Words and photos: Steffan Meyric Hughes

Thirty years ago, the Bangles were walking like Egyptians and the big news was all about a wall, and about an inflexible female Conservative prime minister struggling to hold her party together over the divisive issue of EU membership. These days, the music has changed, and the news remains the same.

Hurley Classic 2019 – 30th anniversary event
Thirty years & 45 seconds

Freestyle kayaking has changed a bit though. In the late 1980s, it was all about endos, unintendos, pirouettes, shudder rudders, paddle twirls and neon gear, as Hurley’s old school comp now reminds us every year. Oh, and it was called rodeo, before being referred to as ‘playboating’, subsequently freestyle, as paddlers have taken themselves, and their sport, gradually more seriously. And the kayaks? They were known as ‘canoes.’ It’s easy for those of us the wrong side of 40 to romanticise the past, I reflected, as, suffering from a cold and back trouble, I watched the event from the bridge. But it’s hard to claim kayaking used to be better.

This year’s Hurley was a spectacle of modern freestyle. After last year’s freezing conditions, the sun bounced off custom paint jobs on the riders’ carbon boats as they raced down the fluffy central ‘wave gate’ (gate 2) to throw down some of the most complex moves in freestyle. Hurley is a fast, dynamic feature on top form, and from 16-17 March, as paddlers came from near and far, it didn’t disappoint, with decent height (3-4ft), a good pile to keep riders on the wave, and the obligatory ‘three gates’ that everyone dreams of. Hurley Weir does work on two (it’s better than the purists will have you believe), and four, which is a little stickier, but three is… another 1989 reference… ‘the magic number’.
Women

The women’s category has been growing in popularity and quality for a few years now, and this year, 17-year-old junior female world champion Ottilie (‘Ottie’) Robinson-Shaw took the title, prevailing in both junior and senior categories to win overall. And once again, it was a duel against Lowri Davies, a relative veteran in this youthful sport. After a couple of dicey runs, Ottie used her loop and McNasty (which has become something of a trademark for her) to win the day.

men

In the male category, there were about half a dozen men who were pulling all the big moves in the heats, any of whom could have won it. The ride sequence was similar among the men; KY (blunt/McNasty combo) in the hole gate, followed by an airscrew both sides in the wave gate, then either a big blunt or pan am, again on both sides. It boiled down to who could hold their nerve best in the 45-second rides of the finals, and in the end it was Gav Barker who took it.

flatwater competition

A new event this year was the flatwater competition, won jointly by Mike Shaw (whose articles you might have read in this magazine) and Bartosz Czauderna. The young Harry Price completed the podium in second place.

Shaun Baker

Thirty years ago, it wasn’t just shoulder pads and the Berlin Wall. There was this guy called Shaun Baker, and he was in the marquee to talk about his waterjet-powered kayak that he had with him. He was the founder of Hurley Classic, and the most famous ‘extreme’ paddler of his day, at least in Britain. Seriously, in 1989, if you were young, male and into whitewater kayaking, you wanted to be Shaun.

He was the first to run the infamous, dangerous, high-volume Aldeyjarfoss waterfall, setting a height record of 19.7m in 1996, and did a number of other very naughty things in neon clothes in Wales in the 80s, among them the first descent of Swallow Falls.
Writing this now, I wonder – was Shaun really the first of the modern breed of extreme kayakers? The godfather of steep? Something to return to in a future issue, perhaps?

Shaun’s quiet misdemeanour makes him easy to miss, until you overhear him say, to a group of young paddlers, “Seriously, my advice would be not to do anything I did. I’m lucky to be alive. But if you do decide to do it…” Legend.

coming of age

The Hurley Classic, aged 30, is coming of age. It continues to grow yearly, attracting paddlers from Europe and occasionally the US. The roster of events is now very full, and includes SUP, Boater X, the old skool contest (itself in two categories!), most rolls in a minute, most beautiful roll and a host of other stuff. Inside the large marquee is the live big screen of the freestyle, free massages (perfect for my lower back!) and more. This year, it attracted more competitors than ever before, and it must surely count as one of the biggest freestyle throw downs in the world.

Commentary at an event like this is challenging: things are happening fast, and it’s always a tightrope between dumbing down the complex moves too much and assuming too much knowledge. Robin Lee (GB), Tom Zach (Austria), Bartosz Czauderna (POL), Jez ‘Jez Jez’ Blanchard (AUS) and Lowri Davies (GB) were outstanding. And while we’re on the subject, let’s not forget the man himself – Andrew ‘Jacko’ Jackson, organiser for the last 15 years.

Hurley Foundation

This was the first year the event was run under the new Hurley Foundation (thehurleyfoundation.co.uk/) which plans, in the future, not just to continue the event, but to put in place programmes to, “Build the community, improve access to quality paddle sports resources and encourage healthy participation in outdoor activities through paddle sports.”

The central message of the Hurley Classic remains the same, and it is one of inclusively. Whatever you do, don’t think you can’t do it. Think of Hurley like the London Marathon – the world’s best will be there to win it, but so will hundreds of other paddlers, just for the fun of it. It’s a fast, powerful wave, with a chunky wave train and big-water style eddy fences, and a perfect, safe opportunity to find out what that feels like if you don’t already know.

The judges are very generous to novices. I got 1.5 points and I didn’t even get in my boat. And thanks to that score, I achieved a lifelong ambition to come last in something, a PB I’ve been very close to on many occasions, after a lifetime of training. See you next year, Hurley Classic!