Alastair IRL-250

Friday, August 20, 2010

Wind & Wave Fun Day, Malahide,Co Dublin, Ireland

Next weekend on Saturday 28th August my sponsor Wind and Wave based in Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland is going to be holding a End Of Summer Fun Day & BBQ at Malahide Estuary.

In addition to the sailing and windsurfing sessions detailed below there will be full use of the Kayak's, Windsurfing Gear, Sup's and Sailing Boats throughout the day to whoever wants to give it a go.

The Center, Facilities & Gear at Wind & Wave will be available for anyone to use throughout the day all for a cover charge of just 5 Euro per person for the full day.

Now isn't that a cheap fun way to end your summer!!!

The plan for the day is as follows:-

Kick off on Saturday 28th at 10am

3 Sailing & 3 Windsurfing Sessions will be run throughout the day with fully qualified instructors providing tuition and coaching for every session.

Session Times:-

10.30am to 12.00pm

12.30pm to 2.00pm

2.30pm to 4.00pm

For windsurfing there will be a max of 7 people per class & Sailing has a max of 10 people so put your name down early to ensure your place is secure. Simply email killianmck@vodafone.ie or call 01 8451979 to book your spot.

All Kayak's and Sup's will be available throughout the day so it's a great opportunity to come down with the family and give it a go.

Then at 4.30pm the day will be finished with a fun race for all so all Windsurfers, Sailors, Kayakers and Sup's will race against each other in the Grand Finale!!!

The BBQ & Tuck Shop will be open all day on the deck to keep everyone fed & warmed up after your session on the water.

Everything will finish up at 5pm.

It will be a great day on the water so i hope to see you all there

The address for Wind & Wave is:-

Wind & Wave,

Fingal Sailing School,

Bissetts Strand,

Malahide,

Co Dublin.

Tel (00353)1 8451979

www.fingalsailingschool.ie

info@fingalsailingschool.ie

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Bantry, County Cork, Ireland Saturday 14th August 2010

On Saturday i went over to Bantry, County Cork where the latest round of the Irish Slalom Series was being held. I got there a 9am to see there wasn't alot of wind. I decided to rig up my 9.0m KA Race and get my Starboard Phantom ready as the forcast for the day was for light winds from the North West. I had a few things that needed to sort out with my kit so when the fun races started i lent my Starboard Phantom to Steve Flannagan and my Lorch Formula Board to my KA Sails team mate Daniel Macaulay and Steve dominated all the races with Daniel not to far behind in 3rd place.

Just after lunch i decided to head out into Bantry Bay and have a cruise around. It was hard going in the strong current as i was heading upwind past Widdy Island and as i was getting near to rounding it the wind started to die off and as i would be out of the line of sight of the rescue crews and the possibility of getting stuck the other side if the wind dropped altogether i decided to head back to the event site.

I had a great time on the water and the more i sail the Phantom the more i like it. Also the scenery around the bay is stunning and if you ever get the chance to visit this part of Ireland do so as you will not regret that you came here.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Blithfield Reservoir, England Saturday 7th August 2010

I was across in the UK on the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th of August to collect some motorbikes for my sponsor MCPM and i had also arranged to coillect my new longboard, a Starboard Phantom 380 Race. As i had Saturday daytime free i met up with Jon White, a top UKWA raceboard sailor to test out my new Phantom at Blithfield Reservoir, Staffordshire, England. When i arrived there wasn't alot of wind so i checked out Jon's new custom SD Race Sail that he was rigging up and soon the wind started picking up to about 6-7 knots so i got changed, rigged my 9.0m KA Race and headed out on the water.

My first impressions of the board was everything was so much easier to do and my 9.0m KA Race suited the board alot more than than my old raceboards which i was happy with. After a while the wind picked up for about 5 minutes to about 12-14 knots where i was able to get in the back straps and managed a peak speed of 21.24 knots which considering i was underpowered on my 9.0m wasn't too bad so i reckon i can get the board close to 30 knots in some decent wind.

After the wind dropped i stayed out for a bit longer but the wind was dropping right off so i headed in and hung around for a while to see what the wind was doing. The wind didn't pick up again so i packed up as i had a 150 mile drive to where i was collecting the next motorbike.

I am very happy i now have the Starboard Phantom 380 and now in the UKWA events i have a board i compete successfully on and i cant wait for the event in Farmoor, Oxford on September 4th and 5th

Thursday, August 12, 2010

2011 KA Koncept and KA Koyote

Just seen a sneek peek of the new 2011 KA Koncept and KA Koyote on the KA Sails website. They look awsome, loving the black and white colour scheme on the Koncept and can't wait to get my hands on them to try them out. Checkout the pictures below. As always if you are located in Ireland contact me if you want to try any of the sail ranges out. I have the KA Kaos, Kult, Race and Koncept available for demo

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

2011 KA Kult and Kaos

Just seen a sneek peek of the new 2011 KA Kult and KA Kaos on the KA Sails website. They look awsome, can't wait to get my hands on them to try them out. Checkout the pictures below and hopefully it wont be long until we see what the other sail ranges look like. As always if you are located in Ireland contact me if you want to try any of the sail ranges out. I have the KA Kaos, Kult, Race and Koncept available for demo