Kitesurfing - Round 3 of the 2008 Irish Championships

Calina · 26-05-2008 7:28pm #1

Hi guys,

for anyone who is interested, weather permitting, the third round of the Irish Kitesurfing Championships is due to hit Dollymount Strand on 7-8 June. Last year, Paul and Anne-Marie will remember that in fact, we had stunning, amazing weather, Canaries-esque sunshine but sweet nothing in the way of wind but all going well this year will be better.

I'll be on the beach brandishing a 500mm zoom lens. There will be freestyle competitions and currently there is also a race on the schedule for the Sunday.

If anyone wants any further info, just ask.

Dink · 26-05-2008 8:36pm

I would have been very interested in heading to this Calina, but my first love (Jon Bon Jovi) :eek: will be singing to me on the 7th down in Punchestown! Another time hopefully!

Paulw · 26-05-2008 9:43pm

Hopefully there will be some wind this year. I was out at Sutton on Sunday and there was loads of wind and loads of kite surfing going on. Managed to get some picts I was happy with.

Hopefully I'll be around for this years event.

kjt · 26-05-2008 9:46pm

WooHoo I'll deffo be there.

What would you advise to the beginner sea shooter? wetsuit, sum nice snug booties, helmet, (I doubt a ba?) maybe a cag?, I see you mention a brush in one of your posts, this would probably just be kept in the car though?

Any and all info, I'd love to hear!

MartMax · 26-05-2008 9:48pm

thanks Calina for the info. i definitely put this on my calendar.

hope there are good winds coming.

have had helped my friends organising windsurfing few years back, so having no wind is something not to look forward!

Calina · 31-05-2008 7:02pm

kjt wrote: »

WooHoo I'll deffo be there.

What would you advise to the beginner sea shooter? wetsuit, sum nice snug booties, helmet, (I doubt a ba?) maybe a cag?, I see you mention a brush in one of your posts, this would probably just be kept in the car though?

Any and all info, I'd love to hear!

Okay. I meant to answer this before now but I've been rather busy of late.

The brush is to brush sand off your camera. I leave it in the camera bag as a general rule. Learn to change your lenses in under 10 seconds as this will reduce your chance of getting sand inside your camera.

1) The water is warm. You'll only need the wetsuit if you're planning to go well into the water which I really don't recommend if you haven't spent much time around kitesurfers. I mean I know how to fly the kites and they still have nearly landed on top of me a couple of times. You could probably get away with shorts if the weather is like it is today. Dollymount occasionally has glass around it, but I run around either in flipflops or bare feet. I will be wearing nail polish on my toe nails, however.

2) Helmet: not necessary unless you are going into teh water and expect people to jump over you. They probably won't if they don't know who you are as they will not want to take any risks around you. They might go around you but you have to balance that against the fact that the judges may well want the water around the competitors kept clear of people getting in the way. Additionally, there is a great chance of destroying your camera if you are shooting from the water and have never done it before.

3) zoom lens. I think Paul brought a 200 +1.4 TC with him last year; depending on where the tide is, this shoudl be plenty. I'd recommend 300mm however.

Parking on Dollymount: there is space on the beach but I want to make it clear that I am not saying that it's a good idea to drive onto the beach. There are occasions (last week as a good example) where the sand behaves in such a way as it is impossible to get in or get out without getting stuck in the sand. Do NOT say I didn't warn you. Access to the kitezone is at the southern end of Bull Island, ie, the wooden bridge. It's about a ten minute walk from the causeway access at the other end.

Vantage points: depends on the competition zone. If you've lots of zoom and it's a really nice day, there are some interesting angles from the Bull Wall, otherwise, you more or less have the run of the beach.

I'll be there reasonably early and most of the kitesurfers know who I am at this stage. If you can't find me, ask anyone around the PureMagic vans; chances are they will know where I am. I'll probably have photographs on exhibition there on the Saturday at least, and possibly the Sunday.

I will post a wind forecast later during the week.

Calina · 02-06-2008 8:06pm

For reference and if anyone is interested, this is Roberto Foresti's website.

Roberto Foresti is the official photographer for the PKRA which is the top kitesurfing tour in the world. He has some nice things on his site (which is relatively new cos it wasn't to be found the last time I looked, about 8 months ago). Anyway, most of what he shoots, he shoots from the shore with a 600mm zoom. He's a Canon shooter.

MartMax · 04-06-2008 6:47pm

Calina,

Having checked the IKSA website http://kitesurf.ie/ I couldn't find much details of the programmes on the two days? Any chance you have insiders info?

Thanks.

Calina · 04-06-2008 7:09pm

Registration for the riders is at something like 10am. The plan is to get through the freestyle comps on Sat, or as far through them as possible. The race is scheduled to be on Sunday; however, this is weather dependent and it may turn up at some point on Saturday.

Freestyle comps are probably going to be in the following order 1) novices 2) ladies 3) amateurs and 4) pros. The race is a free for all. It will run off in a series of heats, dependent on the number of people in each competition.

The program can't really be fully set in stone (registration apart) because it's weather dependent. AFAIK, it's looking okay for a competition this year, so far.

Oh yeah, it looks like one of the British pro kite photographers is going to ramble over for the weekend as well.

Calina · 05-06-2008 8:57pm

Okay, registration is 10-10.30 am Sat and expected first heat is 11 or so. This is unlikely to be the reality however.

Wind forecast is here and it's pretty dismal for Sat morning, although improving from about 1. Lousy part is that the cloud cover forecast isn't good at all for the entire weekend.

I don't know what time Sunday will get under way...it depends on how Saturday goes.

kjt · 07-06-2008 10:31am

I hope todays going well for you guys. Won't be out today but hopefully tomorrow I'll pop out.

MartMax · 07-06-2008 11:26am

hv fun guys. i'm still in bed and meeting friends later.

so i might turn up tomorrow thou - weather depending!

Calina · 07-06-2008 6:39pm

Not a lot of action today, must be said...one race run, and some freestyle...

will have photos later on, absolutely shattered now and have to get ready to go out.

forecast for tomorrow not great tbh.

RoryW · 07-06-2008 8:32pm

Well I went along and took a few photos. Met a few from boards there as well.

Calina had an exhibition on which was well received by everyone there

Everyone watched the action

And Calina took a few photos...

There are a few more uploaded on flickr

Paulw · 07-06-2008 9:51pm

The conditions this year were certainly better than last year. At least there was some action.

Nice to meet up with other boards people as always.

Just a few of my images. I think I posted 30 something on my flickr. Hey, I had fun.

nilhg · 07-06-2008 10:31pm

Great stuff Paul, Rory, I don't suppose either of you went in the water?:p

I'm going to France on hols shortly, when i was there last year the kitesurfers were out in force one day, and I have to say after trying a few shots myself I have great respect for anyone who can pull off shots like these day in day out.

kjt · 08-06-2008 1:35am

Some nice shots there lads! Really like your first one Paul.

Anybody know what the craic with today(Sunday) is?
How long it will be on/time it's starting at?

Paulw · 08-06-2008 8:13am

I had no need to go in the water, thankfully.

I think today starts about 11am, but it's very much wind dependent.

Calina · 09-06-2008 1:03pm

Rory, I actually like that picture...maybe because I'm far enough away to be unrecognisable? :-)

We didn't have any wind yesterday so I did a lot of people photography.

From Saturday, however:

(sorry about the size of this, it's 11000 pixels wide)

More on my flickr account. I still have a bundle to post process tonight, we'll see how that goes.

Yes, I was in the water, and actually, it was extremely warm, except when the odd wave came in.

Paul/Rory, sent a link to your photographs to the kitesurfing community website, hope you don't mind.

Paulw · 09-06-2008 2:31pm

Really love the 3rd image there. Stunning.

Calina wrote: »

Rory, I actually like that picture...maybe because I'm far enough away to be unrecognisable? :-)

I'll save my images of you in the water for a more appropriate time.

Calina wrote: »

Paul/Rory, sent a link to your photographs to the kitesurfing community website, hope you don't mind.

Not a problem. I put a load on FlickR and more on my website.

I really enjoyed Saturday. Some good light, good action, just a shame there wasn't more wind.

RoryW · 09-06-2008 2:40pm

Calina wrote: »

Rory, I actually like that picture...maybe because I'm far enough away to be unrecognisable? :-)

I have more.....but i decided on discretion.......:D

Calina wrote: »

Paul/Rory, sent a link to your photographs to the kitesurfing community website, hope you don't mind.

That explains my new "friends" on Flickr.
I might upload a few more photos so of the day when I get home

Kitesurfing - Round 3 of the 2008 Irish Championships

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