PETER HART MASTERCLASS
110 AUGUST 2019
FAY HUDSON, 24, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST.
Fay is daughter of Paul Hudson (also featured). Fay had done a bit of bumpy
stuff in Lanzarote and Hayling – but Kerry was her first time in proper ‘swelly’
breaking waves. Like her Dad, she’s light, fit and flexible and thanks to lots of
practice on the reservoir, arrived in Kerry with a good setup, good balance and
fine non-planing turning skills.
PH - So what were the initial challenges?
FH - At first it was mostly psychological. But being in the group really helped
with that - it’s great being beginners together.”
PH - When you first went out, how many tips did you really want?
FH - You can talk about it all day – but you have to make the mistakes before
you can learn anything. The tips make a lot more sense after you’ve had a go at
it. A lot of it is just about digging deeper. Like with waterstarting in the waves,
you’ve got to fight it sometimes. What confused me to start with was wind
and waves coming from different directions - there’s a lot to cope with. I liked
the onshore day at Inch. I know they weren’t ‘good’ wave sailing conditions –
but it wasn’t too windy, and with the power of waves and wind coming from
the same direction I only had to think of the one thing and could concentrate
on getting out and trimming the board over the whitewater.
PH - A lot of people, men mostly, feel safer when it’s windy because they
know they can waterstart and get home. What was the perfect wind for
learning waves for you?
FH - Less windy for me – I know I can uphaul and I prefer the feeling of
making the kit do something rather than it happening to me. Otherwise I feel
I’m being pulled along and NOT learning anything – just concentrating on
not being catapulted. Light winds reduce the number of variables and it’s no
longer a survival exercise. You assume that conditions in the waves are always
going to be difficult – but yesterday when the wind turned offshore, once
Replicate the situation on
a SUP. Across the wind,
step right back to the tail
and then control the trim
by leaning forward on the
boom. PHOTO Radical
Sports Tobago.IN THE STRAPS AND GOING NOWHERE.
The indispensable skill of wave riding is being able to get into the footstraps off the plane and go nowhere. The commonest riding mistake is that of
catching the wave straight away and immediately shooting down it and then trying to sort yourself out and get into the straps way after it’s broken,
by which time it is way too late.you were through the waves, the conditions were actually a lot easier than
the reservoir.
PH - Many associate offshores with danger, quite rightly, so how did you
feel about going out in them?
FH - It feels strange, but then as you mentioned, you only have to go out just
beyond the break, and yesterday in small waves, that was almost in our depth.
That and having a floaty board meant I felt confident. The big change for me
was about catching waves in both the offshore and onshore days. It was about
noting the direction of the waves and heading up or bearing away enough so
I was at right angles to them.HUW GRIFFITHS, 44, RUNS OWN FOOD SMOKING
BUSINESS, LIVES IN WEST SUSSEX.
Huw has only been windsurfing for 4 years, but has truly taken the sport
by the horns, and has done a load of courses. Coming to Kerry was his first
encounter with the waves. His kit, which included two big freeride boards
and matching rigs, revealed a power/speed upbringing. But unlike a lot of
freeriders, he was not resistant to change.
“I’m at a crossover stage where I’m taking my power requirement from
blasting into wave sailing and I recognise the need to become a more efficient
sailor by focussing on early planing with more agile kit.”
What helped with the transition was his wave knowledge; “Having
always surfed I feel my wave selection and positioning is pretty good, which
helps with wave count – but the bit of kit that really helped was the wind-
SUP. My advice to anyone getting into wave sailing is to windSUP in light
winds on 2-3 foot waves, focus on the basics of tacking and gybing and
work on fitness and strength. I’ve been surprised by the physicality of wave
sailing versus flat water blasting. Oh yes – and a coach who will focus on
your technique is essential!”On a 116 litre freewave
board in the straps, sheeted
out, leaning forward,
balancing at the top of the
wave, delaying the drop
and waiting for the wave
to build.