gopro mount mark 2 and Flesk video

After making my first gopro mount I was asked to make another one for my friend Barry. So I decided to make a mark two version, with a few minor adjustments that I thought might be useful..To start off I got an old metal extendable painting brush, I took off the head and cut it down to size, judging the height by placing it on the back of my kayak and taking a picture.

I simply drilled a few holes in the pipe,

3 at the bottom for the bracket and one at the top for the gopro fitting.

The last mount I made I

milled out the fitting for the gopro but this time I just simply used the

top part of a gopro suction

mount and screwed it onto the top of the pipe. It basically took less than a half an hour to make and is very easy to do. The mount is secured onto the kayak by placing the metal bracket underneath a grab loop and the bolted on by a metal plate. For this mount I have used wing nuts to bolt the mount on. It makes it a lot easier putting on the mount and it saves you from brings spanners on the river.

The pipe is extendable so you can adjust your position of the camera.

I used thinner brackets on this mount which I wouldn't recommend because they bend easily, the last mount had 5-6mm thick metal bracket which was solid, It hit off a few rocks and only bent back a little bit. I also wouldn't recommend using the mount for freestyle, trying loop with this thing on your back is hilariously bad but cartwheeling is ok.

This set up works for Wavesport boats, I'm not too sure if it would for many others but its just some fuel for thought.

After a long wait, it finally started to rain again and just enough to get the rivers to a good level. Colin Wong and I headed out to the flesk in Co. Kerry after work. the river was at 1.2m, a great level. We put on at the upper flesk and rain it all the way down to just before Poll Gorm. It was a savage day on the river and probably the last for a while with the lack of rain. have a look

Plattling wolds wrap up

From Jun 13-26, 2011

Nearly three weeks have passed now since the world championships have finished and I find myself sitting in front of a desk still not quite settled in. This was my first worlds and first international event as a senior competitor and I was very excited about this. I had arrived out a week before team training started. The level was at a nice 160-180 when I first arrived and I got to know the feature quite quickly. Training was going well, getting in 2 sessions a day in between the peak hours, morning and evening, to avoid the huge queues which gathered up to 20 people or more. This was great because this also meant the water parks where quiet too....

The week passed very quickly and before I knew it we were into our team training. The levels had been changing a lot, going from 140 to 230 in just a few days.... This made the hole very different and it was something I struggled with for the whole of the team training, with most rides consisting of a one trick and a flush bonus!!!.. Things weren't going well. To make it worse the running order was posted up where I found myself at the very top of the list, to kick start the seniors off at 9am Wednesday morning (well at least I got to be the world champion for a short while :) ) in the first heat with Tom and bartosz....

A team captains meeting was called on Tuesday over fears that not only would the feature be washed out so would the camp-site which at this stage was home to over a 100 people. they decided to press on with the competition but to get it all done in one day meaning my 9 o'clock start was changed to a 7 o'clock start bahh!!! but i didnt really mind at that stage. Tuesday finished up with a quick 2 ride session in the evening that finally went well, putting me in a good mind set for the competition.

From Jun 13-26, 2011

So the morning of the competition I got up a 5:30 am, time flew and before ya know it it was time for my first run. It was pretty exciting going first and I was delighted to see all of the Irish had gotten up to wish me and Tom well.

The first run went alright, which you can see below. only scoring 198.

My second run didn't go as well as the first but ended up getting scored more for it,

My final score was 405, putting me into 44th out of the 81

The rest of the Irish put in solid performances classes with the top placed Irish paddler Billy Brett making it to the semi finals of the Junior Men and coming away with 8th place. Conor Macken and Robbie O'Shea placed 21st and 22st respectively in the Junior Class. In the Junior Women's Class Caoimhe Farrell and Niamh Cleary placed 17th and 19th.

From Jun 13-26, 2011

In Senior Men Barry Loughnane came in 30th with a solid 660point ride making it the highest Irish score. Thomas Dunphy took 39th place with Brian Cahill and Ronan Brennen taking 47th and 54th place respectively. Orky took very respectable 13th place in C1 just missing out on the semi finals.

With all the Irish (except billy) knocked out in the prelims it was time for a few well deserved beers.

I have to say the most exciting part of the whole competition was watching the quarter finals,

which took place the Wednesday evening, after dark. With a very big turn out, every paddler battling it out and more drama than a soap opera it was hard to say freestyle competitions are dead, you could feel that each paddler wanted a place in the top 10 making it one of the most spectacular freestyle competitions i have seen..

the day of the finals attracted an even bigger crowd that the quarters+semis and Barry and I were lucky enough to get a front row seat to see all the action. Everyone put in a solid performance,

Pringle, James Bebbingtion took top spot in the senior men's class with a 1070 point ride to leave Peter Csonka in second place with 1020 points. Stephen Wright finished off the podium places in third. Claire O Hara took two gold medals at this year World Championships successfully defending her Women's Squirt Title and adding the Senior Women's Title defeating Emily Jackson with a 660 point ride and congratulations to them both.

I flew home Sunday with a round tripe of 12 hours and made it home for work in the morning..

I just want to give a big thanks to streamlyte for the fantastic new blades they really helped a lot,

Lir child for the lovely clothes, the university of limerick for their support, all involved with the team and friends and family for all the good wishes...