Bjorn Dunkerbeck Interview

Read

Tiree Wave Classic 2004

Read

The Legendary Tiree Wave Classic

SPEAKING OUT…

John Skye

"Going into this event tied with Ben meant I had to be pretty focused. In the end the whole title came down to one heat: me and Proffitt, man on man in my second heat of the whole competition. Conditions were sick: port tack, 4m weather and some pretty fun sized waves. I won that heat, but afterwards struggled a bit to focus. I had some of the best heats of my life, but when it mattered I didn’t step up and finished a bit disappointed in 3rd.

Andy King was ripping. His jumping is without doubt the best in the UK and really he should be focusing on stepping up to World Cup level. Also, it was good to see Chris back on top. This year he has been a bit out of focus, but during Tiree he was back in the groove and ripping. Johnny Rock (John Hibbard) was also rocking and nearly destroyed my year with a solid performance on the down the line day. Chris also won the Tiree Table Tennis Tournament Two Thousand and Tour, which was fiercely competitive!

The parties were, as usual, the best of the year. ‘Big Tuesday’ went off, with all the boys letting their hair down having seen the poor forecast. The last night was also pretty wild. Chris couldn’t walk, Timo tried to break his neck and Clyde killed it by doing ‘the worm’ (a break dancing move) all the way down two lines of folk who were about to dance to yet another celidah tune.

Overall it was a good end to a great year of competition. I was stoked to win the Triple Crown again, especially considering the variety of competition and also the level that the UK has reached now. We really do have such a talented line up of sailors and if some of them can get the backing, they could all make serious impacts onto the world tour. Hopefully 2005 will see them there!"

Chris Audsley

"My highs of the week? Finding out I won the last round on the last day which gave me the event win. It is a prestigious event and meant so much to me. I was over the moon!
Also winning the Tiree Table Tennis Tournament Two Thousand and Tour. Pure joy!
And finally, winning the Eddie Stobart spotting competition on the journey home to Fareham, 17 lorries to Paul Hunt’s 2!"

And the lows?

"I think my body was at an all time low after competing and being in a wetsuit for nine and a half hours with a cold. I don’t think I have ever been so drained and tired in my life on the journey home. Also, I wasn’t too happy breaking a brand new mast on the first day! Off the water, my low point was opening the bathroom door at a rather embarrassing moment and catching Skyeboy off guard. You can make your own judgment on that one!"

Jan Sleigh

"My highs of the Tiree event: making Hayling Island to Oban in just less than 8 hours!
Working out how to have a two player game with Andy King on Star Wars Battlefront for PS2 (Editor: Jan, just how old are you?!)
Unveiling my new Hybrid Freewave 85 at the event and beating off other sailors who wanted to give it a go.

My competition lows? Losing to Ben Proffitt in the third round by 0.5 points. My competition highs? Losing to Ben Proffitt by 0.5 points!!

Overall high: Having some cranking winds and waves and getting 9th in two rounds despite my ankle injury"

James Cox

"It was kind of like a holiday for me, swimming with the seals and enjoying the scenery of this beautiful island. The competition was a kind of side line!! No seriously, the conditions were very enjoyable, I managed to get to one final, which I am pretty pleased about.

Low Point: Reaching the final of the first round and then sailing a heat below my normally high standards!"

Jamie Hancock

"Well I hurt myself, so I wasn’t able to compete at my best, but the conditions were good and everybody was ripping. In particularly James Cox who beat me in the first round. Damn!"

Louise Emery

"Highlight of the event: Seeing housemates James Cox and Andy King meet head to head in the final of Round 1. They really deserved it and it made me feel all fuzzy inside supporting them both from the beach.

Worst moment of the week: Walking into our tiny, cottage kitchen seeing the plastic bread board resting onto a hot hob with flames just reaching the ceiling and thinking that we can't put it out without the help of the Tiree Fire Service and their two buckets of sand. We did put it out, just."

Lucy Robson

"Unfortunately my lasting memory of the Tiree event was the journey home. I got to within 50 miles of Brighton and the van broke down as it had run out of oil. My phone was out of battery so I had to walk to the emergency phone box and get them to call my breakdown cover. In the meantime the police had arrived because they had a call about a suspicious white van dumped on the M25!!  Basically... KNOW YOUR LIMITS!  I really am a dimwit when it comes to vehicles."