WORLD CLASS IRELAND

John Carter and Timo Mullen head to the west coast of Ireland in search of epic waves where they stumble upon German wave sailor, Leon Jamaer and Phil Horrocks, who were also chasing the same forecast. Read on to find out how they all individually made the call, their travel details and what conditions they scored!

- John Carter

JOHN CARTER

Having missed out on an epic Ireland forecast the previous weekend, something was nagging me that I needed to pursue at least one big wave forecast during the winter season of 2023/4. When Timo Mullen pinged me his flight reservation, which was with Air Lingus from Southampton to Belfast, and then returning from Dublin to Southampton, that was the game changer that swung it for me. Southampton is by far my most accessible airport and with a solid two day forecast consisting of strong southwesterly winds and 20 feet waves, I decided this was my moment to commit. The outbound flight was a mere £41, while the return was even cheaper at £29, so it doesn’t get much cheaper than that, even after shelling out an extra £60 for my baggage.

So, after a few clicks on the Air Lingus website with flights and bags all booked, I was good to go and all set for an Irish adventure. Fast forward 24 hours and we had landed in Belfast, picked up our hire car and we were soon on the road bound for the west coast. Magheroarty is probably your ‘go to’ spot on most southwesterly forecasts and is simply a stunning playground for wave sailors of all levels. That was probably the location we were most likely headed as it is the most reliable on a big wave forecast.

SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO?