In the closely fought Masters, Kyle McGinn returned to win his 2nd title with Craig Hamilton 2nd and John McLawrence 3rd. Robin Nicol brought the “RYA Scotland Junior and Youth Wave Camp” to Tiree for a week of training and on two lighter wind days, they sailed in the waves at the same beach as the main competition. The camp is a stepping stone for Juniors and Youths to get into BWA events and had 23 participants this year from 9 to 18 years of age. It was great to see youngsters being shown how to uphaul in waves and beaming as they sailed back to the beach. Young Ruaraidh Somerville won both rounds of the Youth fleet so is champion again for his 2nd time, someone to watch out for in the future for sure. A close competition for the other podium places saw Aaron Hobb 2nd and Andy Budge 3rd. The ‘Windswept Tiree Wave Classic 2017 Expression Session’ at Crossapol took place in storm force winds and driving rain courtesy of ‘Ophelia’ and saw incredible feats from the Pros, many of whom said they had never sailed or competed in such strong conditions. Marc Paré Rico excelled to claim the Expression Session title, closely followed by Adam Lewis and Julian Salmonn.
LUCAS MELDRUM – 1ST AMATEUR
Ever since I got into wavesailing I’ve come to know of the infamous Tiree Wave Classic. The idea of a week of epic windsurfing on a magical island in the Atlantic seemed very appealing and I have wanted to come for a number of years now. Eventually this year I convinced my dad to go up, especially now I was determined to complete the tour in the Amateur division. Living in Brighton we pretty much had to drive up the length of the UK! We took it easy, stopping off at Birmingham, so it took us around 2 days to get there. Although it was long I really enjoyed discovering new places and it’s all part of the Tiree experience. The ferry is the hardest bit, as all the windsurfers want to get the same one. They didn’t have enough space for the Saturday ferry so we booked for Sunday. Luckily though it turned out they had some extra space on the Saturday, so they squeezed us in. Result! I’ve seen a lot of Tiree stuff over the years but I think this year was one of the sickest ones yet. We had wind almost every day, including a hurricane! There was 70 competitors, including some top international riders, an awesome HQ, great atmosphere and a mad party at the end!
I especially remember the Tuesday when it was nuts windy (from the hurricane) and everyone was so pumped about going out and having fun! The funniest crash I had though was on a smaller day at the Maze. I was going up, about to pull the trigger for a forward, then the next moment I’m flying in the air with my board detached from the sail! Clearly I didn’t screw the mastfoot up very tight! Fellow competitor Reuben Shaw helped me get the kit back together but I managed to drop the UJ and it sunk! Thankfully I got a tow in by Stefan Hilder before hitting the rocks. I won’t make that mistake again!
Gear wise I was using my Fanatic Quad, which never lets me down, and my new North Hero’s that are also amazing. I felt so comfortable on the water, which I believe is so important so that you can really concentrate on the comp. I like the fact Tiree is set up to accommodate virtually every wind direction. At home it’s only ever good in a westerly. It was well cool to drive 15 minutes down the road, after being in onshore mush, to down the line wave riding. Sooo sick!!It was the best windsurf event I’ve been to for sure. Totally recommend it to anyone, you don’t need to be able to do huge back loops, it’s just about pushing each other and having fun on the water! In three words Tiree 2017 was – very, very, windy!