Monday, June 28, 2010

Isle of Man Adventure Race 2010 - A TERRIFIC SUCCESS!

25m Verticle rope climb - undertaken by one competitor for each team. The 5th discipline in the weekend race - won by Tom Cole (pictured) from the present Youth Scholarship Team recording an official awe inspiring 1 minute 47 seconds!

The Coasteering route around Peel Castle - a firm favourite for Adventurous Experiences Corporate Events and Leadership Training Programs - made up the final challenging team activity in the weekend.

Winner Ben Mclean from Team Brilliant 'dibbing in' at the finish of the Mountain Bike section.
An exceptional result for Ben as with a clear 5 minute lead on the 2nd place biker & fellow team mate Ranulf, Ben's tyre blew and his race was 'over'. Ben's determination was such that he picked his bike out of the hedge then ran the remaining 1.5km with his bike, and still won the Race!!  
The 1km Sea swim (against wind and tide on the Saturday morning) was round Peel castle, finishing at Fenella Beach. Andy Isaac - swimming for the Youth Scholarship team - completed the route in an outstanding 13 minutes 50 seconds! Well done Andy!!

George Shaw - a prominant member of the Adventure Club and part of the Aleutians 2011 Expedition team won the 12km Sea Kayak route, beginning at Peel and staying with his team mates for the first 8km as per race rules, before opening up on the final stretch. He touched the Beach at Niarbyl against a steady headwind 1hr 14 mins, 19 seconds later. An confident performance by George.
Juan Killop - Mylchreests Team - won the 8km Hill Run event, starting and finishing at Peel, in an impressive 38 mins 02 seconds, with a clear lead on the next runner. Many thanks to James Mylchreest for the use of the van over the weekend.

More photo's and quotes on the next Blog.


Overall Winning Team - 'Youth Scholaship'



Green Mann Spring Water and fresh ginger cake was awaiting competitors at Ballabrooie on completion of day 1 - as the bikers crossed the finish line in the heat of the day. Many thanks to Nad and the team at Green Mann for refreshments over the weekend.                                                                                          An efficient and accurate timing solution for the race as well as advise throughout by Manx Timing Solutions played a large factor in organisation of the event. Special thanks to our sponsors Price Waterhouse Coopers for their support.
The successful running and marshalling of the Isle of Man Adventure Race was due to the phenomenal team of Adventurous Experiences Staff and members of Adventure Club who all gave their weekend and complete dedication to this event. A huge thanks from everyone who took part!
Keirron

Isle of Man Adventure Race 2011 proposed dates 18th & 19th June, which we will publically confirm as soon as the Parish Walk event date is confirmed as the 25th. 

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Corporate Evening Paddle - from Peel


Predominantly beginners, the costline North of Peel with intemittant caves and headlands provided plenty of fun and spectacular scenery for the evening adventure.

Meanwhile, back at Ballabrooie, the kittens are working hard too :)

 

Young Adventurers - DOE training


The team from QEII High School presently training for their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh's Award signed up to a training course with Adventurous Experiences prior to their Sea Kayak expedition this July.
Part of the course included core stability and kayak safety training on our stretch of river.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Evening Paddles - ocean depths


Sunset evening paddle on the West Coast last night...
Fantastic! :)

Next evening Paddle Friday from Peel
K

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Sunday Paddles and breaching Basking Shark!

Sunday paddles and Adventure Club sessions ran from Port St Mary on Sunday, kicking off with beginners and improvers in the morning.


The Intermediates journeyed to South Harbour, on the Calf of Man, where a pleasant walk through the abundant sea pinks to a spot overlooking 'The Puddle' and the Chickens Rock.


A huge splash just offshore brought everyones attention to the sea, where we waited in anticipation for a minute or two, and then a half grown Basking Shark breached again entirely out of the water in full view!

We then rushed to get cameras ready but the show had concluded :)


A relaxing evening paddle concluded the day, in bright sunshine.
As we see the high pressure system again bringing us settled weather, we're looking forward to another week of Adventures!
Keirron

Monday, June 14, 2010

Adventurous Experiences supports BallaAfrica Big Swim

A massive well done to the whole BallaAfrica Big Swim team who successfully crossed the Irish Sea from Barrow in Furness to Laxey last weekend 05th - 06th June.
An amazing feat, not just the 47 miles taking 30 hours to swim, but also the thick fog, jelly fish, changes in sea conditions, tide and open water. The 9 swimmers captained by Brett Cullin were supported alongside by kayakers paddling at all times, providing direction and motivation through day and night.

Janet Taylor (a Senior Coach at Adventurous Experiences) was in charge of kayak support, working alongside fellow staff member Lauren Roberts, seasoned Adventure Club member Chris Gledhill and kayaker Carl Faragher. 


"Hi Keirron,



... it would be difficult to exagerate the importance of the safety Kayakers to the Team's success.
They really were the shepherd's who got us through the dark and brought us out the other side.
Even those decorated in Bacofoil to improve their radar signature, happily sacrificed all traces of dignity and street cred to the cause. :) "

Brett Cullen

Balla Africa Big Swim Organiser

"I have to say that we would not have done nearly so well without the amazing support from the kayakers – both in the water for morale boosts and jelly fish watch to out of the water with hot food and drinks.
They really did keep the spirits of the whole team up both day and through the long night, which it was the most comfort to have someone close by – it was a very still night with loads of sea mist calm waters and just being out there in the middle of the sea would have been like a scene from a horror movie had it not been for the kayakers.



I am sure living on a boat with us lot moaning about cold wet wetsuit every 5 mins was like a horror movie for them but they never let it show once – what a great team to have with us – thank guys!"

Heather Mattocks




A Kayakers perspective...

" When I heard about the BallaAfrica Big Swim, I thought it was a great


idea and half wished I'd known about it sooner so I could volunteer to

swim. I can do a few lengths in the pool and so I thought the 30 minute

stints the swimmers had planned would be fine! They had requested kayak

support though, so we happily offered, pleased to be given the chance to

be part of such a great adventure. We would set the course for the

swimmers and be there for them if they needed anything on the water.

The swimmers were a great and varied bunch from an Ironman contestant to

someone who was scared of the sea, but all of them were up for the

challenge, had trained hard and were raring to go. We set off at 05:25

on Saturday 5th June and I was the first kayaker on the water, perfect

conditions, flat calm sea and the sun was rising in the sky. What a


great start! It remained calm and swimmer followed swimmer as the


morning progressed. The sea picked up for a while and then calmed again


in the late afternoon, before a thick fog descended just in time for


night! The kayakers took it upon themselves to encourage the swimmers


and the night must have been the hardest time to be jumping into the


water and starting again... Especially through fields of jellyfish,


where we tried to bat them away with our paddles, but there were too


many to get every one and inevitably people got stung. A jellyfish


sting is no ginny nettle...it smarts and leaves your whole body tingling


and stinging in waves. Almost all the swimmers got stung at one point


or another, but they carried on jumping into the water in spite of


this. Our encouraging cries of; "it's only a sting, it won't kill you"


were undoubtedly not much appreciated, but instead of turning the air


blue in our faces, the swimmers turned themselves blue by jumping into


the cold stinging minefield and carrying on. And without naming names,


yes, they did try the old urine trick and no, it didn't work!


From our side, we mainly stuck to 2 hour stints and the trickiest part


of the whole thing was getting out of the kayak and onto the support


boat in a big sea but with some help from kayakers and swimmers alike we


developed a reasonably successful system...well none of the kayakers got


wet so it must have been OK.


When we weren't on the water, we cooked, ate, slept and helped on deck


with the transitions between swimmers. It can't have been easy throwing


yourself into the murky waters time after time and so we used various


techniques to motivate the team which even included singing on the


water. Apparently, the middle of the Irish Sea is the one place I am


allowed to belt out a tune at the top of my voice without being called


an X-Factor reject and so I am grateful to the swimmers for allowing me


that concession. In fact I was so good, Eleanor did try and join in


with me, but I wanted to be centre stage and firmly told her, "you swim,


I'll sing".






Lights of Douglas Harbour appeared during Janet's stint at about 3:30am


which brought excitement at first, but it was still going to be about 9


hours before we got to Laxey. We finally approached Laxey beach around


11:30 and the swimmers nominated Ironman Andy to swim the final stint to


the beach and they would follow behind. With 4 kayakers and only 2


boats, we wanted to finish with the swimmers and so Heather and Trav


very kindly lent us spare wetsuits so Janet and I could swim the final


stretch to the beach with them with Carl and Chris alongside in the


kayaks. Here was our chance to experience a very small part of what the


swimmers had been going through for the last 30 hours. Each swimmer


jumped off the brilliant Pelagos Adventure support boat to a honk of the


ship's horn from Declan, the skipper, followed by Janet and I.


(Incidentally, the camera officially does lie, because my graceful,


gazelle like leap into the water, actually appeared ina photo to be a


wonky tumble accompanied by a look of horror on my face). And so we set


off for the beach. I put my face in the water and it was so cold, it


stung my skin. I lifted my head to breath and got a mouth full of salt


water. I started to kick my legs but within 5 metres I was exhausted.


Suddenly, I knew what the swimmers had gone through; not only during the


30 hours at sea, but also during the months of training and it occurred


to me that my motivational speeches, nagging to keep going and demands


for more swimming minutes must have been a right royal pain in the


backside when you're the one in the water, surrounded by jellyfish,


tired, cold and miles from home. Fair play to all the swimmers, they


bloomin' well did it! "

Lauren Roberts

Friday, June 11, 2010

Evening Sea Kayak Trip... with Basking Sharks - Isle of Man


Sheltered from the Northerie winds, watching Basking Sharks feeding up and down the coastline, our group of predominantly absolute beginners enjoyed breathtaking views, and as the evening drew to a close, the cloud formations turned golden - reflecting vividly on the sea.
An amazing Evening Paddle - see you all again soon :)
Keirron