Cork Sluice - Lee

Brief Feature Description

Sluice The sluice is a spot on the river lee just west of the city centre.Depending on level's a good variety of moves are possible but this spot can be shallow.

Weir Whe weir curves across the width of the river.Split in the centre by a fish steps.At low levels it is a good spot for teaching beginners side surfing and somtimes at higher levels a very nice wave forms.

Location

The sluice and weir are located just west of cork city centre.adjacent to the lee road and the straight road. <googlemap version="0.9" lat="51.894729" lon="-8.512022" type="satellite" zoom="16"> (A) 51.894484, -8.508096 (B) 51.894232, -8.510724 51.894126, -8.516808 </googlemap>

Access

There is a public car park on the straight road most paddlers park here and get on at the slip beside it.The land here is a public walk so their is no access issues.

Required Conditions

Sluice The sluice works at all levels.but the best water level is a half a release and low tide. At higher leveles it gets thrashy or begins to wash out .The sluice can also be affected by the tide a tide of over 10 foot will flush out the sluice but it can change over a session.tide tables At 3/4 release from dam and low tide, the sluice can be pretty dangerous it likes to munch up paddlers at this level.

Weir The weir also works at almost all levels (except for very low) and like the sluice the more water the better! When the lee breaks its banks at the lee fields is best water levels for a big fast wave at the weir.

Further info and tips

Weir The weir curves across the width of the river broken in the middle by a fish steps.from the fish steps to the river left bank a extremely sticky stopper forms and it is not advisable to run it here. On the river right side at medium and high levels a nice wave forms most wave moves can be done at very high flood levls a fantastic fast wave forms here.the weir itself its not that deep video of a bigish weir

Sluice Downstream from the Weir on river left is the Sluice. Here the Lee splits into two.It is a 1.5m gap with small lip at the end which form's the hole/wave.At low levels the sluice is a weak and not that sticky hole moves like popouts,cartwheels and space godzillas are possible.At higher levels the sluice either forms a wave or a munchy hole (depending on the tide) so a in-between level is usually the best.

• The sluice is a fairly shallow spot the deepest part is where the most water is coming over the lip this is also the sweet spot and the best place to initiate a move

• When you are finished your session and are paddling back up to the get in back up at low levels. The river left corner of the weir it is dry and you can walk up there and get into your boat. At higher levels you can get out on the river right bank and walk up the walkway

• Watch out for fishermen over the summer until October when the season closes.Your best bet is to just stay out of their way

• Sometimes UCC put wedges in the sluice or weir in order to improve the spot, this is when the spots are at their best.

videos

Head cam video of the sluice in low water

Phoenix kayak club at the sluice and weir low/med

Head cam vid low water

Sluice at a higher levle

Weir at just above low

Sluice with wedge for the rodeo

Cork rodeo 2011