Fleadh Sheoil, Fingal Sailing School, Malahide, 1st, 2nd & 3rd May

This coming weekend in Malahide is the Fleadh Sheoil 2010 which this year is being held at Wind & Wave / Fingal Sailing School, Malahide Esturay, Dublin, Ireland. Please bring a friend or family & get some new people on the water & into windsurfing. This is a perfect weekend as all gear is available for new people to try out & will cost them nothing! The worst that will happen is they’ll have a good time & laugh about it afterwards in the pub!!

Below are the details of what is planned for the 3days. As always any more ideas or feedback are welcome.

See you all on the 1^st May!!

In addition to the windsurfing events detailed below, throughout the weekend there will be full use of our kayaks, Sups & sailing boats on offer for whoever wants to give it a shot!

Fingal Sailing Schools centre, facilities & gear will be ‘open’ for anyone to use. Also, if you would like to bring any of your own gear you’re more than welcome & we’ll feature it on all promotional information.

There will be a bbq running throughout the weekend based on the decking – so fingers crossed some sun will shine!

GPS Speed Wall will be in use throughout the day as part of King & Queen of the Lake Competition. Prize giving Sunday night.

Demo gear will be on hand from:

Starboard Severene Sails

Mistral Simmer Sails

BIC Tushingham

KA Sails

So, The Plan for the weekend is as follows:

Kick off Saturday 10.30am

11.00 – 12.30

Beginner / Improver Windsurfing Classes – max. of 6 people per group. Put your name down to ensure your place is secure!

11.00 – 12.30

Clinic: Rigging session. Gybing & round mark course

11.30 – 12.30

Sup session: bring your own or use the centre gear.

12.30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.30

Beginner / Improver Windsurfing Classes – max. of 6 people per group. Put your name down to ensure your place is secure!

14.00 – 15.30

Clinic: Start line racing procedures & techniques, rules of racing guidelines & tips

16.00 – 17.30

Fun Racing for everyone. Fun course marked out in estuary.

If we’ve light winds match racing will be held in different heats, small sails & long boards.

Saturday Night Entertainment – open to all

7.30pm – Wine Bar, Gibney’s Pub. Area reserved for all Fleadh go-ers with complimentary tasty Food Platters !!

Sunday Plans:

10.30am kick off

11.00 – 12.30

Beginner / Improver Windsurfing Classes – max. of 6 people per group. Put your name down to ensure your place is secure!

11.00 – 12.30

Clinic: Freestyle tricks: learn the names, the do’s & dont’s of all flat water tricks!

11.30 – 12.30

Sup session: bring your own or use the centre gear.

12.30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.30

Beginner / Improver Windsurfing Classes – max. of 6 people per group. Put your name down to ensure your place is secure!

14.00 – 15.30

Clinic:

1) More slalom / speed sailing – tips & techniques

2) More freestyle moves – advise & coaching

16.00 – 17.30

Racing – more slalom & a monster blast for womens / silver / gold fleets.

Make sure you attend as many clinics as possible as spot prizes will be announced Sunday night for winner of all racing:

Sunday Night Entertainment; for all ticket holders

Tickets are €20 per person. Limited number of tickets available – 50 max.

Sold on First come first served basis.

Ticket holders receive complimentary drink (selection on offer at bar) at GAA club, 2 course dinner, & entrance to late bar with live band. Contact Fingal Sailing School for bookings 01 8451979 or info@fingalsailingschool.com

7.30pm kick off: GAA Club, Malahide.

8pm – 2.30am Dinner followed by live music & bar extension

(bar extension is open to those without tickets also – entrance fee of €12 to the club)

Winners announced & Prize giving for :

King & Queen of Lake

Slalom Races

Monster Blast

Fun Spot Prizes

Monday: final day

Kick off 11am (watch the heads!)

11.30 – 13.00

So at this stage all beginners / improvers should be putting tips & coaching into use, have a practice or get more help if needed: instructors & coaches will be on hand!

11.30 – 13.00

Sup safari: adventure through the estuary & beyond. . . .

14.00 – 16.00

Your choice: instructors & gear on hand for any questions or help / advise needed.

Have a mess about for the last 2 hours either if you prefer!!

FINISH UP & HOMETIME

Have a great weekend!! And hope you can all make it

Wanted : F2 Race 380

After i competed at the first Inland event at Pitsford i realised that to be competitive i needed a raceboard with more volume. My current F2 Lightning World Cup Edition is still very competative when the wind gets up but i loose out in light winds when the F2 Race 380's and Starboard Phantom's have a definite advantage due to them having 290-300 liters of volume compared to the 250 of my current Lightning.

If you have one for sale of know of anyone that might have one sale can you please contact me or leave a comment on this post and i will get in touch, Cheers

UKWA Inlands Round 1, Pitsford Reservoir, UK

I had made the decision earlier this year that i wanted to do a few longboard events this year so when my father wanted me to go across to England to collect a motor bike for him i jumped at the chance as it meant i was able to get across for the first round of the UKWA Inlands at Northampton Sailing Club, Pitsford Reservoir, Brixworth, Northants, England.

It was also the first time i had raced a longboard in 20 years so the goal for me for the weekend was to get out there and have fun and start to get my old longboard skills back. After travelling for 16 hours i got to Pitsford late on Friday evening and set up my tent and unpacked the car to get ready for the weekend and then headed off to the local pub for some food and a few pints. I got up early on Saturday after a cold night in the tent, it got down to -1 so it was pretty cold, and rigged some sails. I rigged up my 9.0m KA Race and 8.3m KA Koncept and made sure my F2 Lightning was race ready.

I registered in the Raceboard Unlimited fleet which meant i was not limited to a 9.5m sail and could use any sail size i wanted. It is also fleet more suited to my weight as most of the guys in the 9.5m class are 75-80kg so i would be at a disadvantage as i am 20kg heavier than most of them. Unfortunatly there wasn't enough wind all day so we packed up and had a meal in the club house with a few drinks and headed to bed around 12.

After the temperature getting down to -1 again on Saturday night the sun was a welcome sight on Sunday morning and we were also greated with some wind (2-8knots). The course was laid and we got in 3 races before the wind dissapeared for the day. I used my 9.0m KA Race on my F2 Lightning and with each race i was getting used to my longboard again and i finished the event in 2nd place in the Raceboard unlimited fleet and 5th master.

I was happy with my result after not doing any longboard racing for so long and i can't wait to get to compete at another event so hopefully i can get back across this year for another one

My New Mountain Bike

As my old mountain bike was nearly 12 years old i decided it was time to get a new one so i started searching possible bikes to get and decided that the Kona Hoss would be high up the list. Checking ebay yesterday i found a new 2009 model that had never been used with a very reasonable buy it now so decided to buy it. I'm stoked to have got it because it is the perfect frame for a heavier rider and a great base frame to start upgrading the components that came with the bike over the coming year. The spec of the bike is:-

Frame: Kona Clump 7005 Aluminium
Fork: Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 2 100mm travel
Gears: Shimano Deore front and Shimano XT Shadow rear derailleurs
Shifters: Shimano Deore trigger shifters
Chainset: FSA Alpha Drive ISIS cranks 44/32/22
Brakes: Hayes Stroker Trail Hydraulic V6
Wheels: Sun Black Eye rims built on KK Disc front and Shimano M525 disc rear hubs
Tyres: Maxxis Ignitor 26 x 2.35
Handlebars: FSA XC280B oversize Riser
Stem: FSA oversize 190LX
Saddle: WTB Speed V Sport SE
Seatpost: Kona Double Clamp

My New Road Bike

A friend on mine let me know he was selling his Road Bike as he was upgrading to a carbon one so i got it from him for a great price. It's a Giant Defy Alloy Road Bike and will be perfect for helping improve my fitness. The full spec of the bike is:-

Frame	Giant AluxX SL aluminium, Fluid FormedTM
Fork	Cromoly, OverDrive Steerer
Shock	N / A
Handlebar	Giant Alloy Anatomic Bend, 26.0mm
Stem	Giant Alloy
Seatpost	Giant Alloy
Saddle	Giant Performance Road
Pedals	Caged w/ Clips
Shifters	Shimano 2300 24 speed
Front Derailleur	Shimano 2203
Rear Derailleur	Shimano 2300
Brakes	Tektro Giant specific Dual Pivot
Brake Levers	Shimano 2300
Cassette	SRAM PG 850 12-26
Chain	KMC Z7
Crankset	FSA Tempo, 30/42/52
Bottom Bracket	Cartridge
Rims	Giant Sport Road, Double Wall
Hubs	Formula Sealed
Spokes	Stainless Steel
Tyres	Kenda Kriterium, 700x25mm

Dungarvan Monday 5th April

The forcast for Dungarvan was looking great for Monday and forcasting 30 knots SW going to SSW later in the day plus so i decided to take the drive over to Dungarvan to sail with Steve Flannagan who was coming down from Dublin. As low tide was not till 5.04pm and the sand bar would not be sailable until after 2pm i left Kerry at 9am and got to Dungarvan just after mid day.

It was blowing 22-28 knots so I decided to rig up my new 5.7m KA Koncept and 2 boards, my Starboard I Sonic 86 with 28cm Vector Maui Fins EX Speed fin and my Starboard I Sonic W49 Speed Special with 23cm KA Assymetric Fin and wait for the sand bar to show.

I got on the water just after 2pm with my new 5.7m KA Koncept and I Sonic W49 but the chop was massive and you had to sail upwind to get to the course so after 10 minutes of trying to get upwind on the speed board i accepted defeat and went in to get my I Sonic 86 and got back on the water with that. With the wind being very gusty aswell as the massive chop i couldn't get up to the sand bar so just stayed sailing in the chop for a while and came off the water exhausted. This was the first proper windy day in 6 months and towards the end of the session my calf muscles were cramping up so decided to call it a day.

The new 5.7m KA Koncept is amazing and a definite improvement on my old 2008 5.8m. It's sets fuller and is alot more powerfull. I need to play around with the settings a bit but i am very happy i got the new sails this year and i have the sails to help me do well this season in the Irish Speedsailing Championships. Just got to work on my fitness now

Irish Slalom Series Round 1 Newtownards March 27th - 28th

Picture Of KA Sails Team Rider Daniel Macaulay Coming Ashore After One Of The Races

Apologies as i havn't had a chance to update my blog sooner but i was at the first round of the Irish Slalom Series in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. I traveled up on Friday from Kerry which took me 6 hours so i was pretty tired but decided to stop off at the sailing club where the event was being held for a couple of pints before i went to the B&B i had booked for the weekend.

On Saturday morning after i had registered for the event i rigged up my 9.0m KA Race and my Starboard I Sonic 144 with 50cm Vector Fins Maui Canefire fin as it was forcasting light winds for the first part of the day and as it was forcast to pick up i also rigged my 7.3m KA Koncept and my Starboard I Sonic 111 with 42cm Vector Fins Maui Canefire fin.

For this event they were using a heat system and as i was in the first heat so i got ready and as the wind was 10-15 knots grabbed my I Sonic 144 and 9.0m KA Koncept and headed out on the water. In the rush to get on the water i forgot to check my boom height and as soon as i waterstarted my boom was too high so i un clamped the boom and lowered it. As i was re clamped the boom i lost my balance and dropped the sail which i was pretty annoyed with, basically because i made the mistake of not checking my boom height in the first place. As my sail was in the water the luff tube filled and with the wind pinning the sail to the water it was very hard to uphaul it and as i was doing so i felt my back go again. I was in agony at this stage so made my way back into the beach. I was felling pretty gutted at this point as yet again my back let me down when using a 9.0m racing so i decided to wait a while to see if my back stopped hurting but after a couple of hours it was clear this was not going to happen so i got out of my wetsuit and for me my event was over.

The wind continued to build and the rest of the fleet had some of the best slalom racing seen in this country in a while with winds gusting up to 30 knots and i was gutted to have to watch it from the beach. On Sunday the wind filled in again and the fleet got in a a few more races before the called it a day in the early afternoon as everyone was knackered after all the full on racing that had taken place. After the prize giving i made the long journey home and arrived a 11pm

I can't understand why i never have a problem when speedsailing on small kit and then when using bigger sails i have the problem with my back so for now i am going to concentrate on the Speed Events and put the slalom events on the back burner for a while and see over the next year if i can get my back alot stronger to stop me damaging my back when using big sails