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GWITHIAN GOES OFF: EASTER SATURDAY WAVE HUNT

Forget Easter eggs…Easter Saturday at Gwithian Beach was all about the hunt for waves and Storm Dave duly obliged delivering a full basketful of pumping swell and strong SSW winds for those that went searching!

From the moment the tide dropped back, conditions were firing…clean lines, solid size, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting. The line-up was stacked too: Timo Mullen, Ian Black, Duncan Coombs, Max Metcalfe, Ian Whittaker, Ollie Randell, Steve Thorp plus a heavy crew of locals and south coast blow-ins, all charging hard. It was one of those sessions where everything clicked into place…wind, swell and lots of talent and enthusiasm on the water! You simply had to be there. We caught up with some of the sailors to get their take on an all-time day at Gwithian.

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

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JOHN CARTER

As it happened my wife was visiting family from Friday to Sunday in the new forecast so I tagged along with the slight caveat that I would be popping down to Cornwall on the Saturday as a small interlude from family duty. Luckily my wife gave me the green light so I could score the best of both worlds. As much as I like visiting the family, Gwithian was looking all time and it was brewing up to be a day not to be missed.

At first glance, the surf looked grim, but Gwithian has a way of keeping its secrets and high tide can be a master of deception. We exercised patience, detouring briefly into Hayle for an egg and sausage McMuffin at McDonald’s…fuel for the coming battle with the Atlantic. By the time we returned, the tide was retreating, and Timo’s voice cut through the morning air: “It’s on!”

The day began slow with the conditions, but as the tide dropped, the surf transformed from sleepy to spectacular. The holiday crowd swelled by mid-morning, a perfect mix of Cornwall locals, hungry south coast talent and seasoned veterans we’ve admired at the recent Cornish events.

Punchy, but not too hot to handle, the waves had about 20–30 sailors on the water at any given moment! Gwithian was a mixture of chaos and camaraderie. Priority squabbles? Yes. Drama? Absolutely. But it was simply going off and that was all part of the game.

Timo and Blacky (Ian Black) were the first in, followed by Ian Whittaker, Max Metcalfe, Ollie Randall and a parade of others. The action barely paused until 6 pm, when exhaustion and rising tides forced even the most stubborn sailors to retreat. Some snatched two or three sessions; others timed the afternoon swell just right. The wind howled all day and the waves were relentless…The swell was not too out of control, so it looked like everybody was having a crack at hitting a few lips!

Timo was on fire, ripping through massive aerials, tossing goiters and forwards off the lip like a man possessed and still managing stylish hacks for good measure. Blacky delivered classic bottom-turns into smacks with his trusty single fin, joined by local legend Andrew Fawcett going huge all afternoon. Ian Whittaker, clearly fuelled by a big night in Hayle with Max and Ollie, hammered the lips relentlessly.

Steve Thorp finally nailed a wave 360 after thirty years of heroic attempts, Jan Sleigh shredded with effortless flair, and Ian Ross, predictably, went all out from start to finish.

The young guns…Max Metcalfe and Ollie Randall from the Witterings, proved they’re not just keen; they’re hungry, fearless and making waves of their own. And we were lucky enough to be graced by a guest appearance from ex PWA head judge and all-round legend, Duncan Coombs, who didn’t disappoint, delivering solid hacks right up and under the lip.

In short: everyone was ripping. The waves were alive, the wind relentless, and the day packed with enough action, laughter and chaos to make it a day to remember. Pure Cornish magic.”

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TIMO MULLEN

“Yeah, this day at Gwithian was always going to be either really epic or just a pretty average day. It actually turned out to be pretty epic. I guess not as good as the big day we had a few weeks ago, but kind of more fun to play with…you could go for a lot more moves. I think I caught maybe 100 waves. It was the Easter holidays, so there were loads of people there, but it was great to see. I saw so many guys I haven’t seen in years.

Everyone was pretty much playing the game the right way, which is good to see because when it’s busy, you can sometimes get people forgetting the rules, but I didn’t see anything too bad. It was a fun day.

I sailed more downwind in the afternoon, I thought the waves were a bit bigger and punchier down there and then as the day went on, the normal spot started working again. Yeah, I was stoked. My gear was working well.

And the best bit, we actually got to do some jumps, which is so rare at Gwithian. You almost never jump there because you’re usually a bit underpowered, but I was fully powered on my Duotone D/LAB 4.5.

And it was good to be on my favourite board, the Duotone Ultra Grip D/LAB 94L. It’s the perfect size for Gwithian because it gives you a bit of float on the inside where you need it, but doesn’t get too overpowered on the way out. So yeah… great day. Good friends. Everyone ripping.”

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IAN ROSS

“We all know the difficulties of being a windsurfer. If you can’t go when the conditions line up, then it’s even more frustrating than DIY. Speaking of which; I’d committed to plastering over 1980’s Artex ceilings the Easter weekend…I hate being middle aged! What with family gatherings and work to fit in I was feeling like a regular weekend windsurfer instead of one of the guys whose lives has been set up to drop everything and head to the beach when it’s windy and wavy!

On Saturday, all my plans went out the window and I ended up at Gwithian at just the wrong time…low tide, which usually means smaller but dumpier waves…I didn’t care, I was there, the sun came out and I heard Thorpy had just landed a 360! This is a big deal to me…and a bigger one to him as both of us have been trying since our teens! I was so stoked for him it fired me up like a child on 5 cream eggs!

Walking down I felt a bit like I missed out as everyone else was coming off the water. Mark, Martin, Steve, Timo, Ian, other Steve and 20 others had all had a cracking time and were going to come back out in a few hours as the tide pushed. Damn you 80’s Artex!

No matter, I was frothing on Thorpy’s success and wanted a piece of the action! Conditions were really playful, 4.5 Simmer Blacktip and 72 Simmer Flywave with up to head high waves. I had so much fun…I hit the lip, it hit me right back, I crashed everything, landed nothing, but god it felt so good to be trying! 360’s, aerials, I even let go of the clew and did a Roediger turn like he did in the Maui pro final.

Of course mine was crashed! But I felt inspired…it’s the thing I love most about windsurfing, it’s so damn difficult. You rarely go out and land things easily so when you do land that backy, forward, aerial, cutback or wave 360 it can carry you through the ill health, the DIY, the hard times at work. So even though I crashed everything I’m ready for the next session. Thanks for the inspiration fellow wave sailors and thanks JC for decades of inspirational photos.”

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IAN WHITTAKER

“It was a solid forecast for the Easter weekend. So, I headed to Gwithian with Sophie, my daughter, who was going to film some video of us. Max and Ollie were already there. We booked into a little pub in Hale on the Friday night. When we dropped our bags off, we saw a poster saying “90s rock surf night.”…We were all quite excited.

The lady said to Max and Ollie that they could sleep in their cars in the car park for the night, so it was lining up perfect. Well, it really went off in there…lots of funny business until 2 o’clock in the morning. There was even a TikTok girl who’s apparently famous, in a pink bunny outfit, doing little dances. She’s got about 5K followers…it’s crazy.

It was just a mental night…and then the DJ came on until, I don’t know, about 3 in the morning. What a great night.

So, in the morning we woke up with sore heads and headed to the beach. It was mast-high and the wind was filling in. Timo rigged a 5.0 and went out. It started to pick up, so I rigged my Ezzy 4.7 and my 100L Quattro and sailed for a couple of hours. It was OK, but the wave was a bit fat.

I had some water and some food, waited for the low tide and then it went off for another two hours…lots of turns and top-to-bottom waves. It was amazing. At that point it was dead low tide, so we went for something to eat and came back for the late session.

With the mid tide coming in, I sailed all the way through…it just got better and better. One wave I rode all the way down in front of the rock to the steps. Amazing.

When I came in, I was broken after six hours of sailing. It was hard work, but you have to keep it up. When you’re 50, it’s not easy trying to keep up with the 18-year-olds…especially with a hangover.!”

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OLLIE RANDALL

Gwithian at the weekend was very fun. It was a good size and we had some nice open faces. The wind could have done with being a bit more offshore, but it was fun.

It was a bit of a boys’ trip, yeah. We combined it together, which meant we went to the pub every evening for a few beers…only a few, because we had to go windsurfing the next day. Going on trips with Ian and Max is always a good laugh. You spend more time laughing than doing anything else, so it’s always a blast.

It is always cool with them because if you pull out of a section or don’t hit it properly, you’ll hear about it. That actually helps…it pushes you a bit further and makes everything more exciting. So yeah, it’s all good fun. For Gwithian, I’d probably say a 7 out of 10 because I’ve had it better. There were lots of people in the water, we scored the Bluff the day before on the Friday when we got there, so that was a bonus. It meant we got two good days of sailing in down there. So yeah, it was a good trip overall.”

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IAN BLACK

“It was always going to be a bit emotional for me. Easter Saturday generally tends to be one of our busiest days of the year at work. I needed to be walking down the cliff at 9 sharp whether it was windy or not and have a quick hour. I did my usual sail size faff, Timo obviously beating me too it, getting a few good waves before I even got to the bottom of the cliff. It looked on, but the tide was still a bit high and it was all a bit back washy.

I already knew looking at it, that it was going to be firing just when I had to get out. We’ve all been there. There is nothing worse!  After being in full flap mode for the first few waves I had a word and ended up getting some good ones. So much for the quick hour!  My bro who runs the shop floor for us wasn’t exactly stoked when I rocked up at 12. Then me spending the next 4 hours watching the Gwithian cam didn’t exactly help matters either.

I made it back up for round 2, sort of knowing I’d missed the primo tide. Nice touch! I watched the show for a bit with Marky Mark. It was chaos out there, who said windsurfing was dead!!!!  It was fairly amusing to see our mates getting the full disco inferno.  I will quickly say this though.  If you watch the locals or the more experienced sailors, when it is super busy like that, they will nearly always sail out past the ‘middle rock’, before picking up a wave.

At that point it is that sailors wave, it doesn’t matter if you’re upwind, downwind or the Queen of Sheba. Also, after finishing a wave they’ll either wait for a gust and jet off downwind around the break or come in and walk back upwind. Sailing out through the break and falling in really is the full tourist move and just gets a bit sketchy when everyone is flying around at 30mph. That said, everyone seemed to make it in one piece with stories to tell. I ended up sailing till dark, crawling back to van in a dribbling mess, what a day!”

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MAX METCLAFE

“Yeah, it was an incredible trip to Gwithian funny as well. I was on a 4.2m and there were nice waves too…really clean.

And the evenings were hilarious as well…good banter in the pub, some live music, a few antics. Sleeping in the car park in the Volvo was all part of it. I would probably give it a 7 out of 10 again.

Timo was sailing really well. To be fair, everyone was sailing well. Yeah…it was sick.”

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DUNCAN COOMBS

“I headed down to Gwithian to catch up with the boys, there were some real top guns in town and after walking my mad collie Ziggy and checking the conditions, it turned into one of those sessions that reminds you why you love it.

Nothing epic, just good fun in half-mast side shore waves, sharing the water with the new generation rather than chasing moves.

A few hits made, a few missed but you always feel better for getting out there. It really brings home how lucky I am to have these conditions on my doorstep, ones’ that people travel the length of the country to experience.”

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STEVE THORP

“The forecast was around 7@13 I think and SSW wind, which I was looking forward to as it meant some fun conditions to practice stuff in rather than scary hits and dodging death pits. On arrival the wind was Southwest and making a mess of the waves, but it meant we could relax a bit and enjoy some carpark banter instead of rushing out.

I rigged my usual 4.7 Ezzy Wave, Flikka 78 (2019 and rocker #2 apparently, loaded with K4 14.5 Incinerator rears and 9 A.I fronts). Once on the water it was actually really fun conditions because the wind was surprisingly consistent, usually you’ll get big light patches because of the cliffs and the current, but it was possible to plane out and get the odd jump and get around easily.

Then the magic happened, the wind swung to the promised SSW and the tide dropped out and it turned into the best Gwithian we’ve had for quite a while. On bigger swells the low tide is not so great as it all gets a bit heavy and closes out, but with the banks at the moment and the smaller swell, it was perfect timing. Considering it was Easter holidays it was pretty quiet too! Plenty of waves for the boys that had travelled down, Timo Mullen, Ian Whittaker, Max Metcalfe, Oliver Randall, Nick Moffatt, and the usual locals all ripping it up!

And this is when it happened. The culmination of a lifetimes work, a dream I thought would never come to fruition, I landed my first wave 360. I’ve gotta mention Chucky here who helped make this happen. Over the years I’ve banged my head against the 360 wall with many other sailors attempting to nail the elusive 360, all have given up the fight, so broken they’ve took up kiting or winging but Chucky has stuck with it. We’ve had a little ‘360 club’ sharing tips and videos, regaling and commiserating after a hard day of 100’s of failed attempts, analysing, reassessing, checking Surfline for the next forecast to do it all again. A couple of years back, Chucky stuck his first one, an epic one, just as I pulled into the Gwithian car park. My mind was blown. He showed it was possible, and possible at Gwithian, he kept the dream alive and poured kerosine on the fire.”

JAN SLEIGH

“Gwithian turned it on for Easter Sunday! I don’t think it gets much better as the strong wind solid wave combo we got was perfect for jumping and riding. And we even had a bit of sunshine.

I arrived for the afternoon session…pushing tide and increasing wind. The buzz in the car park was Thorpy had made a perfect wave 360…a milestone achievement from a lifetime dedication to windsurfing!

I decided to make sure I was powered up and go with a 5.0 and my 95L Naish Global – small board for my 100kg wet frame. The wave riding was really fun, the jumping was epic. I’m still nursing a foot injury so had to be careful and selective with my jumps. Made a few and fluffed a few. Great session lots of smiling faces on the water. Such a good vibe and awesome to see windsurfing alive with so many people ripping!”

MARKY MARK!

“Before I had even had a coffee the webcam showed vans already in the car park.  Around low water was my window for sailing.  By the time I got to the beach there were plenty out and more getting ready.  The early crew one sesh in the bag already, and plenty of smiles all round. 

The conditions were pretty hollow and hard to read at times, with some big ones rolling through.  There was some fearless sailing going on, some big swims, but equally some epic moments to be had.  Good to see the young guns sending hard in pretty challenging conditions.  After sailing it was just nice to watch the action from the dunes.”

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ALEX SIMMONS

“I bought a Duotone Grip 4 93 off Timo several months back and have been waiting for a good day to use it properly. Usual story- whenever it’s been epic I’ve been working- although I only live locally. I’m based in Truro so have no excuse – as I said to Timo I learnt to windsurf age 8 (my dad taught me in Tenerife) and really got into it in my early teens so at age 51 now I’m just starting to get into it properly having practised for 43 years…(you’d think I’d be good- but no)- anyway doubt you have me in your pics as there were amazing sailors there to photograph (but if I happen to be in the way… it’s me on the blue and orange Ezzy taka with a lumo orange helmet…(that’s just to give everyone an outside chance of seeing me swimming about in the impact zone as I do!)- anyway- I had an epic sail (for me) with waves at about the limit of my comfort zone. Windsurfing is the best sport on the planet and there can’t be many other sports where you can be welcomed onto the pitch with professional players and heroes and be given the space to learn. I had a great day with the standout moment being one of my best bottom turns yet (before getting absolutely pummelled), loved it! Happy to be quoted but realise there are bigger fish to fry!!” Cheers

 

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MARIO WS

“This was my first session back on the water since my Lisfranc injury in Marazion at Christmas 2024…and it’s hard to describe what this one meant. Talk of compartment syndrome, two surgeries in Basel, endless physio, months of not knowing how (or if) I’d get back to this.

Progress was slow, sometimes frustrating, and anything but linear. And then I was back at Gwithian. Kept it sensible but managed to get both feet in the straps and a few short planing runs. Nothing flashy, just that feeling of the board releasing again… and that was enough. This isn’t about being back to full power yet…it was about rebuilding, session by session. Learning to trust the foot again, staying patient, and appreciating every run.

Huge thanks to Justina Sniady, Robby Swift, Ben Proffitt and Marc Paré for the advice and support along the way. And especially to the local crew…Steven, Ed and Jane…for getting me off the beach, to hospital and back again. And to my family and friends… you know who you are…it makes a difference. Big thanks as well to John Carter for capturing these moments…really special to have this session documented. Thank you! Just a step, but a big one. Good to be back!”

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