Don’t know if you’ve been watching the North Atlantic weather charts this winter, but FYI Ireland and the UK have been taking direct hits from storms as strong as hurricanes on a weekly basis for some time now. And I don’t know if you’ve been following the Red Bull Storm Chase series, which I blogged about when it started in Ireland last January, but the series recently wrapped up with an amazing session right in the middle of one of those storms in Cornwall, England. Thomas Traversa of France was declared the winner of this grueling triptych of events (there was another session in Tasmania last August) and is now officially the craziest, most bad-ass windsurfer on the planet.
As your attorney I advise you to pop a Red Bull and watch this viddy right here:
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After watching it myself a few times, I’m wondering if they shouldn’t have given prizes to the guys who wiped out the most.
From left to right: Marcilio Browne (Brazil, 2nd place); Thomas Traversa (France, 1st place); Leon Jamaer (Germany, 3rd place)
As to the weather, this is the kind of mess I’m talking about right here. Check out that fierce fist of low punching right through Ireland.
It’s been like watching a marathon kick-boxing fight. Plus we’ve been getting vivid descriptions from my father-in-law in County Kerry of all the damage there.
“The worst in living memory.” It’s one of his favorite phrases, as he has that classic Irish penchant for the dramatic, and now he gets to use it every week.
Here’s hoping the worst is over for now.
PS: Be sure to check back on that Red Bull link tomorrow, as they should be posting a full-length viddy with highlights from all three Storm Chase sessions!