The Tiree Wave Classic is without doubt the most prestigous and longest running Wavesailing Contest in Europe. The forecast for the week of the contest was not looking great, only one day was looking like it would deliver the conditions needed to warrant the running of the Pro division. As it turned out Mother Nature and the North Atlantic delivered the goods!
Timo Mullen happy - Pic: John Carter
Ballepuil beach was the early morning call for the Pro fleet who were greeted at sunrise to 4-6ft waves with a steady 15-20 knot cross offshore wind. With all the UK’s top Pro’s present and the Wild Card World Cup sailor Dany Bruch this was set to be a day of reckoning!
Early rounds saw some very early departures for 3/4 of the top 4 ranked sailors, tour leader Jamie Hancock went down to Timo in round 2, whilst Ben Proffit and Phil Horrocks sailed not up to their full potential to also depart early in round 2! Timo on the other hand had found his mojo and gouged and aired his way into the final alongside John Skye, Dany Bruch and Jack Hunt. Timo had been using the Quad 81 up until the final, when just before the green flag Timo noticed the wind had eased of slightly, he opted for a quick pit stop and changed to a floatier board and a 5.6 S1 sail.
“Changing to my bigger gear for the final was a good move, i was able to get priority on some of the biggest sets of the day, my first wave was a good one to put in the bank, a few good turns and a sweet aerial. Then i got a cracker at the end of the heat, logo high two big aerials and a nice gouge! I was pretty confident of a good result but to hear i had won the final was amazing, especially against Skye Boy who only one week ago had taken down Kauli Seadi in Sylt!”
Timo Mullen with a nice aerial - Pic: John Carter
The conditions got better and better enough to get through a lot of the double elimination but unfortunately the wind swung too offshore by the end of the day resulting in the double reaching 5th place. Timo then had the longest week of his life as he hung in 1st place awaiting conditions to complete the double elimination. Regrettably the week ended with no further contestable conditions BUT this meant Timo hung onto his no.1 spot and took the title and $2000 prize money and traditional Scottish Broad Sword!
This fantastic result has rocketed Timo into 3rd Place overall for the year, proving that he has got the talent in contests as well as in front of the camera!!!
© Text: Tiree Wave Classic
Mens Pro Results Tiree Wave Classic 2009
1st Timo Mullen (Starboard,Severne,Animal) IR69
2nd John Skye (RRD, Naish, Animal) K57
3rd Dany Bruch (Exocet, Severne, OTC, O’Neill) G181
Pictures of the Tiree Wave Classic 2009
© Pics: John Carter
