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 Al Mennie Interview: The conquering of Finn MacCool
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 Posted by Admin on Tuesday 8th February, 2011 @ 13:35 GMT |
| News Category: Big Wave | Visited 1380 times |
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Last week saw another Irish big wave surf spot discovery when Al Mennie, Andrew Cotton and Lyndon Wake rode the mystical break "Finn MacCools", which is located off the end of the Giant's Causeway. We spoke to Al to find out more about the wave and how they conquered it. |
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A1Surf: Who is Finn MacCool?
AM: Finn MacCool was a Northern Irish Giant. He built the Causeway from hexaganol stones in order to bridge the gap between the north coast and Scotland so he could fight a Scottish giant. When he got to Scotland he was so shocked at the size of the Scotsman that he wrapped himself in a blanket and pretended to be his own child.this then made the Scotish giant flee as he realised that if that is how big MacCools child is then MacCool must be a complete monster!
A1Surf: How long have you known about the break?
AM: I have been watching waves out there for most of my surfing life. In particular I have spent a lot of time up on the cliffs over the last ten years as I have been seriously trying to scope it out. For anyone who knows the Causeway,I think you will agree that it screams 'you don't go surfing here' at you. It is a very rugged setting and that has been the problem in trying to establish the safest swells out there when it breaks.
The bay is tight with a channel that closes out if the swell has too much west meaning you can get trapped between the surf and the causeway pretty easily. I have always known that even to paddle it at size required a ski as safety but with the harbour so far away a second ski would be needed to cover that. Cotty and I have just got a second ski recently and so the opportunity to have a proper go at it came to fruition.
A1Surf: Has anyone tried to surf it before to your knowledge?
AM: I'm fairly sure no one has ever surfed there. I know there is never any way of proving lots of claims in surfing so I always stay away from that. However,I severely doubt it has been ridden before. It doesn't break on the main bowl in front of the Causeway until the peak is a solid 16-20ft on the face. Like most big wave spots, Its not a spot you can surf at 2ft and work your way up as it doesn't feel the ledge until its well overhead.
A1Surf: How often will it break properly
AM: It takes very specific conditions for it to be surfable and safe to do so. As I said it needs to be a solid size to begin with but also because of the direction it faces, it is really difficult to coincide big swell with good winds. I've seen it in many different conditions and it changes in them all. I live just along the coast from it. I've seen it good a lot but I can tell from my experiences around other big wave spots that it isn't somewhere to been taken lightly. On the tow day I honeslty feel that I had to draw on all my experience at a couple of points to get through two huge sets with lyndon on the sled.
A1Surf: What is it like as a wave?
AM: It breaks right in front of the Causeway on the good ones,barrells and reels into the bay with a deep water channel. However,sneaker sets always show up slightly further to the west on the ledge and catch you out. I've seen whole sets break in the middle of the bay and miss the main bowl but the best ones go right in front of the Causeway. Its a steep drop for paddling but very doable. Its not an aileens or a mullaghmore type giant death slab wave, more of a mix between a bombie and a giant point break. I believe it is a paddle spot as opposed to a tow spot though I strongly believe a ski is necessary out there for safety.
A1Surf: You all went out and paddled it the first day, how was that?
AM: Cotty and I come from a paddle background and always like to paddle unless towing is necessary due to wind or we are practicing or something. Paddling it was great. I had been in Spain at the big wave contest the week before and La Santa the week before that. To then be two mins from my house catching equally big waves a week later was incredible. It is such a beautiful setting, a natural amphitheatre. We both caught a few bombs and definitely had a few hairy moments.
We did tow it two days later, not because of the size but because it was not as controlled due to 50mph winds. It was definitely a lot sketchier on that day with random sets and sneakers getting pushed into the point making paddling seem like sitting ducks.
A1Surf: Lyndon Wake joined you this time - how did he go?
AM: Lyndon is a great guy. I am very skeptical about involving anyone in big wave stuff along with us as I wouldn't want them to feel pressure or panic etc. However Cotty introduced me to Lyndon last year and I could tell immediately that he is a very level headed and sensible guy. I knew that it wouldn't belong before cotty would have him out with us. It was his first time towing proper big waves this day (apart from gspot a day earlier). he wanted a couple to feel how his board would go so I put him on one. He got blown off the back by the wind before the wave went square. When I picked him up,we got chased by a 30ft face and huge whitewater all the way to the rocks. I tried to outrun it but I couldn't go any faster on the ski.
We got trapped but I got us back outta there. Unbelieveably it happened again within minutes on another one. The waves were breaking so heavily and fast that the ski could barely out run them.
Lyndon stayed calm and completely level headed which really impressed me and I'm sure we are gonna be seeing a lot more of him over here. The quote of the day has to be when we got out to the channel after being chased and lyndon said "thanks for getting me Al, that felt like Finn MacCool was after us!"
A1Surf: You (and Cotty etc) are now pioneering more and more big wave spots around Ireland. How do you think this is changing people's perceptions of Ireland as proper big wave destination now?
AM: I've been involved in big wave surfing here when very few of us thought it was possible. Now I really believe that the few of us doing this have re written the big wave surfing map. Hawaii is definitely the motherland but big wave surfing is now global with Ireland at the forefront. I'm not aware of too many places on the planet where surfers are still discovering big wave spots on a regular basis.
We are spoilt rotten here with countless big wave spots that work in various conditions. if there was a constant 20ft swell it would be possible to surf a new big wave spot every week here! There's no doubt that the general public are more than aware of it now. We have all been in numerous shows, newspapers,films,dvds etc and it is a far cry from the days of people not realising that it is possible to surf here.
A1Surf: Do you know of any other surf spots in the world that break at famous tourist landmarks?
AM: Aileens breaks at the Cliffs of Moher but apart from that I don't. The fact this wave breaks at our number one tourist spot is incredible. It is something the Northern Irish tourist board probably never considered as another string to their bow.
You can check out more photos from the boys' sessions at Finn Macool here.
Photo: Al Mennie takes on Finn MacCool and winning! Photo (c) Leah Russell |
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