Had this event on my radar for a while. I had been trying to get Finn to Tiree but had not been able to get him there. By doing this last event of the season he would be in the running for the english Youth champion, all he had to do was win.  For me hopefully some fun sailing.  Forecast looked good on Wednesday night so got a ticket for the boat from Rosslare to Pembroke. A eye watering €320.  I somehow miss read the ferry time thinking it was 1am rather than 9.45pm which made for a rushed Thursday. Worked till 1pm with Finn packing and hit the road at 3 with a bit of sleep on the road and boat rocked up at Gwithian around 11 to 19c 1ft cross off 5.0 weather. Not bad for the end of October.We both had a fun disco sail. ( big moves tiny surf !). Quick sleep on the M5 somewhere in Devon  Great to see lots of friends, partially the Pidden family who  stay in Brandon Bay every summer.  Finn Pulled up at the car park Saturday to still sm...

Magheroarty Classic 14 On the 25th of October we made the long drive from Kerry to Magheroarty. Starting the day at 3am !! It took 6 hours to get there from Kerry where we were greeted by waves and wind. not especially big but fun size at around head to logo high. Niall , Rob  and I all competed in the event. I started off in the trials for the main event. In my heat i managed to get some nice waves including a good set wave which Timo dropped in on. Not pleased !.  In the main event i ended up drawing Timo which was a bit of a tough heat. I sailed well but that was the end of the comp for me. 1st  youth and joint 8th overall. Love my new 4.0 IQ sail Dad got through his first heat then sailed like a plonker (his words)  which left him 5th. Rob had a very tight heat with Steve Thorp who went on to win and had to settle for 4th overall Timo's drop in on me in my heat !  For a change going out early from the comp was a good thing as i ha...

Delighted To announce a sponsorship deal with GA Sails ( Gaastra) and Jamie Knox Windsurfing. Big thanks to Jeremy at Jamie Knox for all his help with this. Both great brands that I am really pleased to be part of and we work hard to support. Find more info on there web sites here. http://www.jamieknox.com http://ga-windsurfing.com My first session on my new sails was a brillant session, We went on a road trip to south Kerry to a place that gets  SW swell. We were greated by over mast high waves on the reef with a slightly cross on wind. Got my new IQ 5.0 and 4.7 wet. Sails were brilliant. We sailed for 2 hours then took a break and went for a drive to let the tide fall back a bit, second  session was a little bit more side shore. Fun !    Been a good week for Sailing shame school gets in the way but getting out for  short sails after school. This week has given Thursday.       Had a break ! Wed...

At last a fun bit of  windsurfing  lasting more than one day. Both fairly extreme in there way. Friday was the perfect forecast for the bay 4m swell at 17 second and around 20knots  SSW winds.  It should have great but it turned  out to be hard work. Sailed 3 places and 3 sail sizes to try to hit the sweat spot.  First Beach Was out early to try to get it before the wind went to strong.  Around 12 knots is what we found. I hate hanging round so thought I would give it a go. Rigged a 4.7 as in big surf i find anything bigger just breaks and with cross off it does not make much difference. Spent 45 min sailing round not really  able to find set waves lot of water moving round and just a bit rubbish.  Bail and drive up to Gowlane now low tide and faced with mast + powerful waves in supper off shore winds  breaking a long way from the beach. On the plus side it now windy super stacked on a 4.7. Sail around waiting for a gap ...

This is a quick post of some Sailing photos we got from a recent session :-) This was fun session from last week, light winds and small waves, still fun though especially as we have had very little wind and waves all summer so anything was good fun !  A massive thank you is due to Tim Smith Visuals for taking the photos of Niall and I  I am on the blue and Orange sails and Dad is the other !  If you need sailing shots or any type of photography he is the best. www.timsmithvisuals.com yes, i did make this ;)

September weather has been unreal with  good surf most days in sunshine and summer suits in Brandon Bay. Still very little sailing other than one cross off day at Gowlane in 3ft surf. The outlook is looking good  for sailing this week at last. 4.5m swell at 16seconds and 20 knots of wind is the stuff of dreams and broken kit at Gowlane for Thursday. Have to work at the weekend but will still will get out on on any windy day. Loads  of people round as Jem Hall and Guy Cribb have courses on. It such a big bay lots of sails on the water is not a problem, the only one is parking which is where my old van comes in.  It is only worth a few euro but as it 4X4 it can drive on the beach which is far better than a cool set of alloys ! Niall

Great to get some really good surf in Brandon bay this week 2.5m northwest swell at 17 seconds and no wind + sunshine does not get much better. Two surfs a day.  Started off with some small glassy days and got better and better. The coming weekend is much the same forecast. Can not wait :)