Diamond Quest Ireland Adventure Race

MREGAN

Just seen this race advertised. Looks interesting.

http://diamondquestireland.com/home/index.html

racso1975

Is it just me or do they not tell you what the distance is of any of the courses?

MREGAN

Normally the Adventure Races dont give you distances but the route is pretty well detailed if you take a look. Then you get a rough idea looking at google maps pedometer to plot the course.

Or send the organisers an email I'm sure they have an idea of distance.

hunnymonster

Looks like a fun event. On road biking is always going to suit me better than mountain biking.

I hope noone tells Zuppylurk about this race. Poor guy spent a small fortune on a diamond last year

Since when is is spelled "Coolie". When I lived there it was always the Cooley Mountains.

What's the story with the two man sit on tops? Seems to be the standard for all these races (gael force etc?).

plodder

I've done a good bit of walking up there so I would be pretty familiar with the run section. It's a lovely area, and the view spectacular (if you had time to enjoy it). The climb will be very hard but the run down through the forest to Omeath should be nice enough.

MREGAN

This is the style of Kayaks that are used in these races without the seat backs. The kayak stage is very small at only 1km

hunnymonster

mregan, Thanks for that. I suppose what I was asking is

1. why always a 2 man? Kinda breaks the spirit of a solo event. For example, looking at the results of Gael Force from last year. Enduro must have been waiting 5-6 mintues for someone to turn up to paddle with him. While I appreciate in the Diamondquest event, this is taken care of with the down-time, it still makes it a team effort across the lough

2. It's impossible to get much power out of a sit on top.

I realise it's probably a safety issue in so far as anyone can get off a capsized plank as compared to rolling a kayak without losing your spraydeck or paddle (and no I can't, as soon as I go over, I pull my jesus cord and swim.... I don't care how many beers that means I have to buy)

MREGAN

Hunnymonster I think it is a case of these are the kayaks the organisers have available. There normal events are team events hence the two man kayaks.

Enduro

Yup, I think you've all answered the question. SOTs are much safer for beginners, for exactly the reason you gave HM. And there are 2 largeish collections of them owned by AR organisers in Ireland. Kayaks are hard to source, so you work with what you get (from an organiser's POV).

why always a 2 man? Kinda breaks the spirit of a solo event. For example, looking at the results of Gael Force from last year. Enduro must have been waiting 5-6 mintues for someone to turn up to paddle with him.

I agree with you about breaking the spirit of the solo event. In the Turas Beag solo race last year we were allowed bring our own boats, which was great, and made for super racing. This is the route I'd like to see all the races go. The kayaks are an anomolie. We can bring our own bikes, so why not kayaks! It would also reward the better kayakers (A good thing, IMHO), as they could use faster tippier boats. As you correctly surmise, the bloody SOTs are damn hard to get going at any kind of good speed. They tend to limit the better paddlers. The end result of all that is that the general standard of paddling is low in AR in Ireland, with little incentive to improve. When we head to international races this becomes all too evident.

For reference, in the GF6 I ran in with my paddling partner (Peter), so didn't have to wait to find a co-pilot.

Peterx

As Enduro says, if you're doing a solo race that involves 2 person SOP kayaks it helps if you arrive at the water with someone you've already decided to share the boat with. A small spot of organisational race tactics...

Most Irish one day events have a teeny spot of kayaking/abseiling/bog snorkelling for the look of the thing with running and biking and lots more running the main chunk of any event.
Practice your running

At one of the Gael Forces I heard the same story two people who shared a kayak but didn't know each other, I happened to know both of them.

Person 1 " I was blessed to meet this young fella, I really struggle in the kayak"
Person 2 " I was in the kayak with an older fella who hadn't a clue, we nearly capsized all the way across"
It was much funnier in the pub with a few beers on, really

Causeway

MREGAN thanks for posting on here about this event. I happen to be lucky or unlucky (depending on which way you look at it) to be involved in planning this event.

racso1975 approx. distance for each section is on the website. We still have to wait on a few things to click into place before the final route can be confirmed, such as the exact start location for the run, this shouldn't change the distance by very much (100 meters here or there) kayak distance is set at 1km Omeath to Warrenpoint and bike distance still in the hands of the PSNI, but if it changes it will get shorter rather than longer than the approx. 48km that we have on the website.

hunnymonster Since when is is spelled "Coolie". Typing errors are always easy to spot when someone else is doing the reading, lucky for you it changed to the Cooley Mountains

plodder The Cooley Mountains are truly one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, the view from the top of Slieve Foy out over Carlingford Lough to the Mournes is stunning, the latter waves will also have a great view of the leaders paddling across the lough as they run towards Omeath.

hunnymonster Which kayaks we use and why we use them are pretty much answered by yourself, MREGAN, Enduro and Peterx. One thing I would like to add.
Gael Force also use a time out system, it would be impossible any other way.

Enduro As you rightly say we have to work with what we have. If we're blessed in getting the number of folks we'd like for the event, then we'll have to make sure we supply the kayaks, we reckon that the main bulk of those entering will come from a triathlon background and there's not many triathletes out there who own a kayak.
As for the section about using your own boats well you and me have both seen this debate many times before on other UK based forums. Until you sit down and plan an event it's all very well to say that we should be allowed to use our own boats. Yes, for some races out there, this maybe should be the case but for Diamond Quest Ireland it's not, this is for a number of reasons, it's to short a kayak section to worry about making much ground (if you can call it that when on water) on the person next to you. The area we plan to use for the bike transition will be tight, grand for bikes and racers but just not big enough for bikes, racers and kayaks, add to this the problem of us knowing which kayaks have to be brought back to Omeath for those who will need our kayaks and those which don't, looking after the kayaks after you race off on your bike and a host of other issues which would come into play.

Peterx Glad to see that you always have a light hearted approach to races, so the kayaking in pairs may well break the spirit of a solo race but it can also generate a bit of chat afterwards, in last years GF6 I looked around for someone who I knew had paddled before, on reaching the other side he promptly run off only for me to catch him on the bike and at the end we both sat in the Westport Hotel and had pints together. Sure how could you beat it! ;-)

Hopefully see you all in May, if you have any questions just email us and we'll do our best to help.

hunnymonster

Thanks for the update Causeway. It looks like a great event and I wish you every success with it.

--amadeus--

Yeah, it's great to see race organisers getting involved and explaining decisions to us the "great unwashed"!

Usually what seem like random decisions have a good reason and feedback in both directions can only help.

Best of luck with the event - if I could kayak or ride a bike I'd be there like a shot

Causeway

Thanks for the best wishes, hopefully all will go well.

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Best of luck with the event - if I could kayak or ride a bike I'd be there like a shot

You can still come along and help marshal at the event, all the marshal's will get free entry to the after race party and be in with a chance of winning one of the diamonds.

More marshal info here.
http://diamondquestireland.com/home/marshals.html

Peterx

Not being able to kayak is no obstacle to entering and finishing this race. The kayak leg is very short, the kayaks are 2 man and VERY stable, just ensure you get in with a kayaker (mainly to point the boat in the right direction)

Not being able to bike is inexcusable:)

Mr. Causeway, if I can get a carload of racer/drinkers together we'll see ya up there!

shels4ever

I like the sound of this event Pity I'm S**t on the bike..

Enduro

Enduro As you rightly say we have to work with what we have. If we're blessed in getting the number of folks we'd like for the event, then we'll have to make sure we supply the kayaks, we reckon that the main bulk of those entering will come from a triathlon background and there's not many triathletes out there who own a kayak.
As for the section about using your own boats well you and me have both seen this debate many times before on other UK based forums. Until you sit down and plan an event it's all very well to say that we should be allowed to use our own boats. Yes, for some races out there, this maybe should be the case but for Diamond Quest Ireland it's not, this is for a number of reasons, it's to short a kayak section to worry about making much ground (if you can call it that when on water) on the person next to you. The area we plan to use for the bike transition will be tight, grand for bikes and racers but just not big enough for bikes, racers and kayaks, add to this the problem of us knowing which kayaks have to be brought back to Omeath for those who will need our kayaks and those which don't, looking after the kayaks after you race off on your bike and a host of other issues which would come into play.

Thanks for the explanation. My point wasn't particularly aimed at you, but more of a general one. You know the debate as well as I do (and you've seen the those speedy Kiwis too!). People would bring kayaks for a 1K section to make a few seconds if they really thought they could though! I know of one person who considered turning up to the Turas Beag with a single scull rowing boat last year (It would have been legal). Now that would have been interesting

Causeway

Enduro wrote: »

Thanks for the explanation. My point wasn't particularly aimed at you, but more of a general one. You know the debate as well as I do (and you've seen the those speedy Kiwis too!). People would bring kayaks for a 1K section to make a few seconds if they really thought they could though! I know of one person who considered turning up to the Turas Beag with a single scull rowing boat last year (It would have been legal). Now that would have been interesting

Wouldn't be much more than seconds that they would make up.

Single Scull you say :eek: how would it of been legal? Would it of been because it didn't say in the rules that you couldn't.

Hope you're going to try and fill get a car load the same as Peterx. Will we see either of you at the first CCAR event at the start of March.

--amadeus--

Peterx wrote: »

Not being able to kayak is no obstacle to entering and finishing this race. The kayak leg is very short, the kayaks are 2 man and VERY stable, just ensure you get in with a kayaker (mainly to point the boat in the right direction)

Not being able to bike is inexcusable:)

Mr. Causeway, if I can get a carload of racer/drinkers together we'll see ya up there!

I've been kayaking a couple of times actually - once in Lenane (cold) and once in Dubai (hot!) and really enjoyed it. Hell on my hips, but I'm guessing that's practice. As for the bike - not sure a battered MTB would fit in...

The Diamond thing is a great hook for a race though, really unusual. If I can talk herself into a trip up north to visit family around that time I might be able to marshal but I'll raise ita little closer to the time...

Enduro

Causeway wrote: »

Wouldn't be much more than seconds that they would make up.

Single Scull you say :eek: how would it of been legal? Would it of been because it didn't say in the rules that you couldn't.

Hope you're going to try and fill get a car load the same as Peterx. Will we see either of you at the first CCAR event at the start of March.

Yup, the row-boat would have been perfectly legal. I can't remember the exact rules, but it was something like you could bring your own boat. Didn't specify kayak/canoe. I had a good discussion with the race co-director (Vanessa) about it. I kinda liked the madness of it. Would have been an interesting gamble.

I'm not sure about the Diamond Quest. I'd love to do it. Its sounds like a great race. But I think its going to clash with the world 24-hour running championships. There's a good chance I'll make the march race though. We're currently trying to divvy up racers into teams. It'll be good to finally get to one of your races.

Causeway

Hi folks,
Just thought i'd let you know that there is now a reduced entry fee for Diamond Quest Ireland but you've got to be quick, it's back up to the full price on the 1st April. Don't be a fool, don't get caught out, get entered now while the price is right.