2024 - The Year That The Wind Died
OK we had some great storms, but in November the wind actually died. In fact the weather died as we had no rain, no wind, no sun, no nothing - just grey every day. There were some pretty desperate windsurfers lurking around that month. But more on this later ....
Even Before 2024 Started
Even before I could start to write about our misdemeanours in 2024, a couple of ijits decided to make fools of themselves right at the end of 2023! First off was Jarlath, normally a very safety minded gentle sailor. So how then did Cha end up with a picture showing what looked like an attack by a giant Lough Neagh pike?
He was sailing at Busted (rather appropriately) and landed a big jump about a mile out. This was what happened to his 94 Kode. In terms of getting back he 'just body dragged back in, 1 foot on the mast track initially and one in a strap'. Possibly a bit of an understatement and also we're not sure how he managed to bring back both halves. But he's back safely. Even better he'd already ordered a replacement for this board before this happened, so no gap in his quiver. After this the rest of the group chipped in to say that this 'flax balsa construction' was really light and manoeuvrable but their's had all broken too!
And the next disaster was also at Busted. We've had record rain at the end of 2023 and it was pretty muddy, more of a bog really, at Busted. But, being real men, we persisted until Paddy 'only 2 wheel drive' got stuck. And he was sailing or in this case sliding on his own.
I was on my way with a tow rope but a nice bloke passing in a 4WD towed him out.
If that's what happened before the year started, God knows what fun we are in for during the year itself...
Actually, here's a preview of one of the 2024 highlights, read on to find out more...
THE OFFICIAL START OF SPRING
Yes people windsurfed, but it was cold. And boy was it wet. Busted was off limits due to mud and it was all pretty miserable. But then, just as the clocks changed in March it became possible to windsurf and not freeze or bog down to your axles in mud. We all got pretty fed up with people posting Whatsapps from various warm locations - Fanta Pants in Medano, Richard celebrating his 60th in Fuerta and, in another league, Jarlath in Peru doing tow out surfing. I would say I might go off certain people, but then I was in Medano in February myself. Actually, that gave me a chance to answer some old board selection questions which arose when I last bought a new slalom board. People said, buy the Bolt, it's the fastest board around. But I was persuaded to buy the Fox as, while slightly slower, it would work out faster in our NI chop. I've never been anything other than delighted with the Fox, but on this trip I was able to hire a Bolt and try it. Lovely board and fast, but it confirmed for me that the Fox was a better board for me in our conditions.
Medano, busy enough for a February day!
During the cold months, we did however get one bit of heart warming and vaguely windsurfing-related news - Minger has released a new album!
As some of you know, Minger had a difficult career path decision to take 300 years ago - punk rocker or private dentist. So it was that he left Shock Treatment and moved to giving shockingly expensive treatment to his dental patients. However they invited him back to play on their 'new' album Exclusive Photos (available at all good record shops) and they played a gig in Bangor to showcase the new album. A number of windsurfers turned up to see if Chris was any less violent on the drums than on a board - turned out no, he gives it some no matter that he's doing. Oddly and no doubt full of reverse irony, he always played in a suit and so it was that he turned up and played (very well) in his suit. The band always called him Tory - which in case you didn't know derives from the word pig - although a recent press article called him Johny Dental ....
The gig was great, the audience was - well let's say of all ages (or aged) and the big question was whether the windsurfing contingent was able to stand for that long without taking a seat break...
Well, back to windsurfing and we had a mental day a week before Easter. Paddy led the charge to Bartins and rigged both 4 and 4.5 and hopped between them all day. I tried 4.7 but one run convinced me of the madness and I went down to 4.2. Michael was out on his kite. The wind was hugely changeable. The squalls were mental, well over 40 knots but at other times you couldn't plane. Despite this, most of the time was just plain old windy ie a good sail. Charley appeared, ate his lunch, talked bollox but never sailed. And Jarlath dropped by with tales of Peruvian surfing which sounded amazing.
Cha did at least take this image of me going out to get minced while Paddy sails immaculately in the distance.
The following weekend, Easter Sunday produced the goods too. Despite it being an easterly, Ciaran headed to Ards where he sailed for nearly 3 hours on windsurf foil and wing with some disreputable company which included Owen and Big Robert. Sasha and I thought Oxford Island was a better bet and I scored 3 really good sessions in the second bay on 7.8 and the Fox. 15 degrees and sun cream needed. I was boiled in my winter suit. After a while Sasha decided (6.7 on 110) that Castors would be better and he bravely headed off down wind to try it out. He had a good sail, but risked having difficulty getting back. So it transpired the wind dropped and he spent quite a while working his way back.
If you get out your magnifying lens you might spot him near bird shit island. He did get back, looking very cool in his dark sunglasses - which today he needed!
KATHLEEN CALLS
We have been doing well for named storms and Kathleen rocked up and rocked us just after Easter. The Friday before was fairly windy. Nigel, Raptor and co decided on Kearney. They had to wait patiently most of the day but by dinner time it was 3.6 weather and waves.
Newtownards saw quite a few people getting out before it got silly on Saturday. Ciaran honoured us with a visit and wing foiled and then winged. At the club I was joined by David, Jake (wing) and a (very) old friend in Alan Yeates. Great to see him having his first sail of the year. He waited for ages before picking 6.2 which was probably the most right choice. I wanted to back Paddy L and put in (a very uncompetitive) speed for the competition, but it wasn't the best day to try it. However I dusted off my old school GPS - none of your neat little watches for me. I had a nice brick strapped to my shoulder and bravely went out on a ridiculously big 7.8. Yes I flew, but control was difficult and you were in constant fear for your ankles. Funny day though, while at times I was minced, at others I was nice or even struggling to plane. Unfortunately for me I didn't keep track of the falling tide and lost a good 40 cm fin in the bay past the car park. So a joyful hour was spent later when the tide was out walking the beach, but no fin was found.
Russell did quite well on around 6m and we even saw our favourite French man (if that isn't an oxymoron) when Fred appeared and also had a good sail. I eventually went down to 6.5 as the wind eased up more, but even that was a struggle at times.
Once it came up at Kearney, Michael was on hand to record some good sailing - as ever his good work gleefully stolen for this site.
Saturday was Kathleen day and various hard core types reported for their punishment on various beaches. Raptor declared Cloughy as unsailable - which tells you something. Various other hard core types stood (with difficulty) at various beaches and decided not to go out. In fact, we are not aware of any windsurfer in NI who went out. It was that windy. Sasha drove from Lurgan all the way to Newtownards only to find the road closed due to huge waves breaking over it. The web cam at the sailing club showed waves breaking on the car park. And NI storm scenes featured in the national BBC news.
Minger claimed Rosapenna was rideable for an hour until he burst his centre strut. I wondered if this was a technical term for a burst hernia, but it turns out it’s a winger term for the bloody fool put too much strain on his wing. He did manage to get ashore before the coast guard could get involved – no beer required this time. Ming's meter recorded 42 knots.
So Kathleen did a really good blow job ….
Sunday was a bit more civilised. Normal service resumed at Tyrella as these shots show :
A lovely quote from Mr Wookie, who as most of you know has developed into one of the best wingers around (and no hernias). He posted asking if anyone thought Miners or Kearney would be best and was told it depends on what you want to do ie fin or wing. His response - Windsurfing, given up on that wing foiling nonsense. Somehow we don’t believe this…
Paddy D went to Ards only to find the tide rising over the car park. And no smug remarks from sailing club members either as the rigging area was flooded. Later in the day Russell reported sailing on 5m but very lumpy (the water, not Russell).
Down at a very muddy Busted, the Pond Life went out on very small kit. Ciaran winged (4m), Nick powered through on 4.7m on 115 and a considerable amount of drugs. While Richard said it was all too much for him after hanging onto 3.7. Paddy D of course sailed well on 4m while I charged about on my smallest kit – 4.2 on my quad. It was manageable a lot of the time until it wasn’t. The gusty bits when they came lasted a few minutes but must have been above 50 knots. All survived but it was tough going. And this was after Kathleen had gone.
THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
Busy weekend which started for me on Friday at Busted on 8.5m until the wind came up and pushed me down to 7.1. Fabulous flat water for once and much (needed) work on my gybes. Ciaran winged and later Richard came down and got his arms stretched as the wind continued to rise.
All this was in anticipation of the real antiques roadshow on the Saturday at Newtownards. It was the club annual prize giving and with a strong forecast the club was very busy. Paddy L was out on 5.5 when I arrived in a steadily building wind. It rose to the point where I was having a challenging time on 4.7 on my Goya but very up and down. The next antique to arrive was Alan Yeates, sailing well on 5.3. Then Ali – F’n tourettes – Todd rocked up and blasted around on 4.7. The collection of national treasures then extended to Wookie (2.5 wing), Chubster (4m wing), Ming (resplendent in his X-Men Magneto blue helmet). Vic and finally the oldest swinger in town himself – yes Trevor Pollen had got his gear back out from the Ulster Museum and was determined to sail. Against our advice he rigged 5.6 and got onto a board so old I’ve no idea what it was. It was long, thin, and tear drop shaped – not unlike Trevor. 80 something ltrs and allegedly a wave machine. Whatever it was, it didn’t work. Trevor tanked off downwind and never really got back. He ended up frustrated eventually in bay beside the club. We helped him get his sail up the rocks and onto the rigging area and he walked his board back along the road. In the meantime another mega gust picked up his sail and the heavy tyre which was supposed to hold it down on the rigging area and hurled it down onto the rocks. Amazingly it survived without a scratch! The Ulster Museum will be relieved…..
The fun continued into the prize giving event which was well run by Paddy. Indeed the fun continued long after that as Wookie, Chubster and Ming bedded down in their vans. We don’t know (and don’t want to know) the exact sleeping arrangements, but we certainly enjoyed watching Wookie and Chubster trying to pump up Wookie’s knackered inflatable. They finally got air into it (with much pumping by Chubster) by dint of adding a lot of duck tape to the various leaks. A couple more pumps and the tape flew off leaving a very deflated Wookie.
There was a time when these lads could and would have propped the bar up until the small hours. However, they were chucked out at 10:30 (already an hour past Wookie’s bedtime) and were forced to seek other options. Minger ‘discovered’ a bottle of whiskey and the 3 amigos sat, gradually freezing, but warmed inside. It was so cold that Wookie, despite his fur, had to put his coat on inside the sleeping bag. After that it was a quiet night apart from the continuous traffic on the road beside the club. Oh, the joys of growing old….
DUCK PADDY!
During a nice northerly session at Oxford Island, windy ie 4.7m for me, Paddy had a great time dressed for full winter despite it being April. However he disturbed the ducks when he came in which prompted a nice caption competition on Whatsapp.
The winning entry was Paddy is ducked...
TELETUBBIES TAKE UP WINGING - WHO KNEW?
Another typical 'classic' northerly day at Oxford Island and we were somewhat surprised to see Ciaran with his new head gear on. Speculation was rife, had his wife hammered a post into his head? Was this a unicorn on a wing? Or were we blessed by the appearance of a Teletubbie on the water?
Just in case you are struggling with this one, here is a reminder of the famous four below.
Informed Teletubbie experts tell us that it is in fact Dipsey - rather appropriately the green one. Considering this is Lough Neagh, it's just a pity there isn't a blue/green one. We also wondered if the other 3 could be Barry, Cha and Sasha?
Given the headlines this year about AI, we thought we'd put it to some highly practical use and ask it to cross Ciaran with Dipsey. Here is the result :
It's a bit confusing in that we're not used to seeing Ciaran with a blonde fringe, but look hard and you can see the inner Ciaran child is in there.
For the record it was a lovely 18 degrees, sunny and a nice 7m wind. Also out were Richard and Paddy who flew in direct from a wine tasting in France.
It was great to see Barry, who is something of a rare spot these days, but who hasn't changed. He immediately went out and took the nose off his board. He then somehow persuaded Richard to let him take out his new Fox - brave man Richard with Barry's track record on kit damage - and had a blast. Actually we all did. Big speeds and smiles all around!
On and, just for the record, the Telebubby had an excellent wing session but then moved onto his Fox and 7m and rediscovered why wingers should not sell their windsurfing kit. He also did 10 knots more on his Fox than on his 4m wing.
Whacky Races - Part I - June
No, it wasn't the rescheduled IWA event at Newtownards, but it was the Newtownards Sailing Club annual regatta. Not the huge gathering of boats it was some years ago, but still a good number including boats who beat their way up from other sailing clubs on Strangford Lough. And, as usual, they gave a little over to the windsurfing fraternity.
Starting line - maybe ...
It was great to see so many familiar faces including some we haven't seen for ages like Jane and Jenny McCready, uncle Yeates rocked up too. The would-be racers included Wookie, Big Robert (we'll have to stop calling him that he's lost so much weight), Brian Kelly, Pat, Johnny, Philip and David C. I say 'would-be' racers because the organisation of the windsurf/foil racing was such a shambles that it was more like a pantomime. I think the boat races were well organised and run, but the same love was not shown for the windsurfers. Firstly the course was clearly not set for windsurfing - it contained a one fully upwind leg. So if you weren't on a foil, it was pretty much impossible.
The briefing - well, there wasn't one. So some hopefuls set out for the race with little idea of the course, where to start or to finish. This was eased by the fact that most people couldn't find the starting line, it wasn't obvious.
I reckon that the starter sounded his horn at the appointed hour and some people who by good luck happened to be there thought they might as was well race. How many laps? Well nobody knew so after 2 they asked the guy at the finishing line but he didn't know either. So some did 2 and some did 3.
All I can say is where is Nick Fletcher when you need him....
The Lord looking in vain for the race.
Not so Big Robert.
I heard a rumour they gave the win to Wookie, but then this photograph emerged of a Wookie sandwich. Two gingers and a Wookie - make up your own captions for this one! But well done to all of them. They clearly won something, we're just not quite sure that it was.
But the sun shone and it was in fact a lovely day to sail Ards amongst the many boats.
Brian Kelly showed the value of Wheetabix as he held down a massive 9.2m. I was flying most of the time on 7.8 and in fact around 8m was the general best option. It's nice to 'rediscover' how good this spot is on a warm, sunny and mostly windy day but with flat water. The wind was at its best after the official end of the race (if it ever started), which meant that many of us missed the cake and stuff which was apparently laid on. But it was worth it.
WHACKY RACES PART II
After having to abandon the Ards RYA event, PaddyNick decided to try again and went for 8/9 June. They almost blew it (pun intended) when the forecast looked rubbish, but they stuck with it and were rewarded with a day's racing albeit in very light winds. Not so light as other years, so people could plane at times, but often on very big sails on foils. The entry wasn't the largest, but as the results show - there were results!
A very creditable result from Brian Kelly who was I think the only real ie non-ironing-board sailor. Reports were of a very enjoyable day, but as I was on airport duty I couldn't be there to report any dirt personally. So I will let the usual excellent photos from David to the talking :
EXPLODING WINGERS AT DOWNINGS EVENT
Another excellent Downings event run brilliantly as ever by Nick Fletcher. Mind you, he had a difficult one this year with a very marginal forecast made worse by the prospect of some wind, but no one (except Ming) was quite sure when during the days. Ming was of course wrong.
Many of us went up on the Friday and had a really nice sail in the afternoon in 7.5m conditions. Nick event arranged a couple of informal round the buoys races. But, as ever the real event was Saturday and Sunday. We started the first day with some 'light wind' ie no wind races. Nick was hoping the wind might come up in the afternoon, the question was when. The 2 morning races had almost no one planing. Some people missed the first race because they simply couldn't get out to the starting line in the hugely marginal wind.
The chief optimist had to be the Wookie who, fed up with the wet dreary weather at home, decided to listen to Ming's insistance there would be wind and drove up mid day. Totally mad of course, but it worked. He arrived around 3 just as the wind started to show signs of life. Nick sprang into action and we had 6 races in increasing wind. At first the foilers had the advantage but by the end even the fins were planing. However the most abiding memory will have to be the number of wingers who simply exploded at random points in the races. Round the gybe marks one might understand, but for some reason in the marginal winds many simply stuck their nose up and collapsed. It made for very interesting racing as normally once there's a puff the wingers are off and leave the fins for dead. And this happened, only for many of the wingers to explode and so be overtaken by the fins.
I have to say that the most explosive winger was Ming who seemed to blow up 3 times on each leg of the races. When asked later why he'd had such a shit sail, he said it wasn't his fault, he was on the wrong kit. Now given that he's growing such a fine collection of wings and foils, one can only assume he's spoiled for choice. But he seems to think it is somehow someone else's fault if he selects the wrong one.
On the last race of the Saturday there was fantastic carnage, all caught on video by Nick. It was at the start line and 2 people dropped their sail/wing just after the hooter and then a number of wingers ploughed into them and all fell in a heap. This video also shows one fin, sailing serenely through the detritus - me on my 8.5 happily ploughing through the bodies. Sure they're only wingers after all! Listen carefully for Nick's expert verdict on the guy who caused it all....
I might add that only egos and equipment was hurt - all bodies escaped damage!
The Sunday was more of the same with one really slow non-planing race before the wind picked up. Out we went with a happy heart, only for the wind to die (for the day) just as the race started.
Don't get me wrong, it was a fun filled weekend - greatly enhanced by the number of exploding wingers.
Our crowd did well, Wookie was third overall and Andrew and Johnny both were ranked. I got a prize for 'first place' which I think meant first of the last places. But still was pleased to have started (and finished) every race and never came in last!
GREAT WINDSURFING SPOT - PLEASE DON'T GO TO IT!
Greer's Quay - many of you will never have heard of it, but it's a great spot. Between Carlingford and Newry, opposite Rostrevoir the setting between two sets of hills is magnificent. And when the sun shines (as it needs to be for this spot to work), it is beautiful.
My photographs don't do it justice, but they do show the problem - car parking. It's very tight there, I had to ram by car up a bank just to get in, others had to double park. Shades of Dooeys....
The spot works best with thermals. On my first visit all the forecasts shouted don't bother. 10 knots, maybe. But it was SE-ish and very sunny. The locals said, it will work at least for a couple of hours. And they were right. No wind at all on the drive down, but at the Quay there was 15 knots and 10 sails on the water. I had a lovely run on 7m before it went flukey. Lots of foils, both sail and wing out, but some other old school types also on 7m and around 120 ltrs. Lovely sail.
My advice, if you intend to go make sure it's a sunny day and get down early!
RAPTOR RAPTURE
We are very quick to poke fun at people, and actually rather proud of doing it, but fair play - when someone does something spectacular, we will praise where it's due.
Here's an edit of the report from the 2024 Mayo Mayhem event. Sponsored by RWE it is Ireland’s biggest windsurfing competition and they scored it again last weekend.
Imagine this, a local NI amateur sailor comes third in the professional section of a major wavesailing event. This is some achievement and Alex Raptor Duggan did just that! Big ball and a big score.
Here's some photographic evidence shamelessly stolen from the event Facebook pages in keeping with the best traditions of this website :
The prize giving with Alex on the right with the pros.
Raptor in mid flight as we are used to seeing him.
Raptor tit over arse and no doubt landed this. Like a pro? I think so.
And that a shot of a Raptor top turn. He's good!
SWINGING IN DONEGAL - Two Wave Courses
We've had Phil from Getwindsurfing teach us in Donegal for quite a few years and he always come up with something new. And 2024 was no exception, so this is how he now dries his sails. We wraps them up and then swings them energetically round and round to use centripal force to throw all of the water out. So, yes, he was swinging a lot in Donegal. Well, what type of swinging did you think I was talking about? Shame on you...
Only problem was that you didn't want to stand too near otherwise you got all the water over you.
And talking of Phil, he double photobombed this shot of Ballyness Pier...
So what did we get this year? Well, a good flat water course followed by two weeks of wave sailing. And the first week we got lots of wind!!
There were some new people on the course but little did we realise that we had a star amongst us. Davin, while claiming he'd never wave sailed, turned out to have 'accidentally' entered a PWA wave event and scored a whole point! I don't think he went on to win, but it was one more point than all the rest of us put together. So we watched him in awe everytime he got on a wave.
The first week was proper windy, split mostly between Magheroarty and Rosapenna where we scored lovely sun and wind at around 4.7m. Waves were moderate and of course my favourite backside. It even tempted up a rat bag of Nordies to sail with us. So we had Fanta Pants, Jarlath, Hern Dog and others. Great to see.
We also had two transatlantic members, David from Canada and John who'd flown in from the Gorge. For someone with very little wave experience he certainly kicked some ass. David sailed pretty well too and impressed us with his pilot tales - he has semi-retired now to fly tanker planes to water bomb fires!
It did get very windy and every now and then the sun would disappear and a squall would come in with big gusts and hail. Bloody sore on the face. But then, this is Donegal, you get all weathers usually on the same day.,
Not everyone was new, it was good to see Duracell Pavel back again (from London) who enjoyed a bit of a jump-fest and a lot of other stuff.
Unfortunately once more he managed to damage his kit - this time was the first time he'd sailed his new wave board. The UJ slipped out the mast bashed his board quite badly. However, well practiced as he is in this department, he was soon back in his house sniffing glue and other strange chemicals and the board was on the water two days later.
As I said, I enjoyed a good bit of backside...
Despite the wind, the sun was out and newby Kate shocked us all by stripping down to her bikini and taking a wild water swim. Nothing wrong with her in a bikini let me say, the shock was that anyone would get into that water without a wet suit. More real man stuff! By this time the conditions were tranquil at Rosapenna. Davin was worried she might score a PWA point too...
Tranquil after the wind at Rosapenna.
Another day we headed for Carrickfin ie Donegal airport. The highlight of the day was of course the arrival of the daily flight.
We scored on windy day at Dooeys where the wind fluctuated a lot. 4.7m for me, so it was pretty windy, except when it wasn't. Oh and then it was and indeed 4.7 was too big. The water state made it very difficult. It was really hard to plane on the outside as you bounced over the lumps and bumps.
Seraina put her Go Pro to good use and bravely provided this evidence of the 'dynamic' conditions -
And we also had some punk rock action! Picture of respectability (in public), private dentist Chris Ming the Merciless Loughridge used to be a drummer in a punk band - who knew? The band have reformed and their repertoire is a bit more varied and even includes some Abba.... 70s punk royalty, perhaps not. Anyway Shock Treatment were on at the Harbour Bar on Saturday night and lots of windsurfers went down to drink Guinness and spit on Minger.
As you can see he was on fine from and to be honest (for once) his drumming was really great. Drummers are often judged by how hard they hit the drums - and, after years of practising hitting his boards, Chris was doing some serious damage.
The second week saw a lot less wind - but even more sun. I started Phil off on the road to golf. We found a ball in the dunes and my clubs were in the car, so soon he was pitching and chipping. It all went really well until he discovered how to rib a ball - which then shot off low at great speed and into poor Neal's knee. He limped for the rest of the day until some Guinness restored him.
As we got the last couple of days, we scored a scorcher at Dooeys. No wind at all, but lovely waves and much SUP action and indeed some surfing. Neal was witnessed really getting onto his surf board and riding standing up. He was well chuffed.
After a break, it was the turn of the wingers to come under Phil's spell. While I wasn't on this course - since I'm a fully paid up member of the I'm never going to wing club - I did get a few reports.
We had very little in the way of damaged equipment during the courses, but one casualty was Phil's van whose clutch fell off. The highly technical report from my correspondent didn't go into much more detail other than that a local garage screwed it on again.
Windwise, the wingers did quite well with 5ish metre wings in use most of the time - that's about 7m in old windsurfing money.
Now we're always open to a good caption competition. So how about this one, showing Mr Wookie from his best angle. My opening bid is - ass of the year. But can you do better?
There were the usual number of crashes etc, but on the whole most people sailed very well. Chief amongst these was Chubster aka Tim. Seen below in typical pose.
But how about this, not from the winging course, but Pavel showing he can do both the light and the dark side.
Clearly the wingers are not such a smooth and sophisticated crowd as the windsurfers. Their conversation got a bit close to the knuckle in the Strand Road one night (something about Oscar shagging?) when a local family told them off in less than polite terms. I might add that Oscar is a dog...
So yet another Donegal wave clinic is over and we're all looking forward to next year - when who knows what will be swinging ....
WHAT STRANGE PEOPLE LIVE IN NORTH DOWN
Have you noticed that most newspapers like to put a picture of a pretty girl on their front page? Normally it raises interest amongst readers.
However, take a look at this front page...
Instead of a pretty girl, North Down Spectator go with a picture of the Wookie! It makes you wonder what sort of people live in North Down if this is what they find attractive?
Still, it is a good shot of William doing what he does these days. Effortlessly gliding over the water and looking as unlike a pretty girl as it's possible to get.
SO HOW DID DERRYMORE BECOME BUSTED MARINA?
During lockdown I went out in desperation to find a sailing spot since the Council had closed all of our regular spots including Oxford Island. Sneaking about with gear in my car (my trailer would have been too obvious) I 'discovered' Derrymore on the east bank of Lough Neagh near Bartins and Gawley Gate. The local sailors scoffed and said no-one could sail there as big trees had grown up and blocked it. But it turned out that the trees had been removed and this spot became a regular haunting ground (and mud bath in the winter) for local sailors. The problem however was the past history of locals dumping stuff in the water including entire cars. We got used to stepping over engine blocks and suspension as we launched - hence the name Busted Marina.
But recently we bribed a very obliging local with a digger to clear up the launch slot. Here is the pile of car parts he dredged out.
We are not quite clear if it really was a Morris Marina (if you're too young, go and look it up), but it's quite a collection.
Now all we have to do it get the 3 sunken barges removed....
In October we were tempted out by a strong forecast and the call was made for Busted, despite the wind being very on shore. The logic was that it was going to swing shortly to NW, but it didn't. The result was a huge shore dump and really difficult launch. Some of us made it out on around 5m and had a good sail in pretty difficult conditions. Launch and landing was taxing, despite the lack of car suspension to spice it up. Paddy in particular had an excellent sail, although he had the brains to go out on a 4m sail. Nick defied the laws of physics to sail 5.9 (and damn well), we have no idea how he managed it.
As the wind got up and more variable, the on shore launch through the increasing shorebreak got harder and harder. I had a miserable rinsing on my quad but the big prize goes to Richard. He was trying to get out on 3.7 on a 70ish ltr board and just couldn't make it. He was pounded by the shore break and didn't have the power to get past it. But he kept trying.
Now, you'll be familiar with the child-crayon-like tracking pictures people post to show how much they sailed. Clearly posted by people with very small appendages as they have to show how well they did. You know who you are.
But Richard posted this, which on first glance looks like a good sail. Only it isn't, it's a track of his (failed) attempted to get out.
22 minutes of pure Hell, but good for Richard for posting this for our general amusement. I'm just glad I don't wear one of those watches so you could see how much I struggled too.
WHO CANCELLED THE WEATHER?
Personally I blame Donald Trump - apart from being a liar and an ass hole, he doesn't believe in climate change. But what else could you point the finger at after horrendous floods in Spain and 3 weeks of total calm in Norn Iron? Look at what happened to my poor unused windsurfing trailer.
Says it all really.
Well the drought finally ended with a couple of nice sessions in medium wind - 7.8m for me on the Pond, but others out at Ards. I thought that might be it for the year, but the weather had other ideas. The last weekend of November saw Storm Bert reached these island giving snow, torrential rain and yes - gale force winds. It was all rather biblical really, we just needed a plague of locusts and frogs to make the full set.
Excitement was high for Friday with 'At last' being the Whatsapp post, but it proved rather premature as the wind was mental on Friday night but fizzled down to nothing on Saturday morning. So all hope transferred to Sunday when Bert II was due to appear. Many of us assembled early on Sunday at Ards hoping to get a sail in when it was only very windy ie before it went to 40 knot plus gusts.
The sailing club was like a gathering of old. To be more accurate it was a gathering of old windsurfers, rather than the days of old. We had Wookie, Chubster, Tourrettes, Ming but all out on wings. The windsurfers included Paddy Lyner, me, Vic (although he changed sex half way through to wing) amongst others. At the poor man's car park some of the Pond Life Crew appeared including Richard and Sasha who joined Russell in the Bushes.
We were all expecting to rig really small, but it wasn't ballistic yet. So Vic started on 4.7, I went 5.3 and Paddy even held down 6. The wingers all went small in anticipation eg Mr Wookie was on a 2.5 whatever that is. What it meant was that the fin boys were racing around using the static wingers as gybe marks for a while. It did get better and some people had good runs on 4.5 or even 4 in the case of Richard. But the expected killer wind never appeared - thank goodness. So the sun was out, it was a tropical 9 degrees and we had fun.
Meanwhile at Kearney, just look at this cracker shot from Michael. No prizes for guessing who is making jumps look easy!
Sailers include Raptor obviously, Andy and Philip. Bedford was at Miners and all reported big wind and waves on about 4m.
We particularly liked this photo below - every picture tells a story as they say, but this one below tells two. At the top of the picture is Alex/Raptor. Apparently he's doing a goiter - I thought that was a medical issue which involved wearing a truss, but apparently not (at least not until you've tried it and wrecked yourself).
But look closer, there's a head in there in the foreground. That's Jarlath who's just lost it (and hit kit) and is starting a swim into shore. He made it we are informed.
So the sub 4m sails stayed in their bags, but we all celebrated Bert-lite with big smiles on our faces.
The storms of course kept coming and the biggest was Darragh which generated rare red warnings from the met office. Windguru's web pages looked more like a gay pride march with colours on there we haven't seen before. Facebook contained many wobbly videos from windsurfers struggling to stand up at various sailing venues. In the end only the brave Wookie and his cuddlemate Tim went out, on 2.5m wings and survived a bit of a sail at his house. Not epic but a sail was his rather modest epitaph.
In fairness Minger would undoubtedly have gone out, but he was in hospital having a planned medical procedure. We look forward to seeing him as Mrs Minger when he emerges.
The biggest excitement at Ballyturd was a boat being washed up on the beach - makes a change from the other stuff we normally see washed up there....
THE END OF THE YEAR SHOW
After all the lack of wind and the storms, the year ended with a couple of days of nice wind between Christmas and New Year. The 30th saw a motley crew assemble at Busted. We were amazed to be joined by Willy Wonka (at least that's what we thought he said through his thick Ballymoney accent), a winger from Portrush. Despite huge waves and wind at his home patch, he'd been advised to come to the Pond for 'a bit of adventure'. What he got was Paddy, Richard, Cha and me on 4.5m-5.3m in a lovely 9 degrees.
Ciaran was also there, but having come down with various internal infections he was medically advised not to windsurf on the lough. From the kaleidoscopic descriptions of his current pee, we reckon he might have been seriously affected the water quality in Lough Neagh - in fact giving the blue/green algae a run (pun intended) for its money...
The highlight of the day came as I was taking some photos and mis-identified Richard as Paddy. I saw the board leap and, thinking Paddy was about to crack out some fancy move, I pressed the shutter. What I actually got was a class catapalt by Richard. Head down in the water, both feet in the air. What a nice ending to the year.
Actually, it wasn't quite the end of the year as most of us went out again on more or less the same kit on the last day of the year.
However, let us finish 2024 on a real high note. Most of you know Ming, but in case you need a reminder :
This is the offending gentlman having just bought his latest fashion item at a market in Morocco......
However the real news is about his good wife, the ever lovely Kathy who it was announced has received an honour from the King in the New Year's Honours list. She was given this for her services to Marie Curie, a cause where she has raised huge amount of money. Let us be clear here - she did not receive it for putting up with Ming....
So it is that we can end 2024 with a good excuse to put up a couple of lovelies - Kathy is on the left and another hard done by wife is on the right.
As for Ming, I believe he is gutted not to have received an award for all the good work he put into assisting the training programme for the RNLI. No doubt he will have to try harder in 2025....