Tweet

CODE RED GWITHIAN!

When the charts go red and the swell period jumps into the mid-teens, you know it’s not just another winter swell. This was one of those days.

On an unpredictable morning, Gwithian lit up…raw, heavy and pushed into the territory where hesitation becomes your biggest enemy. A stacked crew featuring Timo Mullen, Lucas Meldrum, Ian Black, Ian Ross, Ian Whittaker, Andrew Fawcett, Steve Thorp and Jan Sleigh were on it, each weighing up the same question: to hit it, or not to hit it!….Because on days like this, there’s no halfway!

Photos: John Carter…Best Viewed on the big screen!!! Click any pic to enlarge and scroll.

---

JOHN CARTER

DILEMMAS!

Nobody move… we’ve got another Code Red forecast incoming. The non-stop barrage of winter swells has been relentless. This time last week, things started to get hectic, with charts lining up for a serious pulse hitting Ireland, Cornwall and even the south coast of the UK.

Timo and I were stuck in the midst of a huge dilemma. Do we head to Ireland on Monday for the biggest waves (7m at 16 seconds), or take the easier option and score two solid days at Gwithian, Monday (3.2m at 17secs ) and Tuesday ( 2.4m at 14 secs)?

I started seriously stressing…I just couldn’t make a decision. Do we go to Ireland or Cornwall…that was the question… I filled in my flight details on EasyJet five different times for Belfast, but for one reason or another, couldn’t pull the trigger. Then came an even crazier idea: Timo sails Ireland on Monday (until 4:30pm), we gun it to Belfast airport for a 9.55pm flight, fly back to Gatwick and then we drive straight to Gwithian for Tuesday. All that extra hassle for 2-3 hours at Magheroarty…crazy but in our mad world …doable!

So many options were flying around, I didn’t know if I was coming or going…literally. Timo had already booked his Ireland flight but then had the added puzzle of sorting dog care, plus work commitments. We were spinning plates and getting nowhere.

In the end, some kind of logic finally broke through. Timo cancelled his flight and we committed to Cornwall…a plan that was a hell of a lot easier logistically, and a whole lot less stressful. But he already had FOMO about Ireland before we’d even hit the road.

You can’t be in two places at once… that’s life.

I headed over to Poole on Sunday night. The plan was simple: leave early and catch the afternoon session at the Bluff on Monday.

LOSING THE PLOT

Everything was going smoothly… until we hit Honiton.

The sat nav had us rolling into the Bluff at 1pm…perfect timing with the tide. Then we hit traffic… and stopped. Completely.

Half an hour later, we hadn’t moved an inch. Cars were turning around, drivers were out of their vehicles and nobody had a clue what was Fu**  was going on.

To cut a long story short…three hours and a maze of country lanes later, we finally made it to the Bluff… having completely missed the best of the wind.

And just to rub salt in the wounds, the updates from Ireland started coming through. Photos, reports… absolute carnage. Magheroarty was apparently too big to sail.

Timo’s only response: “I would have gone out.”

Brilliant.

Now I was firmly in the doghouse, as it was largely my call to stick with Cornwall. I might never be forgiven for this one…especially if Cornwall was a dud!

To make matters worse, Timo tried to sail at the Bluff, but the wind completely backed off, and he didn’t catch a single decent wave. The swell was solid, but nowhere near as big as expected and the forecast for the next day was showing a significant drop.

This was shaping up to be our worst call of the season.

Had the Motley Crew finally lost the plot?

That was the question…

We spent the evening trying to stay positive and met up with Ian Whittaker in St Ives for dinner before hitting Hayle Travel Lodge to hit the sack. Let’s see what tomorrow will bring…The fate of this trip was now all in the hands of the weather gods!

BIG TUESDAY

I was up at 6am, already checking the webcams. Timo, on the other hand, had been grinding away since 4am trying to wrap up some work projects. Waiting around for him to finish was a bit frustrating, but sometimes you’ve just got to roll with it. We finally made it to Gwithian around 9:30am…and, as it turned out, the timing couldn’t have been better. There was one guy already out on an S2 Maui sail, while everyone else in the car park stood watching, sizing things up. The conditions? Big. Gnarly. We’d been expecting a clean, head- to logo-high swell, but instead the sets were heavy, hollow and pretty brutal. Sure, the crew would go out…but whether they’d actually smack the lip or not was another question entirely.

I’ll hand things over to the rest of the crew to talk through their individual sessions.

PHOTOGRAPHY FAIL AND FRUSTRATION

From a photography perspective, though, it felt like a bit of a shocker for me. One of those days where you track one rider, only for someone else…just out of frame, to pull off the move of the day. Classic. “Did you get that massive air?” Uh… yeah, I think so… knowing full well you either missed it completely or your camera locked onto the wave in front. It just goes like that sometimes.

You try to reset, refocus, get back in the zone, but those missed, once-in-a-day moments start to get in your head. The boys were launching off huge lips; all I had to do was press the trigger. In the end, I got enough shots to scrape by…but I can’t say I was fully happy with it.

As far as Gwithian goes that was as good as it gets for me. Heavy waves, a solid crew and some decent spells of sunshine to put the icing on the cake.

BUT…Looking at the forecast it wasn’t over yet…The next day was calling for east winds and another dose of Code Red long period swell. As we were already in Cornwall it seemed rude not to stick around…But that is a whole other story….Stay Tuned!

---

TIMO MULLEN

“As with all Motley Crew trips, the Cornwall mission wasn’t exactly straightforward. We had two or three different plans running at the same time, because the forecast for northwest Ireland the day before…March 16^th…was absolutely pumping. We’re talking six to seven metre swell at 17 seconds. That’s big anywhere in the world.

Logistically, though, it was going to be tough. We’d have had to fly Monday morning, which always leaves you tight. You’re not getting to somewhere like Magheroarty until midday and that eats into your window straight away. Then there was my dog, Freddie…he comes everywhere with me. If we went to Ireland, I could only really leave him for part of the day, which meant we’d have to fly back that same evening.

FRUSTRATION

So, we made the call. I cancelled my Ireland flight and we committed to Cornwall…drive down Monday, stay overnight and score Tuesday.

Then the wheels started to come off.

The drive down was a nightmare. We left in good time, checked the webcam…it looked like there was some decent swell, but then hit roadworks and traffic like you only ever see in summer… and we never go to Cornwall in summer. Apparently a lorry carrying cattle had turned over and there were loose cows running down the A30! We had to turn round and go cross country and our journey ended up taking nearly five and a half hours.

We missed our window completely. Instead of getting there at one, we rolled in closer to three-thirty. By the time we reached the Bluff, the swell was a decent size…logo to mast high, but the wind had dropped. Everyone was coming off the water saying it was super light.

I still went out. I’ve got gear that works in nothing, so I didn’t listen…just drifted out. It took me about 40 minutes to get to the back, and there was literally no wind. I caught one wave on the way in, didn’t really do anything, and that was it. Game over.

We packed up, met up with Whittaker, grabbed some food in St Ives, and just hoped the next day would deliver.

We made a plan to get to the beach early. I was up at 4:30am getting work done, knowing I’d be on the water most of the day. We got there around nine… and it was pumping.

THE SESSION

Not crazy huge, but for Gwithian, anything over mast high is big…and this swell had real energy. You could feel the period in it. Anything over 12 seconds there and it starts to get serious.

It didn’t look super windy at first, but I could see it building, so I rigged a 5.0 and went for a smaller board…my 94L quad. When it’s gnarly, you need something you can trust to hold a rail. Big boards are great, but not when it’s mast-high and sucking out.

TO HIT IT OR NOT TO HIT IT….THAT IS THE QUESTION!

I guess I would call Gwithian the best wave sailing beach in the UK for consistency. I actually own a house there and have been windsurfing there since I was 18 years old.

One thing I know about Gwithian is that when it’s big, you’ve got to go for it. If you hold back or don’t approach the lip fast, you just get nailed. Knowing the wave really helps when it’s bigger…you’ve got a lot more confidence.

On this particular day, it was low tide, which is when it gets as heavy as it possibly can. I wouldn’t say it’s the best conditions, but it’s definitely the heaviest. I remember launching and getting pretty smashed…three attempts just to get out because the wind was quite offshore.

Right in the impact zone there wasn’t much wind, which made it really tough.

Eventually, I made it out the back. You should always try to pick the biggest set, partly because you won’t get hammered as badly on the way back out since you’re in sync with the sets, but also because, well, you want to hit the biggest wave.

I lined up on one, and the line I saw looked good. I remember thinking, “This is a good one.” The lip looked like it was going to hold up. At that point, there’s only one thing to do…go as hard as possible and as fast as possible toward the lip and try to get as much projection out in front of the wave as I could.

Honestly, the best feeling in the world is hitting one of those chunky Gwithian lips. It really sends you a long way. To me, it didn’t look like that serious of a wave, but everyone on the beach said it was one of the biggest sets of the day. It was a pretty hardcore lip to hit, but what I saw was a makeable, hittable section.

In the end, you’ve just got to go for it…and that’s exactly what I did.

I knew if I didn’t hit it, I was going to get destroyed. So, I went for it…hit the lip, went for a big aerial, landed flat… and that kind of set the tone for the whole session. At least I knew I had a killer wave in the bag! JC better not have missed it or he would be getting the train home!

I think once everyone saw that, it clicked…those lips were hittable. It was on.

It turned into one of the best days of the season. No crowds, just the local crew, Blacky, Whittaker, all the boys. Proper old-school session, everyone going hammer and tongs for waves.

And the best part? It was sunny… and hardly anyone broke any gear. All-time day.”

---

IAN BLACK

“It was one of those days that we all live for. I literally pulled up in the carpark to see Timo steam along the top of a mast high low tide dredging bomb and clock one of the airs of his life or in fact anyone’s existence. I went to Steveo and Fawcett, Fu** me, did you see that, its Fu**ing On, it’s going off!’. They laughed, heads rolling back, they were not so sure!

Apparently, the beatings leading up to his moment of utter glory had been monumental.  At that a mast and quarter death close out unloaded. Okay, now I wasn’t so sure.  We’ve all been there…low tide Gwithian on a pushing swell can be horrific.  

After watching the continuous onslaught for another ten mins or so continue there was no option, reach for the trusty Severne 5.6m S1 Pro and get on with it. Yeah, it was howling, but when it’s like that you can’t be hanging around. I was a little stressed that I was going to be blitzed and felt that sense of relief flying down my first wave. No-one panic ……I’m in vague control, my rail just holding in by a whisker.  

I reckon it was just as good as it gets, full power, 8-10ft peeling left-handers, sunny as you like. Myself, Timo and Fawcett had a like a half hour in sync spell on the main peak that was just like the good old days.

There’s something special about just ripping the lid off a sick wave, kicking out into the channel only to see two of your best mates and age-old sparring partners flying down back-to-back mast high beauties knowing they’re just about push it to the max and do the same. What a day!

Shout out to Steveo and skater boy Glenn, both of them went next level….……yeahhhh!”

---

ANDREW FAWCETT

“I was riding my Witchcraft Serum 74L and a Witchcraft slayer 4.5m.

It was a decent session, got a few, missed a few and should have stayed out longer but was shattered. I wish we had more days like that.

 Moment of the day….Probably Timo’s massive aerial, I just saw it out of the corner of my eye.

Can’t remember any of my waves, it all seems a bit of a blur. Just nice to be out in some good swell and not freezing cold!”

---

IAN WHITTAKER

“Looking at the forecast, it looked like two solid days Bluff on Monday and Gwithian on Tuesday. After rushing from work in West Wittering to catch the late session, it turned out Monday didn’t happen so me JC and Timo had a couple of beers and dinner in St Ives. We were not expecting it to be that big on Tuesday as all the long period swell was forecast for Monday.

I woke up Tuesday to mast high waves at high tide and as the tide started to move out the wave started to get really hollow. Timo said he was going out and I was a little bit reluctant looking at brutal mast high sections.

Next thing I know Timo smacked a solid mast high set and landed in the flats perfectly,  he totally inspired me to get out there. My second wave, I will never forget!

I picked this monster swell up out to see by the rock. You know when it’s going to be a good one when it is peeling by the rock.

As I was heading into the beach, it got bigger and started to shape up further out so starting my journey down the line, I had to be quick… as the wave was about to throw it looked so heavy and gnarly I was about to head straight to the beach away from the lip but thought I’m going to hit this.

Then the next thing I know, I hit it perfectly and as started to leave the wave a 30 knot gust to hit me that was blowing up the wave. The rest is history. What a great feeling!

The rest of the session carried on the same way.

All the Cornish crew were out to ripping and we had John Carter on hand to capture the day. What an epic session!”

---

LUCAS MELDRUM

It’s only after looking back at the pictures and videos from that day I realised Gwithian was pretty much going off. I feel like I am in the moment, when its good I don’t really realise until after. It’s not an easy spot to sail and getting out can be a challenge so you never have to relax and reflect on the conditions.

It was a full-on last-minute trip for me. I had been eyeing up the forecast for a few days. It seemed pretty stable and a perfect wind direction for classic Gwithian. The plan was to get some shots with my new gear, only problem was I didn’t have any of it! My North sails were scheduled to arrive on Monday and then I planned to do a quick turnaround.

Pack the van…drive…pick up my Quatro boards from Bubble…drop some sail to Tris for Windsurfer Magazine testing, then get to Cornwall ready for Tuesdays forecast. Luckily my sails arrived in the morning which was a relief because I had some custom issues previously. Then got my boards from Bubble (still unboxed).

By the time I was set with everything it was late afternoon and I was still a few hours away. No plan on where I was staying that night and hadn’t organised a videographer yet. As I said very last minute… I did have an emergency sleeping bag and JC was already down so that meant at least some guaranteed epic pics. I quickly managed to organise a guy to film and I was able to crash at a friend’s place for the night. All was set.

I pulled up to Gwithian at 9am Tuesday. It was kind of pumping, windy and sunny! It was bigger than expected. Logo to mast sets, some breaking heavy as it was close to low tide. On the one hand it was perfect for shooting but on the other hand it would have been nice to try my new gear in some easier conditions just to get tuned up and used to it.

After a bit of the usual chat, I decided to pull out my Quatro Pyramid 75L and North Wave 4.7m. It looked like a day to break lots of kit which wasn’t ideal with a full set of brand-new equipment! First run out, I was fully planning and sure enough on the first wave I was already feeling a bit overpowered. It’s hard to get it right at Gwithian, if you rig too big it’s easier to get out and move around the spot but lack a lot of control and handling on the wave. After a few waves I wasn’t that stoked with my sailing, so I came in and changed to bigger fins and moved them around. There’s always a fair bit of tuning when you get new kit especially when it’s a completely new brand. Second sesh’ and I was feeling a lot more comfortable already.

When there’s decent swell at low tide I always like sailing up in front of the rock to the left of Gwithian. You can get a nicer peeling left and the current takes you away from the rock normally. In general, I’m always looking to prioritise turns when wave sailing, when you get a couple linking ones it’s super rewarding then if a section presents itself for an air then I go for it of course. Some spots it’s just a close out so the only thing you can do is it hit the lip. This can be equally as satisfying in a more ‘fu** yeah’ sense but also more consequence… 

As I was stalling on a particular wave, down the line there was a section was waiting to be hit. As I hit it a gust blew me slightly off course, I came down a bit higher on the wave than intended and landed pretty hard on my niggling knee. I suddenly got a lot of pain bending it and came in. I’ve had tendon problems for over a year, unfortunately it flared up on the day I really didn’t want it to.

As I rested a bit, I was watching Timo and Whittaker downwind sending it on some gnarly closeouts. Timo is one of the best guys at hitting big airs and he landed some solid ones on this day however Whittaker took the send it award on this day. I watched as he launched into a huge one, lifting him up high then down into a munching closeout! It definitely pumped me up but I felt it was best to hold back with my knee.

I tried holding onto 4.7m but it was too much and I went back out on 4.2m and was way more comfortable. I was really impressed how crazy light the North 3Di sails felt with a really nice soft power in the heavy gusts.

The tide was now hitting the sweet spot and there were some epic peelers in front of the lifeguard hut. Some were breaking quick and some slow, so it was hard to time but if you got it right it was all time. By the time the tide hit the cliffs most of the guys had gone in.

My knee was hurting pretty bad after a little air, so I decided to pack it in and get up the goats track before the water was too high. I was feeling a bit deflated about my knee but after looking at some of the pics I think it was mission complete. Looking back at the clips the gear also looked like it was working well!

The next task was to work out what to do for the following day. A long period south swell paired with rare easterly winds meant some different spots could light up, with more opportunity to score some epic conditions. After more forecast checks and debates JC and I made the decision to book a nearby hotel room and wait for the morning to decide on the next move…

---

IAN ROSS

“My friend Grant called asking about the forecast for Tuesday with the plan to drive down with his mate, Ryan. “Looks like a fun head high day at Gwithian!  Do it, it’ll be fun!”, was my reply.

Turned out to be quite the heavy head high to mast high resulting in Ryan’s sail ripped in half…Oooops!

As soon as I pulled into the carpark I saw Ian Whittaker smashing the aerial of a lifetime! The old gang of Blacky, Andrew Fawcett, Jan Sleigh, Thorpy, Colesby and Timo were joined by the youngster Lucas Meldrum. Lucas was picking some choice waves and every time I looked Ian was attacking the lip like a maniac…

I’m amazed he made it out in one piece! Timo was also on a mission…he rips! I rigged a 5m Simmer Blacktip and a 72L Flywave.

It was way heavier than I’d expected but I blasted straight out the back without any problems and I had a few good waves, a few scary moments and a few swims! But I always look back and contemplate doing a better turn here, a 360 there, or hitting the lip instead of running away! If I’d known JC was there maybe I would’ve gone bigger…maybe next time!”

---

STEVE THORP

“I woke up for a really early start as it looked like I could score two really good sessions, on the drop, then on the push. I had visions of a fun size day and drove down practicing Goiters and 360’s in my head, I think it was supposed to be 7@13seconds or something like that. It looked ok from the carpark, if a bit light, so I hit the water at 7.30am without much messing about!. I was on my 78L Flikka and my trusty 4.7m Ezzy Wave. It soon became apparent Gwithian itself was a tricky prospect. The waves which didn’t look so big were actually pretty powerful and hard to time, lumbering in and then sucking up and dumping quickly. Very rippy too.

At one point whilst water-starting I was sucked upwind 30ft across the front of the rocks on the left, I’ve never had that before. A lot of water moving about! After half an hour I gave up looking for diamonds in the rough and headed down towards Godrevy. This was better and actually a lot bigger, over mast high, but still not lining up that well for decent turns or airs. Good fun though and made getting in early worthwhile, even though there were no other takers. Fingers crossed for round two!

Whilst I’d nipped home for some lunch, everyone else had been scoring a low tide session and sending it!  I’d left my kit rigged on the beach, so got straight back out into the action. I think I was having something of an off day though. Still a bit shaky from earlier perhaps, a broken harness hook which kept trapping me hooked in (one side snapped at the weld it turns out is bit of a death trap!) and maybe I’d missed the sweet spot.

Sometimes Gwithian can feel dreamy to sail, even when it’s massive, nice bowly peaks rising up and inviting you to smack them, lips launching you into airs that you can T up from half a mile away and almost sail off them in slow mo.. this was the opposite. It’s all good fun though, even the tricky days are a fun game of chess. Great to see so many rippers out, hope everyone had a great time!”

---

JAN SLEIGH

“That Tuesday had a great forecast, wind and swell all day.  Lighter wind earlier on as the tide dropped out and then stronger wind from midday onwards and the pushing tide.

I had to work so I got to the beach early to be able to set up and work from my van. Then, if everything lined up, I’d be able to get an hour or so in from around midday and the strongest wind.

I think Lucas and Timo were first out. I saw Lucas taking some nice waves to the left near the rocks and then Timo punching out a huge aerial. I noticed Ian Whittaker and Andrew Fawcett out next. Andrew made my jaw drop as he took one of the big outside waves and bottom turned around the rock in the middle of the bay… he and I had been talking about it earlier while watching the first few waves. That was all I really saw as I had my head in my laptop!

My windsurf window stayed open, so I was able to get out at noon as the wind picked up slightly….I was on a 5.6 Naish Force 4 and my Naish Global. Gwithian is always a tricky spot to windsurf as the wind is always gusty, especially when it is slightly offshore, and with bigger wave the current running is stronger too. But I had plenty enough wind to plane off the beach and made sure I went between sets.

I was super happy with my first wave as it opened up nicely for a few bottom turns, then the rest of the session was a bit hit and miss with waves being difficult to read I got a couple of bigger ones that didn’t open but overall, it was an epic day. I broke my boom trying to forward off the lip on my last wave …a sign to wrap up the session and I wasn’t too sad about the boom as it has lasted 5 years.  It was great to see so many smiling faces in the water and the level of wave riding from everyone was amazing.”

---

---