Keirron Tastagh

Profile

Keirron began kayaking with the Sea Scouts on the Isle of Man, at the age of 10, also practicing on a calm stretch of river near his house. He started seriously paddling at ASSC in 1999, as a student studying Adventure Tourism Management. Paddling dominated his free time where he was coached extensively by Nigel Dennis, Pete Jones and other high-ranking coaches, often in the tidal races around Anglesey. He has paddled solo to the Isle of Man twice, (the first time supported half way by Nico Middelkoop, otherwise totally unsupported on both occasions). He is the youngest person to make the open crossing of 60 land miles, the second time through the night, where sea fog pushed his navigational skills to their max.

Keirron has also paddled in Scotland, (the Corrievreckan and adjacent races), as well as Norway, Canada and Spain, and surf kayaked in Portugal, Israel and the UK. His 5* Sea training included the first known successful crossing of the Gibraltar Straits by kayak, from Gibraltar to the Spanish owned tip of Morocco, led by Nigel Dennis, returning to Spain by ferry, then made the crossing back to Gibraltar in a force 7, tracked by Interpol.

Keirron completed his degree and went on to gain his 5* and Coach 4 Sea, Mountain Leader and plenty of experience towards other national governing body awards. He has led and assisted leading groups on expeditions in sea kayaks, canoes and mountain walking around Anglesey and the North coast of Wales, the Isle of Man, Norway, Ontario and Vancouver Island.

After running his first commercial expedition to Norway in 2003 and setting up and organising the first Isle of Man annual Sea Kayak Symposium, he opened his own business, based on the Isle of Man in April 2004, where he is presently working full time as a coach, specialising in sea kayaking: www.adventurousexperiences.com which also supplies Sea Kayaking UK and other high quality sea kayaking kit. His other interests include Expeditioning of any description, Mountain Walking, Climbing, Surfing, Coasteering, Woodturning and Judo.

n May 2007 with partner Jeff Norville (US), there will be an attempt to circumnavigate Vancouver Island in a Sea Kayaking UK Triton double kayak. Aiming to complete the 700 mile journey in two weeks (present record of 28 days in a single kayak) and proving that the sleek and very manoeuvrable Triton double kayaks can be used for longer expeditions and are faster than the higher volume, more cumbersome doubles on the market. Please contact: keirron@adventurousexperiences.com for more information. You can also read their blog posted at http://horrendousexperiences.blogspot.com as they prepare for their expedition.

From 2005, the Isle of Man annual Symposium will now be part of the Isle of Man Adventure Week, for details and updates please see the Adventurous Experiences website.

Sea Kayaking UK sponsored paddlers have been selected for their expeditionary & kayaking skills. All are prepared to run courses on request having excellent seamanship and kayaking skills. They have the full support of Sea Kayaking UK and we would be glad to arrange tuition, lectures, etc.

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