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Home  Venues Holiday Destinations Windsurfing in Dublin
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Written by Colin Hunt
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Thursday, 29 November 2007 |
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I have just returned from three happy years working in Dublin, Ireland, where I re-discovered my passion for windsurfing. I am currently living in Buckinghamshire and going through the disheartening process of looking for local places to rush to on a windy day, which is when I came accross this website. I noticed there was nothing here about Dublin, so thought I should enlighten you all - just in case you find yourself there for a weekend.
I lived on the North side of Dublin, so I will concentrate on that but there are areas to the south of Dublin (notably near Dun Loghaire) that are also good. None of these venues are more than 1/2 hour drive from Dublin City centre and they cater for all abilities except massive "wave-heads".
Malahide Estuary:
Malahide is a small village (great pubs) about 10 miles Northeast of Dublin situated on a very tidal estuary. However, just east of the Marina, there is a dam to allow the train track to pass over an embankment. This provides an excellent 2-3km wide and long stretch of flatish, shallow water. It is still tidal, but only in the main channel and at very high tide will you be in anything other than neck deep water, so it's great for blasting and freestyle tricks. Launch from Malahide sailing club (plenty of parking and rigging on a grassy bank) in anything but a south or southeasterly and you'll have 10-15 minutes of blasting before you even need to think about gybing! There is very little around to stop the wind, so it can get pretty choppy the further from shore you are. In a South/southeasterly, you can launch from the other side (Kilcock) which will take about 20 minutes to get to by car. You can check the forecast on windguru and the actual windspeed and direction on the day will be very close to that on Dublin Airport's website.
If you need tuition, Dave Garvey is there most days a week and has beginner boards and wetsuits (he does advanced tuition but you need your own kit) look out for his equipment packed van with DMG Sailsports written on it. If the wind is anything over a force 3 at the weekend, there will be up to 50 cars there, but as the stretch of water is so big, the sailing is never crowded. Power craft are not allowed, so the only competition is with dingies, but for some reason, the sailing club is not that active. You'll often see Irish professional windsurfers there practising their freestyle tricks if the wind is not in the right direction for waves at Dollymount (see below) - look out for Oisin van Gelderen and 16 year old Mikey Clancy.
Dollymount:
Dollymount is 5 mile long sandy beach on Bull Island, right on Dublin Bay. Head north out of Dublin and follow the signs to Howth along the coast road, Bull Island will be on your right. The first (wooden and signposted Royal Dublin Golf Club) bridge you come to is where the kiters tend to go, however a couple of miles further on is another bridge (signposted St Annes golf club). Turn right here and a mile further on you drive right on to the massive expanse of beach, where you can rig-up and paddle straight in. It is very shallow and even at high tide, you will be 400 yards offshore before you are out of your depth. This does have the disadvantage of leaving you a long walk back if you sail on a falling tide, so it's best sailed 3 hours either side of high tide. A southwest wind will be directly cross shore and whilst you'll never get mast high waves here, there is plenty of scope for playing about in 2-3 footers.
Portmarnock to Malahide coast:
A couple of miles further on from Bull Island - head towards Howth then turn left to Portmarnock and Malahide and follow the coast road. You can launch at Portmarnock strand or a little further on, just past Malahide United's football ground - but you will have to carry your kit from the roadside to the beach. A northerly wind will be directly cross shore, but it's best sailed in a northeasterly when you can get some great swells. Still fairly shallow for messing about in breakers, but if you sail by the Malahide football ground, beware of the tides because you are pretty close to the mouth of the estuary. The locals tend to prefer Donabate in these winds, but it's another half hour drive from here, so I prefered this spot 'cos it was 10 minutes from my door.
So, if you have to go to Dublin, take your kit on the ferry from Holyhead (you might be able to fit a sail at Roseingor (can't spell it!) on the way). Alternatively, if you're going for a trip to the West coast, stay a couple of days in Dublin on the way. If you need any kit, or just advice on where to sail, go to Surfdock (www.surfdock.ie) in Dublin, they are always willing to help.
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On a recent trip once we got off the ferry we just raced down to Brandon bay to catch the last couple of hours and then on the way back after a quick sail in the morning it was a mad dash to catch the ferry back, never even considered stoping for a sail around Dublin (well it was November and we only had 5 days).
Defo sounds worth a few days in Dublin if you were going for a fortnight in the summer.