Big Waves off the coast of Ireland draw surfers from around the world
The West Coast of Ireland is coming up trumps for big wave surfers. Last weekend’s storms had one beneficial effect – it helped create the monster that was swiftly nicknamed ‘Prowlers’.
Andrew Cotton rides the new wave ‘Prowlers’
About 1.2 miles off the coast an undersea reef creates the perfect brake for a magnificent wave to happen – if the weather conditions are right. Here’s where Hurricane Thomas came into play and heavy tubing waves with 40-50 ft faces were created.
There were 6 brave surfers just standing ready and waiting … 6 surfers from 3 nations: Ireland, England and South Africa. They had been waiting five years for the optimum conditions required to surf this wave! Big Wave heros, Al Mennie and Andrew Cotton were amongst them.
Alistair Mennie is without doubt Ireland’s most recognised Big Wave surfer. He has honed his skills on such mammoths as Mavericks, Nelscott Reef, and Killers on the west coast of North America. He was cognizant of the similarities between that coast and the Irish one and so he committed himself to searching for, and surfing, the biggest, heaviest waves he could find in his own Irish backyard.
And they weren’t too hard to find.
“Aileen’s” wave off the Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare is now one of the best known big waves in the world, but it was on the 30th September, 2006, when Hurricane Katrina was boiling her way through the Atlantic Ocean that her massive waves were first surfed by Al Mennie.
Mullaghmore Head was another discovery.
And now there’s Prowlers.
Mennie was quick to take advantage of gale force conditions to ride one of the biggest waves in the world … somewhere off the west coast of Ireland. The locations is being kept under wraps for the moment.
No significant swell has escaped Mennie’s notice. Each one, if possible, has been surfed.
With the powerful North Atlantic providing excellent swells for both beginners and advanced surfers, Ireland has become a mecca for keen surfers. But it’s now the big waves that are drawing the most interest. Surfers from around the world are descending on Ireland to surf 60ft waves off the Clare, Sligo and Donegal coasts…
Ken O’Sullivan, the Lahinch-based film maker, said, “These guys, John McCarthy, Duncan Scott, Dave Blount, Al Mennie and Dan ‘Mole’ Joel, to mention just a few, are to the forefront in exploration of big wave surfing. They are like the modern Polar explorers in the new ground they are breaking in surfing. The potential dangers for these surfers are enormous, but they are incredible in terms of the knowledge they have and the preparation they put into it”.
About the Author
DONEGAL INTERNATIONAL RALLY 2008 MARK ALCORN
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