As usual eager beaver Timo, was rigged and ready to go. He’s always on it when it comes to sailing. Finn wasn’t too far behind but meticulously checking his gear making sure everything was fit for purpose. I’m useless when it comes to being prepared like him, I just rig as quick as I can and head out regardless, but I’m starting to realise Finn might be actually on to something, like when I keep breaking down out to sea with no back up whilst Finn’s out there with enough spare down haul to tug a cruise ship into shore!
Timo was catching some absolute peaches, long walls with throwy inside sections which he was just doing aerial after aerial on. It was fun to see some of the local top big wave surfers like Paul O’Kane there watching some world class windsurfing, it’s a pretty rare occurrence around these parts and to see it so closely, in person, is pretty impressive. Finn headed out and in true Finn style started picking off the bombs. He tacked so far up wind I thought he’d run aground on the headland but it was all part of his standard kamikaze mission to go as deep as he could on the biggest sets of the day. At one stage all three of us were lined up on a clean set that came rolling in from so far out the back it felt like a lifetime before they finally jacked up. I could see Timo on the first, throwing buckets all the way in, then Finn’s wave was massive and all I could see from the back was the arc of the mast dipping below the lip and then carving up again as the monster wave rolled in. My wave was pretty sweet too. I was out on my favourite sail, my 4.3 Firelight, trying not to get distracted by the boys’ waves in front of me, or the stunning backdrop ahead as I headed down the face of a sizeable wall. There is literally nothing sweeter than having the sickest conditions right at home on your doorstep, the sun shining down and only you and your two mates out there enjoying it. It’s always the best craic sailing with Finn and Timo, not only because they push me to try harder but mostly because they are so unbelievably happy to just be out there, it’s so infectious and why I love windsurfing in Ireland despite my near hypothermic state ! JC