The thrill of speed and spray

Irish wind-surfing champion Óisín van Gelderen became hooked on the sport when he was 16. As he prepares for next month's world event in Dingle, he talks to Olivia Kelly about jumping the waves.

Irish windsurfing champion Óisín van Gelderen likens the thrill of windsurfing to the thrill of driving a mini: in a mini, he says, you might be rattling down the motorway at 40 miles an hour, but because you're so small and so exposed it feels like you're doing 80 or even 90 miles an hour.

With windsurfing you could be planing the water at 35 miles an hour and jumping 40 feet in the air with the wind and the spray pushing past you, and it feels like . . . well according to van Gelderen, it feels pretty good.

"It's the biggest thrill you'll ever have. Catching a wave and jumping 30 or 40 feet in the air with all the gear is what I love. The big thing is the sensation of speed, it's what really gets people hooked."

Van Gelderen, son of the late wildlife artist Gerrit van Gelderen, got hooked at age 16 after just six hours of windsurfing lessons while on holiday in Little Killary, Co Galway. "I had been very into cycling before that, but I sold my bike and bought a surf board straight away."

He returned home to Dublin after the summer, but headed for the beaches around Blackrock and Seapoint every day after school. After a few more lessons and tips from some old hands of the surfing scene, he won his first competition on Blessington Lakes at age 17.

Now 32, with the Irish wavesailing (windsurfing through waves) and racing windsurfing titles under his belt, van Gelderen is training hard for the PWA (Professional Windsurfers Association) Irish Wave Grand Prix, which takes place on the Dingle Peninsula from October 3rd to 10th. "I get out every day for about five or six hours if I can, but it completely depends on the conditions."

Van Gelderen is a semi professional athlete; he gets some sponsorship, but not enough to allow him devote all his time to his sport, so to supplement his income he works as a courier. "I'm self employed, so I work as it suits me. If the conditions are really good, if it's particularly windy, I won't work much. I keep the board and all the gear in the back of the van, because you never know when it's going to be windy next, and you need to take the waves when you can get them."

Van Gelderen's training is all done out on the open seas; circuit training is unnecessary, he says - he's already completely aerobically fit from his daily wave work-out, and lifting stuff in and out of the van is sufficient weight training. He does a little yoga to keep supple, but essentially he concentrates on perfecting the jumps and manoeuvres required by the PWA competition.

"The competition involves a series of eight-minute heats that you compete in until eliminated. A panel of six judges awards you points depending on the extremity of the jumps, technical difficulty and style." Wavesailers must jump the waves heading out to sea and "ride" them - planing the board on the crest of the wave - back in. "You need to get at least three jumps and and three wave rides in to impress the judges, and you need to pull them off like a gymnast," he says.

More than 80 professional windsurfers from 20 countries will compete in the Irish Wave Grand Prix next month. Van Gelderen is one of the few semi-professionals in the competition, yet he ranks 51st in the world. He has recently given up racing to concentrate fully on wave-sailing and hopes to improve his ranking in this year's grand prix.

This is the third year the PWA has staged the grand prix in Ireland and, says van Gelderen, our terrible weather (high coastal winds and the sort of waves that would weaken the bowels of the hardiest mariner) have made us a firm favourite with the event organisers.

"The conditions here are fabulous," van Gelderen explains. "We get a fair bit of shitty weather, and windsurfers - particularly those at a higher level - love it. The size of the waves and the wave quality is world class. When the PWA first came to check out the waves they were completely blown away. Ireland is now one of their favourite destinations."