This article is from page 3 of the 2006-11-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
A MASSIVE rescue operation was launched last Friday for a group of surfers who got into difficulty while surfing the elusive Aill na Searracht wave underneath the Cliffs of Moher.
The operation, involving 100 people, was launched after a group of surfers got into difficulty during “tow-in” of the 30-foot-high monster wave.
Five surfers, including two with jet-skis, set out from Doolin on Friday afternoon.
The alarm was raised after 2.20pm when the Irish Coastguard helicopter and local rescue services, including the Doolin Coastguard, were launched.
Three surfers got into difficulty and were nearly smashed into the cliff underneath O’Briens Tower. They took refuge on the flaggy shore underneath the cliff.
As rescuers prepared to descend the steep cliff to reach the surfers, they saw two of the men swimming back out to sea to try and catch another wave.
When a coastguard helicopter flew over the men to airlift them to safety, they refused to be rescued.
It later emerged that the men were unwilling to leave their surfboards and be airlifted to safety.
A short time later, a rescue boat from Doolin reached the two men and took them on board. The third man was later picked up by another member of the group on a jetski and brought to safety.
“This is a very dangerous place and someone is going to be killed here before long,” said a member of the rescue services from the scene on Friday.
“It is very easy to get smashed onto the rocks and killed. The famous Aill na Searracht wave is becoming better known around the world now and we are afraid that someone will be killed here.”
The rescue operation involved the Doolin Coastguard, a search team from Kilkee, the Aran Islands Lifeboat and the Shannon-based Irish Coastguard helicopter.
“There were up to 100 people involved in this rescue,” said a member of the Coastguard.
“The staff at Valentia Coastguard Radio were also tied up with this rescue for some time.
“It was a huge waste of resources and the greatest insult is that two people refused to be rescued by the helicopter.
“At the end of the day, they were safe and that is the main thing, but anything could have happened during the rescue to one of our people.” COASTGUARD warnings are unlikely to stop surfers from taking on the Aill na Searracht wave under the Cliffs of Moher even after this weekend’s near disaster.
Two surfers who refused to be winched to safety by the Irish Coastguard helicopter when they were told they would have to leave their boards behind were described as “very foolish” by a prominent member of the Doolin Coastguard yesterday.
“The crew of the helicopter and the winch-man were risking their own lives in manoeuvering to rescue the three,” said Mattie Shannon of the Doolin Coastguard.
“It was an extreme measure to go in there and has been tried only once before. It was a life-threatening situation and the surfers refused a helping hand.
“They were very foolish to refuse and it shows an extreme view of the value placed on a surfboard.”
According to the Doolin Coastguard, the three surfers had only two boards between them. They were rescued only when another surfer left from the shore with two boards and battled the surf, with the boardless surfer, as far as the Doolin Coastguard rescue boat.
“It was very brave of the man to go out and come back for his friend, but it was very foolish – they could have been winched to safety earlier,” continued Mr Shannon. “I’ve no doubt that they are strong swimmers, but they must recognise when they are in danger and not put their own lives and the lives of others at risk.”
However, according to one prominent Lahinch-based surfer, last Friday’s near accident is unlikely to deter people from surfing the Aill na Searracht wave.
“It is dangerous, there are no two ways about that, but it is also one of the very best waves anywhere in the world and people are not going to stop surfing it,” said the local surfer, who asked not to be identified.
“It is certainly one of the best waves Ireland. The people who go out and surf that wave are all on top of their game. It is at the very extreme end of the scale and the only people who go out there are surfers who are 100 per cent fit and have been surfing big waves for many years.”
Mr Shannon said that one of the three men was showing the early signs of hypothermia when rescued.