World Championships: Team event Final

Easkey at 6 am is an early start in any ones book. By 6.30 the light came up and we could see the waves. And there were waves. The organisers had all the information they thought they needed to make a decision as to where to run the event. It was decided that as the swell was forecast to drop during the day. So as the day dawned we drive away from the famous Easkey Left hand break and headed north to the not famous at all Tullaghn, a beach break that was far from perfect.

We arrived and looked over the cliff at the heavy dumpy shore break and wandered what we were doing there. The Final of the 2003 World Surf Kayak Team Championships was about to take place on waves that were confused and at times desperately messy.

First on the water was Paul Perchard in the mens High Performance class. The paddle out was a major task in itself and then selecting a wave which would wall up and be worthwhile running was a major gamble. Sean Egan of Ireland showed his knowledge of the beak and stormed to victory starting Ireland on a path they were to follow for much of the day. Perchard placed fourth in the heat, a disappointing position after winning three of his last four heats.

James Robertson slipped in to fourth position in his High Performance heat then Robert Hearne too to the water and gave Jersey its best result do far, placing second in the huge messy surf.

High Performance junior David Ollivier took to the water next and placed fourth struggling with some serious “stuffings” while paddling out to the back of the break. Ailsa McDougall paddled out in the ladies HP next. She surfed with her usual style but to the surprise of everyone watching placed fourth. Zona Michel broke the Jersey fourth place trend by surfing her way to second place in her HP heat.

With the HP heats over Jersey were lying in fourth place and not enjoying the experience. The International Class followed where Team Jersey hoped to make up some points on the other three teams. By now Ireland were looking unstoppable and England too far ahead to catch so the only realistic goal was the US West team.

First on the water again was Perchard who surfed well but again placed fourth. McGlinchey followed with another fourth and it was left to Robertson to break the current fourth trend by placing a stylish second. Ollivier placed fourth in his International heat but went on 40 minutes later to win his masters heat. Rowe then placed second in his masters heat and Jersey were making up some points towards the US West team. Junior Robert O’Brien took to the water next and surfed himself into a cracking second position. With Michels fourth and McDougalls third in their international heats was not enough to catch the US West team who finished two points ahead of Jersey and two behind England who were themselves 5 points behind Ireland.

McGlinchey said “We are obviously disappointed with the result especially after Fridays’ success. That feeling was magnified when we drove back past Easkey on our way back to the Olympic Village the surf was green and clean and had been all day. The organisers had acted on the information they were given and it had been wrong.”

“We may still have come fourth today but if it had been on the clean waves at Easkey we’d be a far happier team” added Team Captain Chris Olivier.

“We’re looking forward to the individual event which we hope will be at Easkey” Said junior Eoin McCarthy.

“We were prepared for the wettest windiest weather and have handled it better than the other teams; we trained hard and have been complimented on our fitness and team spirit. But we could not prepare for an event taking place in the surf we competed in today.” Said McGlinchey

“As disappointed as we are about todays’ result we can console ourselves with the real fact that for the last six years we have been in the top four Surf Kayak teams in the World.” Said Ailsa McDougall.

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