The Paddler Autumn/Fall issue 2017

ssociation of Northern Ireland with a team
of 35 staff and volunteers, from all over the world,
which saw twelve months of planning for five
gruelling days of competition on the Atlantic
Ocean. Special recognition goes to these people
who gave up their time so gladly and without
whom, the event could not have taken place.
Many competitors and their families stayed for two
weeks or more in the picturesque seaside town,
helping boost tourism and the local economy.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
played a central role in the event – providing
world-class safety cover without which the event
could not have taken place. On the first day of
the competition during challenging conditions,
they rescued 12 people in the first few hours.
Competitor safety is paramount in our sport.
In addition, there were many supporters and
sponsors without which the event wouldn’t have
had the same level of excellence. Special thanks
goes to the title sponsor, the Causeway Coast
and Glens Borough Council with many other local
and national supporters – we would like to thank
them all for the valuable role they played in this
world-class event.
The competition
The competition saw a number of team and
individual categories from Junior, Master, Grand
Masters, Ladies and Open – in two different
classes – High Performance (HP) and International
Class (IC) with 135 competitors in total
from 15 countries taking part over a five day stretch.
Odei Etxeberria
Paul Robertson
ThePADDLER 7