Get set for the weekend

After what seems like an endless spell of flat calm weekdays and occasional windy days here and there, there is no doubt now that Autumn is in full swing. Just had 3 good windy days in a row now in Dublin, sailing mostly on 4.0m, either at Low Rock (pictured), or outside my house in Skerries.

The forecast for the Belmullet wave event this weekend changes every-time I look at it. There are 3 low pressure centres very close off the Atlantic coast, and depending on which way they track will determine whether we had a good weekend or not.
I think I'm just going to stop looking.. what ever comes will come.

Its not really going to matter until the green flag goes up, and there's not much I can do about it but try and be ready for anything!

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speed-wavesailing & catch up

Well it seems like it has been a long time since posting, in fact it's almost a month.
I have been really busy working (yes despite what people think, I do actually have a job!), and in-between that I have been catching some wicked windy-boarding sessions all over the country.

Also I have received the rest of my JP boards, and some of my new sails, so I have been more interested in getting out there and trying my new toys.. than writing about them!
I think I will dedicate another post to my findings on the new equipment, and just fill you in on what's been happening in this one. If you want to know anything in particular about the gear... just leave a comment at the bottom of the post and ask away.

Where to start? Well I guess probably at the beginning is a good place...

ACHILL
The last post left off at the Achill wave competition (see gallerys), where we competed two rounds of waves in fun sized cross-on starboard tack on Keel Beach. As the forecast on the second day was hopeless for Achill, we hit the road to Louisbourg and the entire fleet went free-sailing for the day in cross off 4.0m weather. Got to sail my new 68 twinser in cross-off for the first time, so I was loving life :)

BRANDON
The following weekend was spent in Brandon Bay, for WOWI's 10th birthday party. www.wowi.ws
We had a chilled out time in glorious sunny summer weather (in Sept!), and had good fun catching up with a few old friends. The party on the Saturday night went on till the wee hours, helped in no small part by the presence of the Limerick University windsurfing club.
Not much wind though, so myself and Megan had a great SUP session on Sunday morning in Fermoyle.
By Sunday evening though, the SW wind had kicked in Brandon style. Which in case you don't know... means if it's SW... it's windy! Although only forecast for 12 knots, there was easily enough to get out on 5.0m in Gowlane, and ride some sweet waves down the line on my new 92l JP twinser.
Alan from Surfdock was also out, and was blown away with his new twin-fin board. He was so happy with the immediate improvement in his wave-riding, he took me out to dinner and could not stop grinning about his session.

The following days forecast looked even better.. 25 knots SW, so I stayed over, and was rigging up again at 8am with a crowd of excited locals and tourists. 25 knots SW means 4.0m sails in Gowlane, and we had an awesome session, hooking into wave after wave for about 4 hours.
There was a good crowd out, and there was action everywhere you looked. The local crew were in full force, with Niall, Rose Rob and Knoxie all. One of the best waves I had was shared with Rob and Knoxie, all of us screaming and shouting as we charged down separate sections of the same wave. Up the beach at Kilcummin, Peter Hart was out with a wave clinic, and Rob's brother Rik was out with his crew of friends from the UK, all over for ther Autumn dose of Irish waves.

I have got to say Rob and Rose looked good too with their matching gear, sharing a quiver of 2010 FLY sails, it will be hard to tell them apart now. And I mean it.. standing in the shallows, I watched Rose rip a wave up, and I honestly thought it was Rob sailing. That girl can RIP!

Rob was also obviously loving his new quad-fin board. The effects of which are blindingly obvious:

Eventually the wind got too much. Rob had changed down to 3.2m FLY and was even struggling on that in the gusts, while Niall and I were still hanging onto 4.0m sails. Knoxie had decided to check out Stradbally further downwind in the hope of finding less wind (imagine that!), but when we de-rigged and got down, the wind still looked too much to be any fun waveriding. Fine if you are in Pozo cross-on jumping, but 3.2m weather cross-off is another thing.

Eventually we found more manageable wind in Stoney Gap, where it was pozo-esque cross-on jumping on 4.0m sails. Peter Hart and his crew had come down, and Knoxie also hit the water again, with Rob joining us as soon as he ad finished driving the school bus again.
Here's a fun forward on the way in off the backwash off the rocks:
Despite the pole-vault looking effect, I can report that I landed this and with everything intact :)

MAGHEROARTY
The following weekend, the only place in the country showing wind was NW Donegal, which is my favourite place in Ireland to windsurf. With a forecast for 18-20 knots W-SW and a NW swell, I had no problem convincing a few friends to hit the road. Dave from DMG sailsports is my usual travel buddy in the Vito on the road to Magheroarty, and sure enough this stealth mission was too hard to resist.
Still buzzed up after the previous weeks twin-fin sessions, Alan from Surfdock was also in no doubt he wanted more, and told a few more people in the shop about his plans. Even Peter Hart made an appearance (is that guy following me??).
We were rewarded with perfect cross off conditions on 5.0m sails and logo to mast high sets of perfection on the reef. No pictures this time.. we were having too much fun sailing, so you will have to take my word for it!

BELMULLET
Competition time again..... but not the usual Belmullet affair. This time a round of the Irish Speedsailing Championships!
The forecast was for the best wind early in the morning, so I hit the road from Dublin early, and arrived at 8am to find a good crew already rigging. JK was already about to hit the water, and even Rob Jones had driven up overnight from Kerry, as he was also super keen to try out his new JP Speed45.

It was not flat water by any means, just the usual blasting on chop in Elly Bay, but it was really good fun to see so many guys and girls out blasting around. Myself and Rob had a good session chasing each other around the bay. It was tricky to find the flattest bit of water to go really broad and get the board flying, but overall it was absolutely brilliant fun. I have always loved going fast on a tiny boards in strong wind, and add that into how good the gear is nowadays and it's smiles all over. With the advent of GPS speedsailing, it's now so easy to find out just how fast you are really going. (Thanks Stevie for the lend of the GPS)

I managed to to hit a peak of 38.5 knots, and try as I might, I couldn't get the board to go any faster in the chop. It seemed to me that the wind was dropping (as was the tide), so it was time to pack up the speed needle and go in search of more waves.

At the end of the penninsula is Falmore, which works best on a low tide and W or NW wind (strange co-incidence that !) and sure enough when we arrived there were lovely sets of head high joy rolling into the bay.
We wasted no time in joining locals Cormac and Laoise from UISCE in sharing a few waves, and some of the speed/wave guys came down too; Dan Gardener, Katie McAnena, Rob Creane, Stephen OBrien, Woodsy. Rob Jones had to have a quick siesta in his van before hitting the water again at the wave beach.

The shore break can get quite punchy here as the tide rises, and sure enough it claimed a couple of masts from those who timed it wrong. I don't think the guys were even disappointed though, as the riding was so smooth and fast. All worth it at the end of the day.

Oh yes, I'm glad to report my top speed was enough for me to win the speed event, which was a very nice end to the day.

Next up is a freestyle event in 'The puddle' - Rusheen Bay in Galway, where every kid and his dog is trying to learn the latest trick. In fact if the place was sunny, you could almost believe it was Bonaire (well if you try hard!)

Till next time....


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Achill Day1 & Louisbourg Gallery

Here's a couple of slideshows from the IWA Achill event last weekend. Will write more when I get a chance.





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Double forward loops

First double front flip on BMX - Anthony Napolitan

With all the talk of forward looping lately, this video may add a little bit perspective to those who think falling into water might be a bad thing.

Is been very interesting posting about Ryan's first loops after only windsurfing for one year. Some good feedback on comments, email and phone calls from friends and people who all want to do it, but need help. There's probably a whole book in it, but I will endeavor to post something about the psychology of looping lessons.

For now though, I will finish with a quote from Aaron's blog: http://thehumancatapult.blogspot.com
"The only reason you aren't looping is because you aren't trying them"

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little and large

I'm now on the search for a hurricane and a seriously flat piece of water to try out my speed board ;)

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One Year old looper in 15 minutes

I got my new JP Freestyle board and Speed board yesterday, so couldn't wait to get out and try them. Luckily when I got to the beach, it was perfect for the freestyle board with small swell and cross-shore.
The main difference from last years board is the shape of the deck, and also that the board carves so much better. I think they have reduced the tail width and given slightly more tail rocker or vee, while sharpening up the rails and flatting out the mid section for speed. The shape of the deck makes it SO much easier to transfer your weight from heel to toes, so combining this with the tail shape makes carving into a pop for shaka, or even just gybing in choppy water so much easier. The shape of the deck too means that when you are in the straps, it feels like you are wearing a pair of shoes. SO comfortable :)
I'm looking now for a gale to go and try the speed board ! Its tiny !

Anyway, the point of this post... as I got my new FS board, I was able to deliver my old one to Ryan - a 15 year old windsurfer who is getting into a bit of waves and freestyle. He was waiting at Dollymount beach with his friend and sailing buddy Lewis. The two of them usually sail together at their home spot of burrow beach, which I mentioned quite a few times in this blog.

Ryan was super keen to try his new board (FS Pro 90), and had been telling me that he had tried a forward loop the previous week but got nowhere and needed help. So I started chasing him around and looping all over the place to try and inspire him to go for it. Sure enough it worked, and he pulled the trigger and went straight over the front, landing under the sail (the safest place to be).
A few top-tips later on technique, and there was no stopping him. Practically every run out, Ryan was flying through the air, and then blasting back in screaming because he was so buzzed up with joy. Sure enough, a couple of quick tips later, and he water-started away from one !

Now here's the impressive bit... next week will be Ryan's 1st anniversary of when he started windsurfing !! Sailing away from your first forward loop after 1 year... that is seriously impressive !! CONGRATULATIONS RYAN !!

I really enjoy getting a buzz from teaching loops like this. It's brilliant to see people break the fear barrier, and just get on with it. Once they get over that hurdle, they are always SO surprised to find out how easy it is to do... and the elation on their face says it all. Sweet!
Its interesting to see how teaching a 15 year old is so much easier, as they have not had the time to come up with excuses not to do it, or have no fear or bad habits.
When it comes to forward loops, the technique can take 10-15 minutes to master, but learning how to avoid all the fear and negative thoughts, and then focus on all the positives of why you CAN do it. With some people that can take longer.
But the end result is always the same... it IS possible & it IS easy.

See you on the beach!

ps - Ryan and Lewis's blog is here.

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I made it

Well it seems like ages since I blogged, and I'm glad to say it has been down to too much windsurfing :)
I made it to Fuerte via the Holy-land (Knock airport... don't ask) and Lanzarote (I said don't ask!)... and in the end it turned out that it was good I got there a week late. The previous week had no wind and a stinking heatwave, and on the first evening I arrived it was still 38 degrees.

Seems however I did bring the wind (as usual), which meant that next morning straight away it was onto the bumpy road to Punta Blanca. Good news for Gareth (IWA President), who had been there for a week with his lovely and heavily pregnant wife Louise. Their plan was to chill out for a week, and hopefully get some sailing in too... so Gareth (not Louise obviously) booked some looping lessons with my buddy Steve Gibson ( gibboinfuerte.blogspot.com ), who is a damn fine windsurfer, coach, and... he will even cook your dinner in the evening at his restaraunt GIBSONS.

Gareth was pretty fired up as it was his last day, and he went for quite a few loops, but suffered the problem of feet coming out of the straps. It was a pretty intense session (as he had been looking forward to wind all week), and in the end I think despite his best efforts... he had to admit defeat for now, as he just ran out of time to refine his technique.
He pretty much had to jump in the car, pick up Louise and drive straight to the airport. You will get them next time Gareth!... see you in Rush for the next session!

For me and Steve though, that's pretty much how the next two weeks went. Wind every day, and on the beach at Punta from 10am till 8.30pm. On the days there was not much wind up North, we would hit the road to Sotavento, where you can guaranteed that it will be windy enough for some freestyle trickery. Some days on 5.4m, and most on 4.5m.
It was cool to see a few of the good guys still there from the PWA event, like EFPT leader Stephen van Broekhoven. He had all the tricks... spock-kono, burner-puneta, air funnell etc.. Inspiring stuff! Was also really cool to see so many young kids ripping around in Sotavento. By young.. I mean 6yr olds, blasting in 30 knots on 1.5m and 2.0m sails, on tiny boards like JP Young-Guns. I saw an Austrian kid of about 10, who was with his 'older' freestyle friends of around 17-18 who had all the moves. But the 10 year old was going for spocks and flakas. The future of windsurfing is pretty bright when kids are going straight into stuff like this.

Steve and I spent a lot of time filming with the GoPro Wide Helmet cam, and below is just a taster of the footage. We shot about 18 gigs in total from every angle... mast tip, boom mounts front and back, nose of board, helmet and in the water. I now have the task of sorting through the lot and seeing what I can come up with for a movie. Watch this space as I will post up a few frame grabs.



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DOH

Well I should be in Fuerteventura right now, enjoying some waves on the North shore. I booked my flight on Wednesday night, and the following morning checked my passport.... 2weeks out of date!! DOHHHHHHHH! So I rushed to the Dutch Embassy... got the paperwork done, and now I'm waiting for my new passport to arrive back from Holland. As soon as it's here... I'm on a plane outta here.

Still... got a nice day wavesailing today in Dublin. The forecast was for SW winds, so I headed to Dollymount and had a long day. At first on 90l and 5.7m, and then on twinser. It picked up as the day went on, and the waves got better with the rising tide. Changed down to 5.1m and got a few nice waves in the bag. Plenty of people out, think about 20, which was cool to see.
Im sure the west coast will have been firing today.. but I didnt feel like the drive... and I'm on standby for my passport to arrive!

Best bit about the day: Ice cream van on the beach... nice :)


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Out with the old, in with the new

Nothing to sell at this time!



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Starboard tack Pozo & road trip west

While waiting for the wind to pick up at home, I spent some of Saturday watching the PWA Pozo event live on their webcam which was pretty cool. You can watch the live action, while refreshing the PWA live ticker and heat boards, and get a pretty good idea of what is going on.

Pretty inspired, I watched up until the quarter finals, and then went in search of wind and waves myself. Eventually we hit the water in a local spot called Low Rock, with the wind coming cross-on from the right and small waves (starboard Pozo?). Started on 4.8m fly and bigger twinser, but the rain soon kicked in with the increasing forecasted wind, and soon we were hanging onto 3.9metres :) The rain was damn hard though... so it was a pain to throw yourself into backloops or pushloops, as every time you looked upwind.... you would get your face jet-washed! Packed up at 9pm and retired home to a warm shower.

The next morning we decided to hit the road at 6am and head west in search of real waves. Most of the west coast was looking good for wind, but I wanted to try somewhere different, so hit the road for Clare. I had heard about a spot that breaks well on a rocky reef and point, so hopes were high to find some good cross off riding.
Unfortunately when we arrived, the wind was good, but the direction was too westerly for the spot to work properly. So we sailed at the other side of the bay for a couple of hours... in guess what: cross on starboard tack... like I need the practice in that!

There was a good crew of Galway guys 'n' girls on the water though, so it was good fun. Katie McAnena was the first to hit the water - she raced out and bust a perfect forward loop, which got everyone else excited to rig. She is going to be the one to watch in this Autumns Irish wave events, though I hope Noelle Doran will be back in fighting form after her bad injury earlier this year.

The wind swung more onshore, meaning the other spot might finally be sailable... so a quick break for food, we packed up and drove around to the reef. It looked OK and we all hit the water, but unfortunately still too onshore to get good rides.

It was worth the drive though, I can see how this spot can work, and have a better idea of swell and wind direction that will make it work. We hit the road home through the Burren, which was pretty cool. It's been a long time since I have been in this part of the country (usually going further North), so it's always nice to find a change of scenery. I will definately be back to this spot on the next good forecast.

PICS:
1. Nice swell, wrong wind direction to be classic :(
2. Typical Burren
3. Check out the mast bend on that back loop landing

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Married!!!!

And here is the happy couple!!
Congratulations Helen and Andy!!

The sailing was sweet too, full power 5.4 , warm water and 24 degrees
c air temp. Not bad for Ireland!!

EDIT/UPDATE:
Later that night, Andy skipped the usual speeches and decided to treat us to his best impression of Marty McFLY.
You can check out the video from Andy's wedding here on Andy's blog: McFLY

Sail before wedding

What do you do when the wind picks up on your wedding day?

Go sailing of course!!!!!!!!

Here's Andy Radley on his way onto the water 4 hours before getting
married this evening!

I better rig up too

Andy's blog

Girls with BIG BALLS !

Ha ha, well that post got your attention, though probably for the wrong reasons !

Due to a lack of wind, most of this week I have been cruising around on a SUP, and also a lot of wake-boarding which has been pretty cool. On Tuesday we got out on the sea and found nice flat water beside Lambay Island - which is a few miles offshore from Rush Beach.
Then on Wednesday and Friday, I spent the evenings wake-boarding at Camlough lake, which is in the hills beside Newry. I was invited up to do some coaching, and who was I to refuse? Camlough is a great spot for really flat water, and the water is so nice and warm that it makes the whole experience a real pleasure. It's always a strange sensation for me to crash into fresh water for a change.

On one of the evenings, the girls with big balls turned up!
Let me explain... the ball is a giant pvc see through ball with a zip. You climb in, zip it up, and then inflate the ball with a leaf-blower. Then you are kicked into the water, and attempt to make the ball move, by adopting the style of a very pissed hampster who has just finished drinking 5 pints of vodka and RedBull. Priceless!

This weekend was spent teaching wake-boarding and windsurfing (thanks DMG) to my nephew Dubhghall (who is pictured in the first wakeboard pic) Then today I joined a SUP safari around the islands at Skerries. It was really foggy at first, but the sky cleared so we could find our way back home again.

Hope we get wind soon.... I'm getting sunburned and sore from too many crashes on the wakeboard while trying to learn Tantrums and Heelside flips.

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New Wavesailing DVD

My Danish buddy Lars Petersen has just announced the release of his latest instructional DVD: WINNER TO WAVESAILOR.

I know how much hard work Lars has put into this project over the last few years, and just like his Free your Style video, I'm sure it's going to be the best instructional movie ever made.
Have a look at the trailer, and get yourself a copy in July!

Here's what Lars has to say about the DVD:

"Dear all,

We are proud to announce that our eagerly anticipated and last film in Feed Your Soul Instructional Trilogy is finally complete! The name is WINNER TO WAVESAILOR. Our aim have been clear: To create a wave sailing instructional masterpiece!

To read more about the contents and to see the trailer please go here and help us spread the word about the movie: TRAILER

Winner to Wavesailor is the most comprehensive wavesailing instructional DVD ever produced.
It’s aim is to guide people to be the best wavesailors they can be. From first day getting out in the waves to first loops, from down the line in cross off perfection to making the most of cross on waves, this movie has it all.

Rotations are covered both backwards and forwards right up to doubles. Forward loops, back loops, push loops and more are covered in depth and from all angles, with special live coaching sections by our instructional Guru Jem Hall. The red-hot action demos are by the JP/ Pryde international team including Kauli Seadi and Jason Polakow in footage from Brazil, Chile, Maui and Europe.

The DVD will be going out to the shops around mid July."

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So many waves, so little time

Well I hit the road west, and met up with a local Surfer-Windurfer friend of mine. He had already done the recce mission, and discovered the wind was not quite right for the spot I had driven over for, so our first session was at this beach break in Sligo (pic 1) for a couple of hours until the tide came in.
As the wind turned more to the West, we hit the North Mayo coast, and checked out a few different reef breaks, and settled on the one in pic 2 & 3. Sailed at this one for 4 hours, starting on 4.2m FLY & 68twinser, and then on 4.8m and 76. I had not sailed this one before, and I gotta say it blew my mind! Will definitely be back along this coast in the very near future. There are so many uncrowded perfect reef breaks and point breaks, you are almost spoiled for choice!
After over 20 years exploring the Irish Coastline, it's such a cool feeling to have sailed a completely new break that is firing on it's good day.
So many waves... so little time :-)
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Sea Breeze Slippin' n slidin'

Skerries Kono from Surfdock Watersports on Vimeo.

OK, so it's not going to make Kiri Thode worried, but it's the first Kono I have on video, so I'm happy :-)

The stills pics and video were shot at Shenick Island, just off my home beach at Skerries. It's cross-shore in a SE wind, and we have been getting a good few days in the last week where this was perfect for super smooth freestyle sliding. On the sunny days, the SE sea breeze has been kicking in around lunchtime till 5 or 6, and it's usually good enough for 6.1m to 5.4m sails if we are lucky.
I love sailing here... obviously because its right outside my front door... but also because we get a huge variety of conditions. Apart from my freestyle spot, tt's good for just blasting around, and we can get fun waves here too (especially in a NE wind) - though when it is South wind they are always better in Rush.

I have loads more video from a couple of sessions over the last few days, will have a look at putting together a new video. For now though, the swell looks sweet for the West Coast tomorrow. Time to hit the road and find some real waves !

www.surfdock.ie

Speeeeeeeed-freeeeeestyler

After wavesailing all weekend at Rush and Skerries, I sailed the burrow speed strip on Monday.... and can confirm its absolutely awesome for freeeestyle!
In went in about an hour and a half after high tide, and the sandbar was just getting exposed.
Reminds me of Sotavento, without the sunshine and blue water... but the potential for sliding freestyle is amazing (with a bit of speed thrown in!)
First run down: spock (planing), one handed spock (planing), grubby (planing), finish with 1 hand clew 1st spock 540 to exit... and there's still a couple of hundred metres of flat water to slide or speedsail on. Started working on double spocks, and was trying konos, but a little too underpowered in the end to go switch properly.
The rest of the day went on much the same.. only 2 of us out, and then more kiters appeared.... but as usual they were on the downwind side doing jumps onto the sand.
One tried to race me down the strip, so I spocked right in front of him... his shorts nearly fell off he was so suprised!
Ali B got her 1st duck gybe too, so she is loving it.
See ya next time !

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Summer is here !

Summertime really hit us last week, with a heat wave over the Bank Holiday weekend, and for most of the week. Daytime temperatures hit an all time high of 28-29 degrees C, which is practically unheard of in Ireland !
The centre of the country must have been like a ghost town, as it seemed like the entire country hit the beach, as they were in disbelief at the non stop sun for 5-6 days.

The first couple of shots show my favourite freestyle spot, where we sail at one of the islands just off the beach where I live in Skerries (you can just see my home in the background). The water is really flat in the shelter of this beach on the island.. and we have a great time here in S or SE winds when the tide is right. The colour of the water made me think it even looked a little like the canaries (in my mind anyway!!)
The sailor is Tom Lotocki, who also lives in Skerries.

In contrast, this Saturday was back to super windy conditions from the NE, over logo high waves at RUSH, and certainly NOT green water! The day started out on 4.8m sails, but I soon had to change down to down to 4.2, and finally ended up on 3.9m FLY.
The air temperature had dropped down to about 10 degrees, and it was weird, as the water was actually warmer than the air. The contrast made it feel like you were sailing in a bath.. while standing on the beach was cold. Everyone was in shock at the air temperature, but once you got into it... the jumping was really good fun, and by the end of the day, the sets were rolling on at over mast high - which is always nice to see on the East coast ! Also got my first clean Takas on this tack.. so I went home happy :)

Today, it was back to Skerries, and sailed from about 11am till 6pm. At first on 5.7 Firefly and 99 freestyle, and then on 5.1 FLY. It was fun freestyle conditions, with some small waves good for shakas and looping, and then some super flat freestyle conditions at each end of the beach for a bit of spinning sliding action.

Looks like more NE this week too... hope it's not too busy at work!

Pics:
1 & 2. Tom Lotocki at Skerries freestyle heaven.
3. Me at Rush.
4. Dave Garvey at Rush.
5. Tom Lotocki at Rush.

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