Beginner courses for 2012 are now all Full. We would like to thank everyone for their many enquiries about the courses. And to those who missed out, hopefully there will be another opportunity soon.

This is the Galway Kayak Club homepage - we're an independent group of kayakers based in Galway city. More information on the club and activities we undertake can be found in the Introduction to GKC. We are fortunate to have a great variety of paddling options locally, something to suit most folks.You can find information on latest activities, news and banter here on the GKC forum; you can also find us on Facebook.

Activities start to ramp up as May arrives and "summer" kicks off ... well, the sun did come out one evening for the beginner course.

Another beginner course finished in late April, one more underway in mid May - two more to come. All four beginner summer courses were over subscribed, a sign of strong interest in kayaking locally. A big welcome to all our new members and look forward to seeing all out on the water in coming months.

The first polo competition of the summer months sees two teams from GKC off to Crossmolina. Preparation is well underway for the Galway Open in the Claddagh Basin over the June bank holiday weekend, always a great event. Also looking forward to see more members taking part in long distance and white water races on back of ongoing training.

Monday now has beginner paddles as well as some sea kayak sessions planned; Tuesday is polo; Wednesday is long distance training; more for the polo folks on Thursday. All this is in addition to the beginner courses that are running in parallel - so a lot of club activity over the coming months.

The first beginner course of the year was a heavily subsidised course for the unemployed, great to have those new members on board now. Thanks to Galway City Sports Partnership for their financial support which enabled this activity.

There has been more focus on the sea kayaking members of late - below a shot of some of a large group that undertook a rescue day in the bay lately from the Ocean Centre. Blustery conditions made the session a lot more realistic. There are more sea paddles planned over the coming weeks. A club trip also enjoyed mild weather in Lahinch mid month, even if the surf may not have been biggest of the year.

Galway City Polo League finished up in early April time frame - more info below on what was a very successful event. Polo players are now back on the canal for the "summer" in training for the regular polo competitions as well as our own Galway Open the June bank holiday weekend in Claddagh Basin. Long distance paddles are gathering large numbers every Wednesday evening up the river Corrib - a mix of K1 and whitewater boats as well as sea kayaks.