Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Mundaka 2009 - Trip Report
12 o’clock midnight on the 22nd of April saw the start of what was to be a super trip to Mundaka for the annual European surf kayak championships. Dad and I collected Jonny in Bushmills and headed to Belfast to meet the King boys and Gerry. Despite the careful planning from Gerry, making sure the car park would be open, we managed to encounter the first problem of the trip... the car park was closed! But by good luck, we were able to park up at Jonny’s folks’ and continue on the empty road onward to Dublin airport, looking like the Flintstones with the five boats on the roof! After Juke making sure the planes had woken up, we boarded and were heading for the Basque country!
Arriving in sunny Santander, we got the hire cars sorted out and after some banter about who would get up the road first, it wasn’t long till we were in Bilbao getting a spot of lunch in the 20 degrees of heat! Dessie made the call that we would forget about getting a wave in Mundaka as the swell forecast wasn’t looking great, so we checked into the hotel and soaked up some sun.
A very well rested squad on Friday morning were once again on the search for waves, as the promising swell had not yet reached the Basque coast, we got a few waves in a poor, small Mundaka. After making the most of the poor waves and sunshine, we headed to Sopelina to catch some good, heavy onshore waves.
Saturday morning started early for everyone and with Mundaka firing a consisent head high wave, everyone was eager to get the competition started and get on the water! A very high standard was on display from everyone, with tube rides from Dessie, airs from Jonny and re-entries from Jake! Lorin and Juke both making it through the Junior HP, Jonny made it through the HP and Dessie qualified through in both classes.
Mundaka lost some of it's size on Sunday but still provided the world class waves needed for the finals. Team Northern Ireland showing yet again that they are a force to be reckoned with:
Corin King keeps his title of HP Champion
Jake came runner up to his brother in High performance
Andy is the new IC champion
Jonny finished 2nd in HP
Dessie came 2nd in IC.
Andy McClelland
Arriving in sunny Santander, we got the hire cars sorted out and after some banter about who would get up the road first, it wasn’t long till we were in Bilbao getting a spot of lunch in the 20 degrees of heat! Dessie made the call that we would forget about getting a wave in Mundaka as the swell forecast wasn’t looking great, so we checked into the hotel and soaked up some sun.
A very well rested squad on Friday morning were once again on the search for waves, as the promising swell had not yet reached the Basque coast, we got a few waves in a poor, small Mundaka. After making the most of the poor waves and sunshine, we headed to Sopelina to catch some good, heavy onshore waves.
Saturday morning started early for everyone and with Mundaka firing a consisent head high wave, everyone was eager to get the competition started and get on the water! A very high standard was on display from everyone, with tube rides from Dessie, airs from Jonny and re-entries from Jake! Lorin and Juke both making it through the Junior HP, Jonny made it through the HP and Dessie qualified through in both classes.
Mundaka lost some of it's size on Sunday but still provided the world class waves needed for the finals. Team Northern Ireland showing yet again that they are a force to be reckoned with:
Corin King keeps his title of HP Champion
Jake came runner up to his brother in High performance
Andy is the new IC champion
Jonny finished 2nd in HP
Dessie came 2nd in IC.
Andy McClelland
