Home » News » ISS Bantry - excellent!

Windsurfers from all across Ireland, Scotland and the UK met in Bantry Bay, Co. Cork for event one of the 2011 Irish Windsurfing Slalom Series. A tremendous turnout on a poor forecast reflects the level of interest in racing among Irish Windsurfers. One of the surprises of the weekend was the number of new faces across all levels...there is no doubt that 2011 is going to be our most successful year yet!

 

 

All the crew at bigsurf.ie as usual organised the perfect weekend. Pearse and Kathryn had everything organised from the on-water safety, event gear, fabulous on the beach food sponsored by Cully and Sully, delicious chocolate from Katie’s Chocolate, meal deals at The Fish Kitchen and photography support from Bantry Photo.  Fantastic food and entertainment on the Saturday night at Ma Murphy’s pub are credited to Stephen Williams.

 

Despite a poor forecast, it was incredible to see 43 sailors fully registered on the Saturday morning making up the two race fleets of Gold and Silver. The Silver fleet this year is going to be particularly competitive with some obvious winter training going on (and some new flashy gear).  Cormac Daly was one of the first on the water showing his ability to get planing early in light winds on his new racing kit.  Another sailor with new sails in the Silver fleet and looking for success this year was Paul Green....not even the arrival of a new baby during the week could keep him away.  This is the level of commitment required to be a top class sailor in the ISS!!! Congrats to everyone in the Green household, although I don’t think there will be much training done before Kerry!

 

 

One of the standouts for the weekend and new ISS competitor was Fian McCabe. Fian was one of the youngest competitors attending Bantry but showed some great technique and ability to get going, and get going fast! He’ll be one to watch because when he wasn’t on the water, which was rare, he was soaking up tips from some of the best sailors in the series. It was also great to see Paul Rayner back at the ISS events. Fingers crossed we’ll get some wind for the Silver fleet in Kerry as the competition looks good.

 

Unfortunately the wind did not deliver for official racing. A number of starts were called by OD Greg Day, but the 12 knot wind minimum was not consistent enough...we were so close!  This was incredibly frustrating for both Gold and Silver fleet as the wind direction and speed needs to be perfect for Slalom racing to take place. Nobody was more disappointed than Greg Day, who again volunteered his help for the duration of the weekend.  A big thank you is extended from the ISS Team and racers to Greg for stepping in at the last minute.

 

 

Just before Saturday lunch, the wind did pick up and two fun races were quickly organised which saw the entire fleet of 43 sailors planing towards the gybe mark.  It was a fantastic spectacle for spectators and the local people of Bantry to see all these windsurfers planing across Bantry Bay.  Barry ‘the Bat’ Whitelaw was in good form and ‘allegedly’ crossed the line in first place...the stewards enquiry is still ongoing!  Neil Sandes (who definitely didn’t buy a new bike) was as usual looking as overpowered as possible going into the gybe mark.

 

As ever a big shout out has to go to the lads from Downings who made the long distance 8-hour drive from Donegal to Cork. It wouldn’t be same if they weren’t there, so thanks to them all for making the big effort.  We also have to recognise the effort of Ian Vaughan who came back from Scotland and Dan MaCauley who travelled from the UK.

 

The usual party kicked off that evening in Bantry Town with a particularly low key Hawaiian shirt turn out. The festivities were held at Ma Murphy`s pub / beer garden in the centre of Bantry town. Congratulations to Paul Reid on celebrating his birthday on the night. Rumours were that he organised the cake himself, complemented with a great speech.  The whole party was organised for a simple €20 ticket each, with a large contribution going to the local Bantry Hospice.  Pressure is on for Kerry lads and lassies...Hawaiian shirts are a must!

 

"The Fish Kitchen” also deserves a big thank you for supporting the event in it’s entirety, not only for meal deals but also for lending a hand with the organisation.

 

 

With zero wind on Sunday a lot was learned from ISS Champion Pearse Geaney and BigSurf.ie owner who hosted a rigging demonstration. New manoeuvres were also put into practice.  The ISS is claiming a new technical start line manoeuvre dangerously titled ‘the Maurice Manoeuvre’.  Anyone who wants to find out exactly what it is will have 43 demonstrations at the start line in Kerry.  Beware!!!!!

 

Sincere thanks are also extended to Mrs. Brigette Wagner for allowing us the use of the Bantry airfield over the weekend...we even got to see a plane land on the Saturday afternoon!  Thanks are also extended to Dennis Connelly and Jazz for letting us in!

 

This was a fantastic weekend organised in Bantry, despite the shifting winds.  Thanks again to everyone at Bigsurf.ie and all other sponsors, including Cully and Sully, Katies Chocolates, The Fish Kitchen, Bantry Photo, Ma Murphy’s and the Bantry Townspeople.  In short...we’ll be back!

 

 

 

All photo credits to Cormac Daly.

Thanks to Dave Mintan for penning this report.