European Surf Kayak Championships
This September brought some of the best surf kayakers in the world to the European Championships in Easkey, Ireland, with top competitors from Argentina, Australia and Europe making the journey to the west coast of Ireland.
I've been traveling to Easkey to compete since I was a junior back in 2013 for the annual Irish open, and I attended the event every year whilst I was a junior and I've tried to go back as much as possible to compete ever since. It's been amazing to keep coming to this event and see how it's changed over the years, from the first year I attended as the only junior, to competing with international paddlers who'd travelled for the event in the open men's category a few years later, it's an event I've looked forward to every year.
Image taken by Mathew lamont
I travelled over for the event a few days early with the aim of getting a surf before the start of the event. After a couple of days of watching everyone else's of videos of the wave I was excited to get going. Instead of the clean perfect waves from earlier in the week we were greeted with small, windy but surfable waves, not a perfect start but worth getting wet for.
The start of the competition brought us some smaller but clean waves, with the promise of bigger waves on the horizon for later on the event. I won my early heats, avoiding the repechage round in both the long boat and short boat categories taking us through Friday and Saturday of the event, with the swell picking up in size on Saturday for some really fun waves.
The waves slowed down again on Sunday morning for some more challenging conditions and slow heats. Patience paid off to make the most of the new priority system and find two good waves to win the heat and make it through to the semi finals in the long boat. This was soon to change with the waves picking up again in the afternoon. I was in one of the last heats of the day when the tide was highest and slamming into the rocks at Easkey. A lot of care was needed with wave selection, at this point in the tide it's very easy to try and do one turn too many, pushing yourself too close for comfort to the rocks in a carbon boat. I found a combination of bigger sets and a steep inside wave that set me up with a perfect air section to take me through to the quarter finals in the short.
Image Alwyn Lamont
The competition wrapped up on Monday with some great waves to start the day, clean waves and light off shore winds. We couldn't really ask for a better finish to the event. I struggled to find the best waves in the quarter finals of the short boat and couldn't make it through to the semis, finishing in 9th place in the short boat. This setback gave me a lot of motivation to head back out and make the most of the long boat. A few hours later I won my long boat semi, surfing some really enjoyable waves and making it to the finals. The waves couldn't have been better for this heat, long steep walls and a deep take off required to boost the boat above the lip before a long shoulder for endless cutbacks to the inside and the wave finally dying off. The good waves continued into the final and I came away with 2nd place after a fun heat against some top paddlers before watching the remaining finals for the short boat and waveski classes.
Image Alwyn Lamont
The final day of the trip after the competition brought smaller, but clean waves with a touch more north in the swell. This made for some fantastic waves with a longer, steep section of wave even though the size had reduced a little from the past day and half. A great morning was spent surfing with everyone else from the event before starting the journey back home, it's hard to beat a good free surf after the competition.
Image Alwyn Lamont
Huge thank you to all my sponsors, Peak PS, VE paddles and Hobson kayaks for the fantastic gear to use at the event. A special thank you to all the volunteers, organizers, judges and safety team as well for making this event happen, I can't wait to come back for the next one!
