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CALL OF DUTY: CODE RED BLUFF!

When the swell is forecast for 7m at 18 seconds, you can be sure the Motley Crew red phone will start ringing from beneath the pile of unpaid bills in JC’s office. This forecast was a no brainer, but the tough decision was where to go? Read on for the first instalment of a crazy two-day mission of storm chasing in Cornwall!

Words: Timo Mullen and John Carter// Photos: John Carter.

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TIMO MULLEN

FORECAST

“When I heard about the forecast, I had every man and his dog sending me messages about this huge swell hitting Cornwall. Even the south coast was giving southwest swell of 6m at 18 seconds! These forecasts are often hyped up and don’t always deliver as expected,  but this one did seem to be showing on every single surf forecast. I normally wave sail in Ireland on these big forecasts, where there are plenty of reefs. Big swells love reefs, the wave breaks thicker on a bigger period and sometimes taller. In the UK there are not so many reefs that handle this sort of swell.

There are a few reefs on the south coast, Wales and Scotland but Cornwall does not have many reefs that work on a big swell like this with SW wind. 18 feet at 18 seconds is going to close out pretty much any beach break in Cornwall. We had to hope that the swell wasn’t going to be as big as they were saying, otherwise the Bluff in Cornwall would be a close out!”

THE PLAN

“We made a plan to stay in Poole overnight and make a decision from there. There are some sick beach breaks that would work well if this swell was as big as they forecast. My local breaks could be amazing on a 6m at 18 second swell! The plan was to check it at first light. JC had come over to stay at my place the night before as it was likely no ferries would be running from the Isle of Wight. We would have enough time to get to Cornwall for the Bluff at premium tide if it was not looking good. We checked the beaches at Poole in the morning and sure enough that SW swell did not turn up. It was pretty much flat but howling windy!

We looked at the web cam for the Bluff and it did not look so bad. We could see it wasn’t totally out of control. It was big but not crazy big…yet! So, the decision was made that we were heading to Cornwall.”

THE BLUFF

“One of my best friends is Ian Black, he has lived in Cornwall pretty much most of his life. He is one of the local rippers. We arranged to meet ‘Blacky’ at the Bluff for around 12.30. Low tide was at 10am, so already the tide would be on its way in. A pushing tide is probably what you want on that size swell at the Bluff. Ian Ross was there in the carpark as we arrived as well as quite a few Cornish crew and a couple of brave guys that had travelled up from the south coast. It was cool to see quite a few sailors ready to go out on such a big forecast!

To start with, the session was pretty manageable. It was solid mast high but there didn’t seem to be any sets closing across the whole bay. After I rigged and was ready to hit the water, the swell really started to kick in. As I was walking down to the beach, there were some sets that looked to be mast and a half. We knew it was going to be an epic day.”

THE SESSION

“I was on a 4.2m, which is a pretty small sail for me to use wave riding. That meant that sub 80 kilo guys were all on 3.7m and smaller. I think Andrew Fawcett ended up on a 3.1m. It was bloody windy. I was a bit lucky. I was one of the first guys out and I scored about twenty minutes of it being perfect 4.2m weather. I would say during that first bit of the session I had my best moments. I had one pretty big aerial, which put me in a decent mindset for the rest of the session. I just managed to land it without being swallowed by the white water.

After about 45 minutes the wind notched up another force. I could hardly sail in a straight line. It got pretty crazy. I would say we were all sailing at the limit. The last time I saw the Bluff like that was during the Red Bull Storm Chase in February 2014. Obviously back then they had four Jet Skis and a bunch of safety crew. We did not have any of that. To be fair, because it was a long period swell, it was not that bad to get out if you timed it right.

There was one guy that got it totally wrong. He sailed straight into a mast high set and got annihilated. He broke his outhaul right in the impact zone. It was definitely on the limit!”

JOHN CARTER

“When I saw this forecast looming, it felt like a call of duty to head to the biggest waves. I knew the better sailing could be the sheltered spots but photographically I wanted to see the gnarliest conditions. I was actually relieved when it was flat at Branksome, as that meant we would have no choice but to head west. As soon as we arrived at the Bluff the swell stared picking up fast but at the same time dark clouds were looming over St Ives. I wasted no time getting all my gear ready and making sure I changed into my best rain jacket, waterproof trousers and wellington boots for the oncoming onslaught of weather!

The session all went by so fast. I was trying not to miss any crazy moments but at the same time wanted to move to a few different angles. Luckily I caught Timo’s aerial otherwise I don’t think he would of ever forgiven me, but a few moments were missed as I was moving about. Ian Black and Andrew Fawcett were catching some bombs upwind, while most of the crew were sailing close to the river-mouth. I think everybody caught a few mast high waves, there was no choice! Ian Ross, Sam Latham, Steve Thorp and Joe Vernon all latched onto a few monster sets. Just before the end of the session PWA Head Judge, Duncan Coombs rocked with his dog up to check out the waves. He didn’t have a sail small enough otherwise he would have been out there charging. By the end of the day I think, every sailor was stoked to have survived unscathed. There were a few brutal wipe outs but nobody was injured luckily. Even without the windsurfing it was epic just to see some of those massive waves at the end of the day!

We were so knackered that I even forgot to buy beer on the way back to Timo’s. The next day was also promising some massive north west winds and a 5m swell on the south coast so we just crashed, so we were ready for the ‘call of duty’ all over again!”

Click any picture to enlarge!