With the severe lack of surf recently, you have to take every pocket of swell that comes your way.

Here's some photos from a heavy beachbreak in Donegal I managed to catch a couple of weeks ago.

G


click on image for slideshow

An early start on Friday morning started the European championships. A half six flight out of Dublin airport left us all wanting a good surf. We drove along the coast in hope of finding some surfable waves but strong winds and dumpy surf forced us onto Mundaka.

As we waited for the tide to drop on Saturday morning we saw the surf starting to peel on the main break but throughout the day the surf became inconsistent. We all did ourselves proud, with Gerry and Jake doing a double assault on Darren in the Mens HP and Erica having an unfortunate collision in her Ladies heat that definitely cost her a place or 2.

Jonny, Andy and Corin all had a successful day, advancing to the semi finals. As high tide approached the judges couldn’t see the Mens heat on the inside wave and so the competition was postponed. This was unfortunate, as the majority of paddlers went out for a free surf and had a cracking session.

Sunday was moved to Bakio and with the surf not great, competition was tough. Andy and Corin both won their junior semis. The standard was very high, Jonny went on to come 3rd in I.C and Andy came 4th in junior HP. Big congratulations to our new European champion, Corin King

Andy.

Sunday started with a 9am meeting where it was decided that Bakio would be the competition site for the day, so after getting boats onto the car and everything packed up we headed over the mountain to see what the conditions were like.

There was a strong cross – onshore breeze blowing at Bakio and the sun from Saturday had been replaced by clouds, so not much opportunity to top up the tan today.

The day started with the IC heats that had been postponed from the night before, Jonny went through his heat comfortably and left him in the semis. Next up for us was the Junior Semis. Andy was up first against Philip Watson from England and 2 of the Basque juniors. Andy surfed well in his heat and finished 2^nd which put him through to the final along with Philip. Corin was up next and was up against another 2 Basque juniors, but won his heat comfortably putting both NI juniors in the final against Philip Watson and Ibon Agirrezabalaga from the Basque Country. After a great heat with great surfing from all 4 Juniors the wait was on for the final results.

In the meantime, Jonny was unlucky to be knocked out of the Open HP in a heat against Darren Bason and Dan Green from England and Mikel Arce from the Basque Country. Darren and Mikel went through to the final with Edu Etxeberria and Chris Harvey.

Jonny was back up again for his Semi Final in the IC and this time the scores went Jonny’s way with him getting through to the final with Darren, Edu and Aritz Fernandez from the Basque Country.

The Ladies final took place with Tamsin Green finishing in 1^st place in front of 3 of the Basque Ladies and then it was down to the mens finals.

The Open IC finals were up next and after an exciting heat with all 4 men surfing well, the final hooter went and it was just the Open HP to run before finding out how the NI Juniors and Jonny finished.

With all the finals run, the presentations were started with the ladies and the final results were :

Ladies

1. Tamsin Green - England
2. Ainho Tilosa – Basque Country
3. Cirtina Ferrer – Basque Country
4. Libe Lafuente – Basque Country

Juniors

1. Corin King – Northern Ireland
2. Philip Watson – England
3. Ibon Agirrezabalaga – Basque Country
4. Andy Mc Clelland – Northern Ireland

Open IC

1. Edu Etxeberria – Basque Country
2. Darren Bason – England
3. Jonny Bingham – Northern Ireland
4. Aritz Fernandez – Basque Country

Open HP

1. Edu Etxeberria – Basque Country
2. Darren Bason – England
3. Mikel Arce – Basque Country
4. Chris Harvey – Jersey

Another quick session in Mundaka that evening finished the weekend perfectly and left us all happy that we had traveled. An early start in the morning meant that everyone had an early night to catch the flight from Santander.

Thanks to all the organisers for a great competition.

Gerry

click on image for slideshow

Everyone woke early on Saturday with fingers crossed that the conditions would be the same as Friday. After a meeting in the square at 9am the call was made to meet at the judging site in Mundaka for 12 when the competition would start after the tide dropped.

The conditions first thing in the morning were ok, but the swell dropped as forecast and by lunchtime the wave was inconsistent with some sets coming through, but a lot of looking for waves. At least the weather was on our side with the temperature peaking at about 25 degrees, and a few bad sunburns achieved.

The competition ran throughout the day and we had some good results with Corin and Andy making it through to the 2^nd round of the Juniors and Jonny going through in both Open HP and Open IC. Jake and I were drawn in a heat against Darren Bason and one fo the Basque men and we were both knocked out in the first round.

By the time the ladies took to the water, the main peak was no longer working and the judges had moved further up the rivermouth to judge at another peak. Erica surfed well in her heat, but a collision with one of the Basque ladies knocked her confidence and she finished 3^rd place in her heat.

After the competition had been called off at 6pm, nearly everyone got back in the water to surf on the other peak in perfect conditions with plenty of waves to be shared by all.

After dragging the 3 boys of the water we headed to a local restaurant for a meal with the rest of the competitors. After some dubious looking courses, we all retired earlyish with the news that competition would probably be in Bakio in the morning.

Gerry