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Displaying items by tag: Daniel McGlynn

#Surfing - A young surfer from Kinlough talks to the Leitrim Observer about his experiences taking part in the RTÉ series Big Wave Bootcamp, currently showing Fridays at 5pm on RTÉ Two.

Seventeen-year-old Daniel McGlynn was among eight teenagers who were given just three weeks to become expert surfers under the instruction of American surfing professional Ken Bradshaw.

After an audition process for the reality TV series last summer, McGlynn and his fellow teens were flown half-way round the world to Hawaii. But despite the idyllic surroundings, the group faced a punishing training schedule.

“We were in bed at 9 o’clock and up at 6am. We would then train for at least four hours in the day," says McGlynn. "Everything was so much tougher, the waves could be up to 6ft or 7ft tall, even to paddle out on the surf board was a challenge as the current was so much stronger!"

An occasional surfer for almost a decade, McGlynn says he really stepped up his game under the tutelage of Bradshaw.

"He literally taught us everything he knows about the sport, everything. He also rode the biggest wave ever recorded, a massive 86ft in Oahu, Hawaii.”

The Leitrim Observer has more on the story HERE.

Published in Surfing

Esailing & Virtual Sailing information

The concept of e-sailing, or virtual sailing, is based on a computer game sailing challenge that has been around for more than a decade.

The research and development of software over this time means its popularity has taken off to the extent that it has now become a part of the sailing seascape and now allows people to take an 'active part' in some of the most famous regattas across the world such as the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Sydney Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup and some Olympic venues too, all from the comfort of their armchair.

The most popular model is the 'eSailing World Championship'. It is an annual esports competition, first held in 2018 and officially recognised by World Sailing, the sports governing body.

The eSailing World Championship is a yearly competition for virtual sailors competing on the Virtual Regatta Inshore game.

The contract to run the event was given to a private company, Virtual Regatta that had amassed tens of thousands of sailors playing offshore sailing routing game following major offshore races in real-time.

In April 2020, the company says on its website that it has 35,000 active players and 500,000 regattas sailed.

Virtual Regatta started in 2010 as a small team of passionate designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs gathered around the idea that virtual sailing sports games can mix with real races and real skippers.