IWA Wave Champs CORK

Here's the poster for the upcoming wave event this weekend in Cork, hosted by KOEC.



http://www.surfdock.ie/

Achill Wave Event

After a long break since the first IWA Wave Championships event in Brandon Bay, Irish Wave-sailors have been eagerly awaiting the Autumn gales and a busy schedule of wave events back to back over the coming months.

The second round took place last weekend at Keel Beach - Achill Island on Ireland's West Coast.

As is often the way, a week of gales preceding the event blew through, with the event forecast looked only moderate for the Saturday, with no wind and a big swell for the Sunday. This kept a few regulars sitting on the fence, and wondering if they should make the trip. But as they say: "If you don't go, you wont know" ...and the die-hards who travelled to support the event were not to be disappointed, with enough wind to complete a full round of competition in cross-onshore port tack and occasional head high waves.

A call for an early start ensured the competition run through the 24 heats (only just), which could not be said for the Kitesurfing event that was being held on the lake - their event only kicked off at 2.30 and had to be binned half way though when the wind died.

In the Gold fleet, Surfdock Team rider Oisin van G got the edge over Finn Mullen to take the final, with Kerry event winner Morgan McGuire taking 3rd this time. This keeps the Championships wide open, with Oisin & Morgan sharing joint 1st, and Finn trailing by 0.3 of a point. No doubt it will go all the way to the final heat of the last event in Belmullet to see the outcome of this years Championships.

30 minutes after the final the wind died, which cleaned up the swell and gave everyone the chance to hit the water for a great evening surf session, and the promise of no wind the next day guaranteed that the evening social at the Achill Head Hotel went off until the wee small hours. On Sunday the 4m swell hit as forecast, which gave classic glassy conditions for an all-time surf session before the prize-giving and everyone hitting the road home.

Oisin fills us in on the action: "The conditions in Achill were moderate cross-onshore winds and waves upto head high.
My brand new NP Fireflys were put to good use, using 5.7 for most of the event, and sometimes 6.1, both with JP Freestyle 90 & 99. The freestyle boards actually ride waves pretty well, and of course are great for getting planing which means good jumping.
At times it looks like it was getting windy enough to try the 5.4 FLY, but I just didn't have enough time between heats to get it on the water to test.

I borrowed 3 JP boards I am missing from my good mexican friend who couldn't make the event (but has recently learned to flaka on his new 99 Freestyle Pro), which was great as I needed the 99 in the Final.
It also meant I could put on a good equipment display - I had the new NP FLY rigged on a rig stand attached to my van, with all the JP twinsers on display around it.
On a grey wet day in Achill, the Brazilian colours of the gear really stands out!

Pity we did not have enough wind for the twinsers to be shown in action properly, but hopefully we will get decent wind at the next event, which is in 2 weeks time in Cork."

Results:
Gold Fleet:
1st: Oisin van Gelderen (JP/NeilPryde)
2nd: Finn Mullen
3rd: Morgan McGuire

1st Lady & Silver Fleet: Laoise Ni Dhuada (U.I.S.C.E)
1st Youth: Nathan Regan, who also won the top prize in the raffle, a spanking new sail!

The next IWA Wave evnt is in Cork on 27/28th Sept.

For full results, more details on the IWA Championships or windsurfing in Ireland, see: www.sailing.ie/windsurf

http://www.surfdock.ie/

September 3rd Newsletter

Well here we are, September rolling in... the wind is howling and the Autumn gales promise plenty of windy action !

Coolmaine Rips
The 4th round of the Irish Slalom Series was a windy one ! Yes, it was very wet on Saturday but being able to race on a JP 110 X-Cite and a Loft O2 5.9 more than made up for this ! Thanks to Ralph Ferguson and his hardy crew a figure of 8 course was set running across the rolling swell which was pushing into the bay. As the tide dropped this left the outer mark lying in breaking waves making gybing particularly interesting ! The top guys were in good form (well you’d expect that ! They did organise all this after all !) with Pearse Geaney , Maurice Owens , Fintan Day , Danny Mulryan & Hannes Louet constantly vying for the top places. Yours truly managed to mix it with the lads a few times but consistency proved illusive.

Ceoil & Craic was had in the Harbour bar Courtmac on Saturday night with no reports of anyone going awol.

Sunday was a slightly less windy day but a lot drier !! Time to try the V8 7.5 & JP Supersport 74 mentioned in the last newsletter. This combo proved very competitive and was capable of staying with the top crew all the way ... even if the pilot wasn’t ! 1st race Fintan & myself lead to the 1st mark ... I’m just recovering a wobbly gybe & get run over by Pearse ... I recover to 13th having run over Danny in the process ... apologies from all quarters !! Got it dialled a bit better in the 2nd race & pulled a 4th ... my best result of the weekend. More practice & that kit will hum !
There was a great gang in from the North again lead by the very dedicated Peter McNutt. In fact I ended up in a McNutt sandwich with the talented Matt taking sixth overall (1st U-17 !!!!) , Peter in 8th (2nd Master) & me in 7th (1st Grand Master Flash) .


FULL REPORT & NOTICE OF NEXT EVENT AT http://www.irishslalom.ie/





NEW STOCK IN & PRICE REDUCTIONS !!

Of note this month is the arrival of a number of new neoprene products.

O’Neill launch their Psychofreak 4.5/3.5mm ...... a new “air pocket” neoprene allows lighter weight with the warmth of much heavier suits .... as flexible as the Psycho II 5/3 but with the warmth of the 6/5/4 mm suit. Price is €449.

More details here: http://www.surfdock.ie/product_info.php?products_id=442



Neil Pryde launch their outstanding Elite II with “air pocket “ neoprene in the chest area for even more warmth. For Dec to March hardcore windsurf or kitesurf this suit delivers ! Price €495.

The very popular Pryde E3 5000 series 5/3 is down in price this year to €349 ..... benchmark flexibility & warmth ... now cheaper !
More details here: http://www.surfdock.ie/product_info.php?products_id=406

The Pryde E1 3000 series 5/3 is also down in price to €219 !

Pryde’s new E1 Combat 5/3 combines the durability of “double lined” neoprene below the waist with the warmth of “single lined mesh” in the body & arms. A great suit for kitesurfers & windsurfers alike. Price is €279.

SOME EXTRA SPECIAL DEALS

Fanatic New Wave 80 ltr. Team Edition 2007 - NEW €999

Naish Global Wave 87 ltr. Wood Sandwich 2008 - NEW €899

Fanatic Shark 130 ltr. 2007 - NEW €899

Fanatic Hawk 108 ltr. 2008 - NEW €1159

Fanatic Freewave 95 ltr. 2008 - NEW €1159

Naish Freewide 130 or 160 ltr. 2008 - NEW €999

Neil Pryde Combat 5.0m2 2006 - NEW €349 (CASH ONLY)

Neil Pryde Combat 5.6m2 2007 - NEW €429 (CASH ONLY)

North Silver Series RDM 55% 370 Mast - NEW €299
North Silver Series RDM 55% 400 Mast - NEW €309
North Silver Series RDM 55% 430 Mast - NEW €319

Check out more special offers and 2nd hand gear, updated regularly on the site.

http://www.surfdock.ie/