Free Ride Kingdoms

An idea born out of the Covid era to explore more spots in his own “backyard” saw Tom Court and friends eventually make their way to Western Ireland, using the convergence of wind and swell to their advantage in the hunt for new foiling opportunities along the Wild Atlantic Way.

Words: Tom Court
Photos: Sam Scadgell

Over the last few seasons, I have set myself the task to really start to explore some of the places slightly closer to home. Home, for me is on the Isle of Wight on the south coast of the UK, a small island that is naturally graced with some of the best water sports conditions that the south coast of the British Isles has to offer. However, if there is one thing that the era of Covid did teach us, it is there is more than meets the eye at your home spots! Now with the added addition of ‘foil goggles’ and the multitude of ways to ride the oceans, there are so many more spots that are open to us…

Once the world started opening up again, I started to wonder what conditions, beaches, breaks and running river spots existed right on our doorsteps, here in the UK… and with that curiosity, the Free Ride Kingdoms project has begun. The aim, to explore the British Isles to find the best shred spots for free riding, winging, foil surfing, surf or kite and discover more of this un-shredded land that has always been my home.

When you start to really look into the plethora of amazing places, huge stretches of untouched coastline, it’s hard to know where to start. There are the highlands of northern Scotland, the lochs and line ups that grace the furthest northern shores that are battered by those north sea low pressure systems. Or the west coast of Ireland and the wild Atlantic way, hundreds of miles of undulating coastline, cliffs and exposed slabs, points and beach breaks. That’s without even considering the west coast of Wales, tucked in the Irish Sea, graced by the prevailing SW storms that can deliver some of the most insane high wind strengths and rolling swells, or the Cornish coastlines, iconic for surfing but beaches like Gwithian or Exmouth being known for the massive storm sessions they hold… even the east coast and Norfolk or the northern beaches of Blackpool. Where, when, and for how long!? This is now my mission to explore.

Choose the quiver wisely! From prone setups, wing foils, windsurf foils, kites and eFoils, the benefit of taking the vans, there is no limit to the packing! Every good trip needs a good crew too, so we selected carefully, only those that know the score. Once the shred fest starts, the mission begins, it’s all about maximum water time and nothing comes in higher priority…

The crew: Ross Williams, fellow Isle of Wight board pro windsurfer, having moved back from Hawaii to open a café on the Isle of Wight. Brought back by the clear blue water and big waves – oh wait, sorry – I mean making the most of the muddy brown water, and riding foils on the big days, Ross was ready to get the shred missions underway. With a full line up of skills, he’s a true waterman!

Dougie Newell, a ride-or-die homie from the Isle of Wight with a natural hand at any sport he touches. Prone foiling, wing foiling, surfing and skating are on his specials list, so he’s prepared for anything.

Sam Scadgell, the photographer with a passion for water sports. He is one of the best surfers in the group, but has a decent grasp for anything he puts his hand to.

Finally, myself, the instigator, I will stop at nothing to get the best shred there is available on any given day! Always ‘ready for a shreddy’, whatever the weather, foils, kites, wings, surfboards, Fliteboards and skateboards in the back of the van… this was going to be a shred fest by which we would re-set the standards for exploring this wind and wave graced land upon which we live.

After a five hour drive to the ferry in Wales, followed by an all-night crossing to Fishguard, we arrived on the southernmost tip of Ireland, greeted by an amazing sunrise and what looked like shredable waves peeling down the coast. After a quick stop to scope the potential of this place, we decided to keep on driving across to the Lahinch area. Bang in the middle of the west coast, it looked like it would give us the diversity of spots to make the best of the forecast we had rolling in.

Once we arrived, one of the first small back roads that we drove down brought us to a long left-hand point break with side shore winds as the swell rolled down the coast. The wave wrapped onto the reef, meaning that the inside was sheltered and side-off. After a quick kite, we realized quickly that it was much better for wingfoiling. So, following a quick equipment change, Ross, Dougie and myself found ourselves charging down the line of some of the best wingfoiling waves that any of us has had in a long while with not another person in sight! As the sun set, we got back to the beach with that after-session glow that only a foiler knows, ready for our first Guinness amidst the warm embrace of a small bar called Danny Mac’s, where we could while away the evening talking about the conditions, which size foils we were using and endlessly chat about fuselage lengths without fear of interruption, before heading back to warm our cold toes in the Airbnb that we hadn’t even seen yet.

The next morning we awoke to the full froth of four guys set free on the west coast of Ireland. An early start, quick coffee breakfast in the small town of Lahinch, and then straight into the search. What really amazed me about the whole area is that with a detailed study of the maps, you could really see which places would be good in the corresponding forecast. If you ran the Windy app, you could pick and choose how the wind would affect the different twists and turns along the coastline, tailoring the spot to the sport you wanted to do. That day was all set for prone foiling!

Without too much of a drive, we bumped our way down a small track that led us to a cliff-sheltered bay. As we walked across the fields in our waterproof boots, a right hand chip-in point break revealed itself, with a left hand reef breaking the other way across the same small bay. A perfect foiling playground, even with an outer reef that would allow the possibility to break away from the shore and ride off down the coast if you had the skills.

We wasted no time, suiting up, climbing down the cliffs, a few shocks from the electric fences as we jumped over them. Waterfalls literally landing on the beach, rainbows in the air, caves on the point and a wave-strewn bay made it ideal for foil take-offs. It was one of the most picturesque foil surfing spots that I had ever ridden, and the whole area had so much potential for wingfoiling too. We spent hours trading waves, pumping from the right-hand take-off, over to the left-hand break, with a perfect figure of eight foil bowl… Needless to say, we were exhausted by lunch time.

Next up we visited the famous Cliffs of Moher, which was just a short drive up the coast. Checking out the famed slabs that litter the coast, to see what we could shred next. Just the walk down the cliff at some of these spots would be enough to deter most normal people from going near the water, so we opted for the easy option and went back towards the town to foil surf a local break. We scored the main left-hand point in Lahinch town at about two-to-three foot. After being at so many remote spots with no-one else around, we’d forgotten how ‘anti-social’ foil surfing can still be seen as at popular line-ups. So, a word to the wise, always be sensitive about paddling out at a reef with other people, make sure your skills are up to it and don’t mess with a small guy called Sean! It didn’t stop us scoring some runners, able to connect multiple surf breaks all the way down the point, linking some 4+ minute rides.

As a new 50+ knot NW storm started to fire up and batter the cliffs, we once again started looking at the spot options. The first day was a SW, so we had some new exploring to do. Our final score was on the other side of the bay. A right-hand point break, seemingly un-ridden, but pumping from a distance. We pulled the trigger. We rigged up at the vans and trekked across the fields again to launch from a long jut of reef sticking out at the bottom of the point. One wing, one kite, one windsurfer… it was the trio of shred, to finish off the trip. Overhead high faces coming through with a big open channel rolling off down the coast. Top to bottom four to eight turns on each wave. It was ideal for winging, not as good for everything else… but still a world class setup that would bid us farewell. Coming in tired, bruised and completely over-shredded after seven days before the mast, it was time for the 12-hour pilgrimage back home. Smiles on our faces and happy to be home, that was a week in Ireland… I don’t think it could ever disappoint!