Hurley Classic 2019

    As per usual the Hurley Classic was another fantastic event! So great to see all of the young rippers out on Saturday for meet the stars. If your not aware of the event meet the stars is where the best paddlers in the world come down and take a group of young kids kayaking! This is the perfect way to inspire the younger generation and give them coaching at the same time.
    I went out for the morning session on the water with Morgan, a talented little boater from Lee Valley. Together we looked at getting him onto the middle wave. On his second attempt he managed to cruse his way across to the middle wave. Amazing to be seeing Morgans progressions from play boating on the Legacy course to the wave at Hurley.

Jumping for joy

    Boater cross was an interesting event this year. The course had been changed from previous years which was nice to see! As always, it's always about taking part and not winning, mainly because I wasn't anywhere near winning ;) Super fun to fly down the ramp and hit the water then speeding off after that first place in the heat, well that's what it should feel like. I however after getting off the ramp ended up backwards after the first turn. Nice to see little touches to the race such as having to get out and put your bum on the bank before sprinting to throw your paddle through a hoop then off to the finish line!
Throwing an airscrew

    Sunday was all about freestyle. I was earlier in the heats but luckily the sun was out! It was a lovely 3 gates, good pile in the middle and a big kicker style radial on either side. I managed to  get a fair percentage of my tricks out on both sides. Still so I was looking for but need to do allot of work to get things 100% consistent on both sides.
    After a long day finishing in what I believe to be in 10th but still haven't seen the results. Watching the men and woman throw down int the finals was something for the ages. Two very well deserved wins from Ottie in the woman's and Gav in the men's.
    Cannot wait for next years Classic, this has set of the year and set me up to better myself so much this year.


Mid Helix
Looking for the Wave Monkey

See you all on the water,

Sam

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