A Summer in Brandon Bay

I have been coming out to Brandon bay Ireland for the last 10 years and this year when I come over

for the BWA comp in may I managed to get a job in Spillane’s so I could stay for the summer and this

is how it went…

Last year I won the amateur fleet which has now allowed me to enter the pro fleet, and at 18 years

old I am the youngest competitor in this fleet at the moment. I wanted to train somewhere where

I could raise my level of sailing but needed to be able to work to support myself, so I saw this as a

golden opportunity. I was lucky enough to of spent 3 months in South Africa over Christmas after

spending last summer working on building sites but managed to survive without working out there.

However this time I had run out of money and needed to find a way of being able to work and train

at the same time. Rob Jones and Jamie Knox came to my rescue not only helping me find a place to

live with some of Jamie’s surf instructors but also work in Spillanes, Jamies surf school and Rob Jones

sail loft. I have passed my driving test but have not been able to afford a car yet so getting to the

beaches was sometimes a problem if I couldn’t blag a lift. At first the answer was walking whether it

be a surf board or my whole windsurfing kit until Rob Jones was kind enough to lend me a bike but

then I managed to find my own in a skip all be it without brakes, but who needs to slow down when

you’re going to the beach to surf?

At first I was surfing alone a lot of the time and having a few quiet drinks in the pub at night until

my friend Tom Bennet (who quickly got the name of no standards tom) arrived. This not only filled

the house up with even more kit and less room to sleep it also changed quiet drinks into mayhem, I

won’t go into the details but it turned into a pretty crazy summer but as soon as there was wind or

waves we were on it.

One of the most memorable days I had this summer was definatly the day where I scored 3

amazing sessions in one day starting off with an amazing down the line side off super clean waves

windsurfing session then off to Spillanes to do my daily clean up work then back out on the water

for another fun jumping session then straight from that to another beach for a classic surf, where

I managed to get fully barrelled for the first time then straight into a pub in dingle for a bit of

traditional irish music and of course a guiness..what a day!

It was a big change going from having one of mums home cooked dinners waiting for me on the

table back home everyday to having to budget big time cooking a dinner that will last me a week and

didn’t cost me to much or make me too ill, but was still quite healthy.

Brandon Bay is amazing because you can go from helping someone learn how to sail along for the

first time at one beach to helping my friend Connor do his first forward loop after only sailing for one

year to another beach where it is all time epic wave sailing conditions all to yourself, cant get much

better than that!

Overall my time in Ireland has been filled with mostly highs such as watching tom bennet ride off a

ramp on a pier on a bike at 1mph and ending up with 4 stitches in his foot and a week off the water

which wasn’t so good for him obviously but was so worth it for our entertainment, cheers tom. The

only downer on this summer is that it will not last long as in the winter it gets very remote and quiet

out here in Brandon so isn’t many jobs around, so my work with Jamie and Spillanes has come to an

end now so I think I will have to head back home for a while to save up some money to hopefully

enable me to have another epic summer next year.

I would like to thank Tim SMITH visuals for getting me some amazing photos this summer, look him

up if your ever in KERRY OR NEED A PHOTOGRAPHER , my amazing sail sponsor Hot Sails Maui which have not let me down in some crazy conditions, and have lasted me super good ,K4 fins and Marcus for the board repairs and lastly a massive thanks to Rob Jones from Kerry sail compney Jamie knox water sport for al there coaching help and support.

Sick couple of days out here in Ireland had loads of good conditions some amazing surfing and windsurfing fingers crossed for some more check out these pics that Tim Smith took and have a look at his website and fb page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tim-Smith-Visuals/244247125623669 http://www.timsmithvisuals.com/

Ireland so far

So far the summer has been jam packed. Between windsurfing, surfing, working in the local bar, and learning the ropes of living with three other guys, I’ve been learning something new each week.
There have been a few great windsurfing sessions at Three Peaks, Dumps, and Gowlane, and I hope there will be even more now that I have my new 75l Quatro Rhythm, which I bought off Rob Jones. I’m also looking forward to September and October, as that is when the windsurfing season here kicks off. In under a year of sailing, Conor has managed to start doing forwards, and backies are next for him.
I’ve had some good surfing sessions too. The waves haven’t been great, but I try to make the most of it when the right conditions have been there. There have been a few hiccups, like getting washed over the reef and breaking some boards, but nothing some sticky tape won’t solve.
Living with three other guys, especially sharing a room with two of them, has proven to be both hilarious and steep learning curve. I learned how to work our washing machine, after four weeks of accidentally tumble drying my clothes, and I have picked up some pretty impressive cookery skills. Turns out heating baked beans in a saucepan works better than doing it in the microwave. The entire downstairs of the house it littered with windsurfing kit, surfing gear, and wetsuits, which makes the living area a bit of a minefield.
In the coming months, I hope to enter some Irish events, and keep windsurfing and surfing as much as I can.

        

So we have just finished the first two BWA comps the first one was in Wales Rhosneigr it was a really good event and had some good condition on the Friday it was pretty small and NW so it was cross of so it was pretty fun and then on the sunday it was back to normal rozzy SW and got super windly by the end of the day with some good jumping but dident end up doing very good in the comp but it was really good whaching the final as they were doing some big jumps.

From rozzy we went stright to the ferry terminal and cough the half 2 ferry that morning from holy head to Dublin and then from there a 4 hour drive down to Brandon bay and straight on the water for an on shore jumping session at Mossie and then started the comp but ended up getting knocked out in the first round as jack hunt and Phil Horrocks was on fire. Ther has been some good fun surf around aswell so fingers crossed it keep on coming as i am staying out her now for the summer.

Thanks to Dave White for taking the pics

Right so recently there has been quit a lot of wind around which has been really good i haven't been to the waves that much though I have been sailing at home Canvey island so I have just been practising my freestyle which has been pretty cool. We have got the first two BWA wave comps of the year coming up in the next couple of week Rhosneigr Wales and Brandon bay Ireland  fingers crossed for some good condition. I think tomorrow i am going to be heading down to the south coast which should be good look like it going to be pretty windy and a bit of swell. Her some pics from today

This is a little edit of me on my new Hot Sails down the south cost of england hope you enjoy

Got my new Hot Sails

So Yesterday I went up to Leicester to the Hot Sails Maui importer (MDE) to pick up my new sails the firelight they look so good with the big logo on the top i cant wait to used them there super light and there going to stand out so good on the water.