Anyone who turned up for Round 2 of the Irish Slalom Series in Castlegregory last weekend (21st / 22nd May) witnessed one of the best weekends in the short history of the Slalom Series. Hosted by Jamie Knox Watersports, back-to-back races were held across two days with nearly fifty competitors across a Gold and Silver Fleet. War time images are invoked to describe the amount of bodies on the beach by Sunday evening. If you weren't in Kerry last weekend…you missed out!

Racing commenced at 11am on Saturday morning with a consistent 25 knots and gusts up to 35 knots! Small slalom and wave gear were being rigged down to 5m! Jamie Knox set the initial 'figure of 8' course for both fleets. Some of the locals gathered on the beach to witness up to 25 windsurfers in each fleet hitting the markers at full tilt. A boxing match would not have seen so much carnage and entertainment. However the quality of racing was second to none with some of Ireland's best talent on show.

The ambition of the Irish Slalom Series when first established was to facilitate easy entry to windsurfing racing. Now in our fourth year one of the features of this weekend was the reduced distinction between Silver and Gold Fleet. The level of sailing in the Silver Fleet was fantastic. It's extremely difficult to distinguish one sailor over another as the racing was so competitive. Cormac Daly deservedly won out over the weekend with consistent finishes but was run close by Kevin McGuinness, Ed O'Connor and Alan White. It was great to see Robert Polak back again and improving his performances. James Kelly and Ian Deacan were on each others shoulders and between them have to have the fastest gybe entry out of either fleets. The racing got so competitive half way through Saturday that Paul Ryner chose not to stop until he ran out of water!

With winds shifting throughout both Saturday and Sunday the racing format changed from 'figure of 8' to 'down wind slalom'. Every time down wind racing is mentioned 'Glen Worden' was witnessed smiling but the course suited others as well. A veteran of Irish Slalom sailing Paul Reid racked up his highest finish with a 2nd place finish on Saturday afternoon. Other sailors enjoying the high wind down wind course was Kevin Cunningham and Aidan Granfield. Nick Fletcher travelled all the way from Belfast to win two races, enjoy a great days sailing and then returned home! Easier for some than others!

Some of the best racing seen in years was done near the top of the fleet with Maurice Owens, Hannes Louet, William Revels and Cormac O'Brien fighting it out all weekend. Maurice walked away with a deserved top spot. Well done Mo! Some of the GPS replays showing a particularly comical incident with a fishing line, Maurice and Cormac O'Brien. Looked soar lads!

The potential of Barry Whitelaw this weekend was seen from the beach and a number of well orchestrated 'accidents' dropped him a few points. Finishing seventh overall put a smile back on his face though.

Spillanes Bar was the venue of choice on Saturday night for some food, drinks and music! After a hard day's sailing and with the forecast looking so good for Sunday, most (but not all) had an early night. With racing expected to finish lunch time Sunday Jamie Knox said 'no way….i haven't seen conditions like this for years – 3 more races and a Master Blast'*. The Master Blast took the Silver and Gold Fleet out the back to mast high rolling swell. Racing finished around 3pm on Sunday.

The success of this event is down to the contribution of Greg Day and Jamie Knox Watersports. Both spent two long days in the boats overseeing racing, recording results and supervising safety. A big thanks to both! Our events wouldn't attract such numbers if it wasn't for our sponsors and we would like to thank Jurys Inn who sponsor a weekend away, Boards Magazine for its annual subscription and Cloudmaster.ie (Cormac O'Brien) for his GPS tracking of races. Jeremy in Jamie Knox's Shop greatly assisted with event logistics.

Newtonards is the next event in June. Paddy Lyner and Gary Pope are promising a good weekend and loads of wind. Thanks to everyone who made it such a great weekend.

*Not even 'Big Mo' argues with Jamie so an afternoon of racing was followed by prize giving.