WORDS:
DEL CLARE

PHOTOS:
DEL & TOM CLARE,
Phil Hay,
Jess Shreeve,
Tom Laws &
Emma Warren

https://delkayaks.co.uk
@del_likes_kayaking

All smiles at the Plas y Brenin ShePaddles weekend – May 2026

The ShePaddles weekend at Plas y Brenin returned in early May. Since 2022, I have attended each event as a Pyranha Kayaks ambassador. Each year, it feels like the event grows. It is now one of the highlights of my paddling calendar.

The weekend brings paddlers from across disciplines together for workshops, coaching, and plenty of opportunities to connect over cake. It’s genuinely one of the most joyful events I get to be part of. This year, I was also invited to give the Saturday night talk, which made it extra special.

Friday arrival
I arrived at Plas y Brenin (PyB) in the evening, full of excitement for the weekend ahead. The mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia) stood out in the evening light, and it felt so lovely to be back!

I went to the reception to sign in and was immediately greeted by friendly and familiar faces, both PyB staff and other women who were signed up as participants for the weekend. Not to mention the Paddle Cymru volunteers who were busily handing out event t-shirts (from O’Shea) and fun goody bags from Pyranha and P&H sea kayaks.

Jess from P&H
I also met Jess in reception, who had just arrived from P&H Sea Kayaks. Jess works at P&H as a laminator, and it was great that she was able to come along on P&H’s behalf, ready to share her sea kayaking knowledge. Whilst I know my whitewater kayaks, I am relatively ignorant about sea kayaks. It was good to know Jess was there to direct any sea kayaking questions!

The rest of the evening was spent catching up with folks in the bar. There were some icebreaker activities in the lecture room, but there were also lots of nice conversations in a more relaxed setting. It was lovely to catch up with old friends in attendance as both participants and coaches, and to make some new ones!

I particularly enjoyed catching up with the lovely Sarah Keight, whom I first met here at Plas y Brenin. Sarah is an ambassador for Venture Canoes and a fantastic coach and person. We get on very well, and so I was thrilled to see her again and catch up with her news!

Saturday at Plas y Brenin
I woke early on Saturday and slipped out for a quiet walk around the lake. It is so peaceful to look out across the mountains of Eryri and to take a few moments for myself. My life is always so busy, and moments like this are really appreciated! A moment to breathe before the business of the day began!

Breakfast was about to be served, and it was a great chance to catch up with more people, including the wonderful Mollie and Kerry from Peak Paddlesports. This was Kerry’s first full paddling weekend since having her two beautiful daughters, and it felt really special to share the weekend with her as she found her paddling feet again.

Morning welcome
After a brief staff briefing, we gathered in the lecture room for Grace’s official welcome. She’s been at PyB for years and pours so much heart into organising the ShePaddles weekend. She was a constant, calm presence all weekend, and it was lovely to see her officially welcome everyone.

We went outside for a big group photo in the sunshine. Then we split into our morning paddling groups. There was a lovely mix of excitement and nervous energy as everyone found their instructors for the first session.

Morning session – Forward paddling technique
For the morning session, I joined Spike’s forward paddling workshop. Forward paddling is one of those skills that every paddler, no matter their experience, can always improve on. Of course, if you improve your forward paddling, you will also improve your white-water paddling, so I was excited to work on mine!

Our group included Carolyn, Sarah, Julie, Marion, Niamh, Kerry, and Lisa. It was a nice mix of familiar and new faces. We geared up, grabbed our P&H sea kayaks, and headed to the calm lake. The perfect water lets us focus on technique!

It was a great session! Spike broke everything down into small, focused components, and it was amazing how much difference tiny changes to each part could make! After a couple of hours, my core was feeling it, and my brain felt pleasantly overloaded, but I could also genuinely see improvements in my technique.

Lunch catch up
We wrapped up and returned for lunch. It was a lovely day, and so I ended up sitting outside for most of the lunch break – chatting to various people.

I heard great tales from the introductory sessions, which were happening in canoeing, kayaking, SUP, sea kayaking and rolling. There were also introductory sessions on different disciplines of kayaking, such as freestyle and slalom, as well as sessions focusing on safety and rescue, and on physical training. Everyone seemed to be buzzing from their first session.

I also loved catching up with the fabulous Becky Green, who was running the freestyle sessions. Becky is on the GB Freestyle Team and brings a lot of skill and enthusiasm to her coaching. Since she moved away from Nottingham, we’ve missed her a lot, so it was lovely to hear about her adventures in North Wales and to see her sharing her expertise with everyone this weekend.

Afternoon session – introduction to slalom
In the afternoon, I joined the Introduction to Slalom session, led by my friend Chips (Andy Kettlewell). My only previous experience in a slalom boat involved edging without a spray skirt and instantly flooding it, so I was excited to give it a proper go and this time – with a spray skirt!

Our group included Clair, Anna, Charlotte, Jules, Linda and Kerry, and once we were kitted up, we headed onto the lake in our slalom kayaks.

It was so much fun! We started slowly, working through a sequence of four gates. Each time, Chips gave us new tips and techniques to try.
Halfway through, my lovely friend Katie appeared with her dog Ozzy (wearing his very cute outdoor sunglasses), so I left the group for a quick hello and catch-up!

I then re-joined the group to discover we were now working on dip turns! It was super fun to try to learn a new technique. We trialled a couple of different approaches, and I found that it had many similarities to the technique for a tailee.

I am not a fast learner, but I really enjoy the opportunity to learn something new. Trying something repeatedly with small changes each time until it works gives you so much satisfaction! I know the ladies in the group felt the same. There were definitely wobbles (and a couple of swims), but that’s because people were pushing themselves to try the move and not just paddle like they normally would! Everyone made so much progress – it was great to see.

Towards the end of the session, we were joined by Mollie, who paddles slalom competitively. She demonstrated to me and explained how to turn the dip around a pole. Something just clicked! I was so excited to actually get it and shouted over to Chips, “Look what Mollie taught me!” To which Kerry yelled out, “That’s what Chips has been trying to teach you to do ALL session – you just weren’t listening!” Which, to be fair, was absolutely true! So thank you, Mollie AND Chips, for teaching me to dipturn!

We finished by running the original gate sequence again, putting all our new skills together. It was a lovely way to end the session.

If you’ve not paddled a composite kayak before, you need to enter and exit it on the water, as they are very fragile. I got into the kayak with no problem, but getting out wasn’t as smooth. As I pushed up on the side, the boat shot out from under me, and I was left half‑in, half‑out in a press-up position! I used my core strength to pull me back in, but not before the entire group had seen and had a good giggle!

Cake and chat
Once boats were loaded and everyone changed, there was some downtime for cake and chats. The Plas Y Brenin cake was famously good and just what was needed after a day on the water.

I had some really lovely conversations, including one with Abby, who told me she was an aspiring writer but wasn’t sure where to begin. I invited her to write a short reflection on her weekend experience, which she was keen to do. I have shared it below:

Evening talk
After dinner, it was time for my evening talk, Becoming the Happiest Paddler on the Water. I’d been looking forward to sharing this one. It grew from a blog I wrote last year about a growth mindset, which sparked many conversations both online via my social media accounts and in person. It felt special to bring those ideas together properly and talk about how I’ve shaped my own mindset to keep kayaking a positive, joyful part of my life.

Anyone who knows me will confirm that I have a reputation for being an excitable chatterbox, especially when the topic is kayaking. This, combined with being a teacher and therefore used to presenting all day, every day, means that I feel pretty at home standing at the front of the room. The audience was brilliant – welcoming, engaged, and ready to get involved in the interactive bits! (Thanks for this, everyone!)

These two things meant I came away feeling genuinely energised by giving the talk and grateful to Plas Y Brenin for inviting me to speak.
The rest of the evening was spent with plenty of good conversations, a lively Ceilidh, and a warm atmosphere. I lost track of how many lovely chats I had with people – everyone was just so nice.

Sunday – Adventures off-site
Sunday is the big adventure day, with groups heading off‑site for full‑day activities. Some paddlers went to the coast in sea kayaks or on paddleboards, others explored local rivers in canoes or mixed craft, and three white water groups headed to the Dee and the Tryweryn.

I joined the advanced white-water group, which was coached by Laura Wynne and Chips. The attendees were Nicola, Renee, Emma, Holly, Mol, Issy, Julie and Charlotte. We had a group briefing at Plas Y Brenin before heading off to the Tryweryn!

The Tryweryn is a fantastic place to kayak. Everyone in the group had paddled there before, with many paddling there regularly. Yet, there is so much opportunity for challenges to be set and learning to happen in this section of white water. We arrived, and it was brilliant sunshine, which helped with a positive atmosphere as we geared up.

We got on the water and had a good time surfing the top wave. I challenged everyone to a party surf, and for a brief moment, they did manage to get all eight of them on the wave, which was awesome! Sadly, I wasn’t quite quick enough with the camera, but the laughter from everyone made up for it!

We made our way down the river, stopping often for coaching and challenges. There were a few swims and wobbles along the way, but I loved how everyone threw themselves into each task and didn’t let any setbacks stop them! No hole was left undiscovered, no eddy left uncaught and no wave left unsurfed!

We spent a long time on the Upper Graveyard section with Chips and Laura, setting little challenges. One of my favourites included surfing a small hole mid-river to get the eddy directly opposite. Issy and I didn’t catch it the first (or second) time, but our determination meant we got it on the third! Challenges are only fun when you have to work for them, and I love it when friends introduce me to new moves on familiar rivers.

We headed down the rest of the Graveyard, where the focus of the challenges turned to surfing waves! Who doesn’t love a surf wave! We stopped briefly for a lunch snack and then got on to finish off our long lap. Seeing everyone smash their lines and moves on the rest of the river was lovely, and it was nice to see everyone ending the day with a big smile on their face.

Back in the car park, we changed and said our goodbyes. Laura was taking the paddlers back to Plas Y Brenin in the minibus, but Chips and I were leaving straight from the Tryweryn for home. It was really nice to hear everyone excitedly talking about what they had got out of the day and how happy they were with their achievements.

For me, it was a lovely day! I adore being a cheerleader in other people’s success stories – offering encouragement, celebrating wins, and supporting people when they feel nervous. Seeing others grow in confidence on the water makes me genuinely happy, and I’m grateful to Laura, Chips, and all the women for welcoming me into the group.

When I got home that night, I opened the staff WhatsApp group to see it already overflowing with media from across the weekend. Seeing all the smiles and achievements from all the different sessions – it was hard not to feel proud of what the whole team had created together!

Thank you
A huge thank you to everyone at Plas y Brenin for organising another brilliant ShePaddles weekend. The instructors (including the freelance team) were incredible, bringing so much energy and expertise to every session. Weekends like this only work because of the people who show up to make them special. Grace deserves a special mention for leading the organisation with her usual calmness and kindness.

Thank you as well to the Paddle Cymru volunteers who supported sessions and helped behind the scenes.

Thank you to all the brands for sponsoring the event. It was lovely to catch up with staff from O’Shea, who provided demo SUPs, as well as the Peak ladies. A special thank you to Pyranha Kayaks and P&H Sea Kayaks – for providing demo fleets that helped paddlers get the most out of their sessions. It was great to represent Pyranha over the weekend. I was always proud to represent a company which really cares about supporting the community.

Finally, thank you to everyone who attended, came over for a chat, joined me on the water, or shared a moment of joy across the weekend. You all helped create such a warm, supportive atmosphere, and I can’t wait to see you again next year.