
05:08 IST  Twilight begins
06:33 IST  Sunrise
20:41 IST  Sunset
02:18 IST 0.72m. Low Tide
08:46 IST 4.88m. High Tide
14:35 IST 0.98m. Low Tide
21:03 IST 4.82m. High Tide

[Jer]

I was thinking of heading down this weekend, would it not really be worth it if it's 4.2-4.4m then?

[Douchier]

Ya' know, when i first read Peter's post above (the rather tactless one - something I'm afraid I'm also often guilty of) - my first reaction was along the lines of "that really unfair to give out to people who have jobs, little money, time etc. for not dropping everything and spending all their time there" - and that's true, it is unfair to give out to people.

I later thought about it and well, we put in a lot amount of time, money and effort(plus some entrty fee) to go to polo competitions every 2-3 weeks. Maybe we could all get together and organise something for at least a couple of times over the Summer - something that's a proper club event.

I'm sorry to the committee for suggesting more work for them, but it could be a good idea. I'm sure that it would also be much more attractive to a lot of those who aren't interested in doing things like polo - Maryanne, Jer, Eoghan, Marie etc?



Ps. Clifden is a great spot, but that's no reason not to give Stack and Sluice their due.
Stack is the perfect place to begin freestyle and after that it's a great spot to hone skills without relying on power.
Sluice is a unique feature which needs a bit time to get used to (Peter hasn't done this -in fact, hasn't even paddled it at a good level- and thus disregards it).
While there is a risk of Weils(as there is in most places), this is massively over-played. Statistics will show that cases are rare -really rare.
Just about any move is possible here, and if nothing else your general paddling will improve massively.

---> More to the point in terms of performance, Sluice is where varsities will be held this year and regular training here will be vital to a good performance.

[Peter O'Sullivan]

To answer Jer's question. 4.2m is too low and not worth paddling. Best to go to Clifden when you can paddle morning and evening on Saturday.

If you were competing in polo at the weekend, fair play to you. Same if you were out paddling anything over the last few weeks. If your gear hasn't seen water since the last club trip and your playboat is gathering dust in the boathouse its time to get off your ass and paddle something.

Stack and Sluice are probably empty at the moment and from looking at SMDs it would probably take over 80mm of rain to get them going.

Seeing as it is Sluice this year all the more reason to have large pool of playboaters to allow for causalities from the dodgy water! I have been sick, not Weils, from Sluice before and reluctant to encourage training there. I'd love to give Malahide a go when I get back to Dublin.

Last thought, I need to do a fair bit of repairs to my carbon boat before I can paddle it again.

[DervM]

I thought I saw you trying to sell the Saint there a few weeks ago Peter?

[Eoghan]

Yeah I'm in for a weekend trip to Clifden or Malahide! If my playboat doesn't see some action soon I'm selling it