This article is from page 3 of the 2006-12-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THE decision by surfers to refuse assistance last month from the Irish Coastguard Service near the Cliffs of Moher was defended yesterday.
Owner of the oldest surf shop in Ireland, Lahinch Surf Shop, Tom Buckley, said that the surfers involved felt that they didn’t require rescuing as they did not believe that they were in danger.
Last week, it emerged that the Irish Coastguard Service is considering imposing penalties on the surfers for refusing assistance during the large-scale rescue operation that was launched.
Mr Buckley was an eye-witness to the scene and said that the rescue effort was launched after a brother of one of the surfers looking on from land called in the rescue.
He said, “It is better to be safe than sorry but the surfers themselves felt that it was not a serious situation.”
He added, “The surfers have got a bad press with reports stating that they didn’t accept the assistance because they didn’t want to leave the surf boards behind.
“That isn’t the case as they left behind a video camera which would be much more expensive than the surf boards.”
Mr Buckley said, “The people on the helicopter and the winch-man put themselves at risk, but the lads didn’t consider themselves in danger. They have surfed big waves all over the world.
“When you’re suddenly confronted and asked to go on a winch and you feel that you don’t need rescuing, how do you react?”
Mr Buckley said that a surfer on a jet ski and another on a board got washed in by a wave, while a third man was filming events from the rocky shore.
The two could not restart the jetski valued at around €10,000 and it was abandoned.
Two surfers then paddled out through the waves with one returning with two surf boards to retrieve the third man and Mr Buckley said that it was at this time that the winchman descended to offer assistance.
The wave was surfed for the first time last year and, over the past 12 months, it has attracted world-wide attention in the surfing community and is now regarded as one of the world’s best tow-in surf spots, though opportunities to surf the wave are rare.