Paddler Profile – John Willacy
John began his paddling career in the early 1980’s. Along the way he has paddled whitewater in Norway, sea kayaking in the Falkland Islands and represented Great Britain in Wild Water Racing and Canoe Slalom. John has paddled across most of the canoesport disciplines and classes, as well as in many venues: France, Norway, Corsica, Italy, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Malta, Tasmania and the Falkland Islands. He is currently based on Anglesey in North Wales, from where he runs the PSK website.
Sea Kayak
John has completed many miles as a sea kayaker. He holds a number of solo sea kayak records and has completed two solo circumnavigations of the UK:
2012 UK Circumnavigation - 72 days - Clockwise Kayak Blog.
2015 UK Circumnavigation - 83 days - Anti-Clockwise Kayak Blog.
In 2012 he was awarded the Chris Wheeler Adventure Paddler of the Year award by Canoe & Kayak UK magazine.
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Sea Paddling:
Competition
John began competing in 1984 and has raced in various disciplines since, including: Slalom, Wild Water Racing and Long Distance/Sprint Racing. He has experience across the board: C1, C2, K1, K2 and K4 classes.
Slalom
- BCU Premier Division C1 Slalom: 1989 - 1997
- British Open C1 Champion: 1989(B), 1990(Slalom Sprint)
- GB Intermediate Squad paddler: 1988-1990
- English C1 Champion: 1990, 1994
- Welsh C2 Champion (with Geoff Forster)
Wild Water Racing
- BCU Division A paddler 1991 - 2008
- Great Britain C1 Champion: 1992, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008
- British Open C1 Champion: 1992, 1999
- Welsh Open C1 Champion
Great Britain Team:
- World Championships Team: 1993, 1995, 1996, 2006
- World Cup Team: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997
- Bronze Medallist: Masters World Championships, 2006
Military Competition
John won his first Interservice Championship in 1987 and his last in 2008, taking 103 gold medals along the way. He also won over 70 Royal Air Force Championship titles, across various canoesport disciplines.
In 2007 he was awarded the British Forces Sportsman of the Year award.
Coaching
John has been involved with coaching since the 1980s, with coaching experience ranging from novice through to National Team paddlers. John holds his BCU Level 4 Inland Kayak and Level 4 Sea kayak qualifications. He also holds BCU competition coaching qualifications for Slalom, Wild Water Racing and Long Distance Racing.
He is currently on the coaching staff for the Welsh Canoe Slalom Team.
Kayak Design
John designed and developed a number of sea kayaks whilst working for Rockpool Kayaks:
- Taran 18
- Taran 16
- GT
- Isel (part design)