Canoeing is one of the key activities in the Anchor. There are practice sessions in a swimming pool, theory classes in the centre and, of course, lots of outings to rivers, lakes and sea fronts. The Liffey and Boyne rivers are frequently visited by Anchor canoeists, as are the Blessington reservoir and the Malahide estuary. The centre has access to several dozen general-purpose kayaks, a few Canadian canoes, several slalom minis and a couple of windsurfing boards.
We are also proud to have our own hybrid barge: six canoes joined together with two sales to form our “Articulator”.
Water safety is a must, so we count on the help of qualified and very experienced instructors. In fact many Anchor past members have received instructor certification at various levels from the ICU.
Every year there is great participation of Anchor members at public canoeing events and competitions, like the Liffey Descent. And every year there are canoeing expeditions to western regions and even abroad.
Annual Junior Liffey Descent
On Saturday 24 May 2008 several brave Inters took part in the annual Junior Liffey Descent. It is a challenging canoeing race from Leixlip to Strawberry Hall, under and beyond the M50 West Link bridge. The day started dull and windy but the sun came out during the race and it turned quite warm, but the Easterly wind never left us.
Five of the contestants were on General Purpose canoes. Shane McG was the fastest of this group of Anchor lads, although he was beaten narrowly by Greg C, a special guest that came from south of the Liffey – he used to be in school with Sean and Joe whe he lived in Killester. Joe C, Andy and David C were the other participants on GP.
The hardest part of the race was crossing the lake at Leixlip as there was a heavy wind blowing directly against the canoes. The two lads on an open Canadian canoe (Liam C and Cian N) found that part especially heavy going: ‘this boat is like a sale!’ exclaimed an exhausted Cian on arrival.
It was also tough for them to have to carry the boat by hand around the dam, down the Portage : it weighs a ton! They both were quick to suggest that the club should invest on lighter open Canadians. Perhaps the trick is to carry a pair of wheels to facilitate carrying it.
Everyone was very successful negotiating the weirs. David C got a big cheer from the spectators when he came down Wren’s Nest unperturbed – but backwards! The biggest cheer went for Cian and Liam who received a Silver medal (came second in their category), even though their boat was one of the very last to arrive overall: it helped that there were only two entries in that category!!!