WINTER - WHAT WINTER?

Contents :

• Winter - What Winter?

• Donegal Wave Clinic - Provisional Week

• May Roadshow

• Trailer Wanted

• And the Bit at the End

Helping Hand NSC

WINTER - WHAT WINTER?

Normally at this time of year we get a lot of comments about windsurfing in the winter. Comments like 'you must be mad', 'how many wetsuits do you wear' and 'you've finished having children then'. So the 'real men' who sail all the year round feel very superior and make sarcastic remarks about the warm water sailors and wimps who only emerge after the clocks change. But not this year - it's been warm!

So the reason I've been silent for a while isn't because there's been nothing to write about. It's because we've been too busy enjoying the windsurfing to bother sending out a newsletter. So for those of you who've been stuck inside trying in vain to contact NI Water or watching Stickly Cum Iceskating For B-list Celebrities, here's what you've missed.

Magheroarty January

Magheroarty January

Donegal has produced a couple of epic sessions. The third week in January saw a bunch sneak off for a day in Magheroarty which then turned into a weekend. 10 degrees, sunshine, excellent waves and 5m weather - was this really a Saturday and Sunday in January? Yes and Wookie, Lorraine, Big Robert, John The Drain and I milked it for all it was worth. A mixture of sails from 4.5m upwards and good but not too big waves meant that even I managed to catch a few. The high point was Colin 'Lorraine' Kelly who did a big run on the outside to get up wind and promptly broke his (aluminium) boom - both arms! Cross on wind meant about 45 minutes in the water and then a good pounding in the corner before he got in. Tired but happy though. And amazingly - and clearly this has never ever happened before - Andy was stuck in work the whole weekend. It wasn't for want of trying but he missed the whole weekend - including a good feed and Guinness in the Loch Altan. There is a God...

Wookie in the Waves

White Water Wookie

White Water Robert

There was a further great session at Magheroarty for 3 days in February. This time Andy did get away and he and the Wookie shared the waves and then some bodily fluids in Mr Yeate's hot tub. With characteristic brevity, Wookie summed it up as :

3 days in Donegal, logo waves, sunshine, 13 c, 4.5/5.0 each day. I have picked up a bad cold.

Clearly remark about the diety also applies here.

Over the top

And there have been numerous other sessions. Wednesday afternoons have picked up and now been named by Ming the Merciless as 'the Ltd'. This is a reference to you're a Long Time Dead. It used to be that only those of a medical bent (and I use the word accurately) could book off every Wednesday afternoon to get wet. But other, including me, have now joined them. The rule is that you go out regardless of the weather. So no wind and you SUP, some wind and you water ballet, a bit more and it's big kit and if there's a lot of wind you have a ball. It's surprising how enjoyable and addictive this is, especially knowing that you'll have company and indeed despite the company you know you'll have. So if you want to join us, you'll find the Ltd also known as 'long toothed and desperate' at NSC every Wednesday.

Gybing round a gyber

Pat has been trying to whip up enthusiasm for racing. While not the type of whipping more often enjoyed by certain club members, it has worked. He held a good session one Sunday in February and quite a few people rocked up to play. They included Lorraine, Fur-Ball, Pat, Gary, Ming, Shipman and Richard 'Man in Tights' Bowman. The only problem was the sea state. While we started on around 7m to be suitably over powered to race, it was tough going with a gnarly sea with no consistency in the waves. Crashes abounded with much muttering in the rigging area. Eventually the wind came up a bit more and I went from a 120 ltr straight down to a 90 FSW and 6.3m and had a ball. Others moved to much smaller boards now there was enough wind to use them and at least one wave board came out. I can't say the racing was fabulous, but we had a great sail!

Last weekend was really odd in that it was NNW and then swung NNE mid Sunday PM. While it was sunny, it was also cold so the lure of hot showers was stronger than the possibility of some waves in the brown stuff at Ballyholme. This wind direction meant that NSC was gusty, but despite this Pat, Gary, David Corkill and a few others had a good sail. The scary thing is that David, who always carries a pile of cameras, brought a boom cam and let a few of us try it. Then he posted the results up on Facebook. So if you want to see some good blasting and some wet gybes you know where to look.

That's just a flavour of the sessions there's been. There was a crowd out in Ballyturd, a number of Wednesday sessions mostly on big kit and the odd Saturday - Ming even got over 30 knots in some gusts last Saturday.And there have also been sessions at the Wookie's Lair in White Rock in easterlies.

So if you're one of those who 'only goes out when it's warm' - look what you missed!

DONEGAL WAVE CLINIC - PROVISIONAL WEEK

We're determined to make a couple of changes for this year's wave clinic. Firstly we're going to have decent wind for the time ever. So as well as sacrificing a few furry animals and shooting some crows, we are moving to September. And secondly we're getting sorted out really early so that we can get Jim Collis organised for a full week's course and not mess around with a few days here and there.

So, while it's not sorted yet, we're looking seriously at the week of 19th - 23rd September. So stick it in your calendar in pencil as it's going to rock this year. Warm weather, wind (of course) and a great week ..... More as soon as we know it.

MAY ROADSHOW

The other cunning plan is for a warm water holiday or not.  After a lot of discussion, well a lot of pints and a little discussion to be honest, we've decided not to run a warm water holiday in 2011 - well, sort of. The current thinking is to run a fixed week in May which is intended to be an Ireland tour. So we'll get people to book the time off, pay a deposit (to commit) and then we'll drive to where ever looks best - Donegal, Bellmullet, Kerry. No accommodation booked in advance - mobile and flexible. After all, why fly when we live on an island with outstanding waves and sailing at that time of year.

But - and here's the clever bit - a couple of days before if the forecasts look good, we'll all up sticks and jump on a plane to Malaga. If the right wind is on, then Tarifa is the place to be.

So it'll be Ireland - unless it's Spain. Dear love whoever is going to organise this - oh, s**t, that'll be me then.

Again, this is still being discussed but we'll make up our minds soon and let you know the date.

TRAILER WANTED

Mark Adams has been in touch and is looking for a trailer. And it's always nice to see someone following my lead - even if it's in the wrecked shoulder department -

AND THE BIT AT THE END

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