Finn Mullen sails a rare day at one of Ireland’s most famous big waves, Mullaghmore, and gives us an insight into the wave and its local crew.

Words Finn Mullen  //  

Photos  Katie McAnena, Gary McCall.

This feature originally appeared in the May 2018 issue of Windsurf Magazine

In terms of, “biggest, heaviest, scariest waves ever” around the world, Mullaghmore is number five on the list compiled by surfing website www.theinertia.com. The Internet loves top five lists; quantifies everything into a nice order, it’s easy clicking and reading. That’s lovely, but see the funny thing about big waves is they are not very good at being organized, lists or otherwise. There’s no schedule or guarantees, but still we like to measure, compare and contrast them because it brings a sense of order to a very unordered element. We can learn about predicted swell heights and their timing on our phones and computers and it lets us talk with some reason about the unreasonable amount of force on show. But it’s just noise, unwanted noise, the sea will do what it always does, what it wants. And so I sit on the hill overlooking Mullaghmore, looking at a view I’ve looked at many times before, in awe of the unpredictability of this wave. Its chaos is its beauty; its chaos is its beast.

LOCAL HEROS
Big wave surfers throng to the waves of this headland from around the world. A good forecast will bring the swell hunters from Australia, South Africa, Hawaii even. The attraction of the challenge travels far, but as long term student of the wave, Cornwall based cameraman Mikey Corker sagely notes, “The best days I’ve had in Ireland have been completely by chance, never forecast.”

I’m still watching the waves, I watch more than I surf or windsurf here because there’s always something to learn …or fear. The best chance of scoring these ‘never forecast days’ comes from long term residence rather than flying in. Hence the headland today is populated by the talented group of locals and ex-pats who live here or nearby, know this wave’s nuances and surf it with technicality and bravado in equal high measure. Most of them are names not lit up in neon marketing banners, surfing this wave well requires more than a sticker. It’s dedication to sit through weeks and months of waiting to maybe have a chance of an incredible ride. That sort of reward is hard to explain in terms of contest results or exposure to a sponsor, it’s more personal than that. So to supplement their surfing deals, people like County Clare charger Peter Conroy have regular jobs, or in Peter’s case, not so regular as he is a fireman. American turned local Dylan Stott is a teacher, when he’s not tucking into massive barrels on his backhand. Peter and Dylan are integral to the community of wave riders at Mullaghmore for not just their inspiring surfing but as they also assist in providing safety cover through the ‘Irish Tow Surf Rescue Club’, which Peter helped co-found. The club was born in 2006 out of a desire to help protect those who surf big waves around the coast of Ireland and develop safety in the sport. Since then they have guarded many sessions around the coast and work with emergency services on exercises, proactively honing skills and best practice procedures. It’s a far cry from the devil may care attitude that is stereotyped onto big wave surfing but it is becoming more common practice around the big wave surfing world and rightly so given the risks involved at Mullaghmore and the other entries on the inertia.com’s list of dangerous waves – Jaws / Pe’ahi, Nazaré, Teahupo’o and Cortes Bank.

PRECAUTIONS
Safety is always something that has interested me coming from working at sea where following high profile disasters, such as Titanic and Piper Alpha, the maritime industry sought to improve their safety culture and procedures. As I stare again at the liquid caverns that are unfolding on Mullaghmore’s shallow slab, I run through a risk assessment in my head, because while the club of which I am a member is there to protect me, I am the person foremost in charge of my own safety and so it is incumbent on me to make the right calls. I’ve SUP’d and windsurfed here before, so I know to a degree how the break works. I say degree as every wave here breaks differently and so I respect how I’ll always be a learner not a master. Boils appear mid face, mellow curves turn to ferocious guillotines in the blink of an eye; the power to ruin your day is ever present. I think about the other days I’ve sailed here, each is memorable; some pains don’t fade. I’ve broke bones here, tore ligaments and tendons, humbled constantly. I’m not alone, regulars have all paid a price, the wipeouts are so violent, and each leaves an indelible mental mark.

“The best days I’ve had in Ireland have been completely by chance, never forecast.”

BREAK TIME
The wind has not been forecast so I wait to see if it holds. It’s winter, the weather changes quickly on this exposed coast and the shelter of the headland means that the wind in the break is much less than at sea; a surfer’s delight, this windsurfer’s worry. On balance the wind looks stable, gusts are minimal and lulls look able to be sailed through. I meet with Pete and other members of the club and we run through the safety plan for the session. The crew are ready and able to catch some of the heaving lefts Mullaghmore is famous for, it looks tricky to paddle so they opt for tow boards. Short, narrow and weighted down with lead to help them hold a line, they have footstraps like windsurfers but that’s where the similarity ends. Today a tow board is well suited to the waves because the face is such that it’s all about staying in the curl, there’s no clean water to bottom turn as the shape of the wave draws so much water off the reef. The skill of the surfers and the speed they enter the wave at means they can hold that line, I’ll have to be more cautious, you can’t sail here up and down the face like a normal wave as it is so hollow. It’s not the biggest day here by any means, but only ignorance would consider the risk less. I can’t be as deep as the surfers because the headland kills the wind, I can’t straighten out because the inside tears gear in two like it’s tissue paper. Boards disappear here never to be seen again. It’s not a mystery how, just brute force; the ocean is strong here. Biggest wave or biggest wipeout – Mullaghmore has had nominations in surfing awards for both, the latter a wave here won by the way. It’s going to be a case of being selective and using big gear, my trusty 5.5 Blade and Starboard UltraKode 105 litre. I throw on my flotation vest and double down on checks of my kit. Part of the impetus for such organized safety here is how remote the wave is; mistakes are best avoided. I work my way out to the break, marvelling at the wave and the standard of surfing on show. You see gifted athletes catch the waves and wipeouts of their lives here. Sometimes you don’t want to watch, the consequences look so brutal. I trade waves with the tow teams for an hour or so, I’m on the clock as the short daylight of winter is burning and I’ve calculated I need to be in well before dark in case the ‘not forecast’ wind dies. I make it back just as the last gust pushes me to shore and the sun starts its dip to the sea, shining its fading light onto the spectacular mountain range that surrounds the bay. CHANCES
The waters at my derigging site are still, but around the corner lies one of the “biggest, heaviest, scariest waves ever”. Quit while you’re ahead is the saying but I wasn’t ahead, I just quit. A gambler knows the house always wins, I’m not a gambler, but I know this wave, any wave, always wins. I can’t compete, only spectate, participate. I help my friends recover the rescue jet skis and we laugh about the near misses we all had and witnessed. Windsurfing here is rare, so rare, because of the topography of the land and the effect it has on blocking the wind. It might be months or years before I get the chance again, maybe never, who knows, who can predict the ocean and our lives, not me. So I happily treasure the rarity to a well held memory of a privilege and note the day well. I’ll put it in my top 5 list on the Internet.

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