How did you prepare for the competition?
‘Not very well to be honest. After spending a couple of months in Cape Town I came back and tore my medial knee ligaments playing football in the first week back. So before coming to Ireland I had spent almost all my time working on the computer instead of on the water. To make things even crazier on the way to Ireland our driver took us to the wrong ferry port, we had to race across Wales to make it to the right one in time! Not the best preparation, but in the end I got a few days before the contest to get back into things.’

How was your sailing going?
‘It was going pretty well considering my injury, I just seemed to get straight back into it with no worries. I was just enjoying being back on the water to be honest.’

Can you describe your way to the final?
‘The most important heat was the first, I obviously needed to make sure I got through to the second round! I guess I took heat by heat, but without winning the first then you aren’t going to get any more heats. I was against local Rob Jones, who is always ripping and a major threat along with Irish sailor Mikey Clancy, who has improved loads and is sailing at a real high standard now and Phil Horrocks, who is obviously tough competition. I am always focusing on sailing heats instead of just doing my best in ten minutes of sailing, picking better waves and not necessarily the biggest as they can close out. I also wanted to get waves more suited to my sailing style: my boards turn really well and aerials are easier than a solid turn so getting a wave where I could combine both was really important.’

What were the conditions like?
‘Before the event it was pretty good but the conditions really peaked during the event week. It worked out perfectly with a joy first day of competition with very strong cross offshore wind and logo high sets all day. The best day for me.’

Sounds pretty hardcore. What gear were you using?
‘My kit was totally sic. I used the 3.3m Gun Sails Steel with my smallest Quatro twinfin. The boards still held the tight turns despite the 50 knots which I think was the key to beating Skyeboy in the final.’

How did the final go?
‘Pretty good, I picked up my highest scoring wave of the day in the first two minutes of the heat so with a total of two waves counting for the heat I had plenty of time to relax and get a second good scoring wave. I knew that the other guys would definitely be ripping so I pushed things a little more with harder, tighter turns and later hits which luckily paid off.’

So you could sit and watch the action in the double elimination.
‘Yes, after the first day of competition they had run most of the double elimination apart from the final six. The next day they took us down the coast to Stradbally where it was mast high plus and blowing about 50 knots; it was going off. John Skye was doing well and made it to the final. It was really cold in the water and I couldn't see any sets coming in because of all the spray flying around. I didn't see John once throughout my heat so I had no idea if he was doing well or if he was swimming. He won the first heat but still had to beat me once more to claim the title. Fortunately I beat him in the second final to take the event win! I got a couple of reasonable waves that didn't just close out and landed my two jumps and I guess the most important thing was that I didn't lose my kit and swim my hole heat!’

Was this win the highlight of your windsurfing career?
‘For sure it was one of the highlights, winning an event is always good, especially in such epic conditions! I have been to Brandon Bay in Ireland a few times over the years but this was easily the best conditions I've ever had there.’

What were you most pleased with?
‘The fact that the best sailors in the UK were there and it was possibly the best conditions ever in a UK competition and obviously... winning!’

What's next?
‘Shortly after this event we had the UKWA event in Rhoseneigr where I got to second place, a great way to follow up the win in Ireland. Rhoseneigr was always going to be a hard place to go to with all the local guys ripping. This last result leaves me the current number one in the UK wave rankings, so with two possible events to go I am pretty happy with the way things are going. Currently I am trying to catch up with everything: I will continue to work on some film projects with umi pictures, besides that I have some UK trips planned for photo features and a possible DVD release. Enough to do really!’