LORD OF THE BATTLE FOR THE BAY, winner Peter Kosinski gives us an insight into the event.

The 2015 Battle for the Bay has yet again provided the perfect platform to showcase all that Ireland has to offer. Amazing weather, vibrant watersports community and last but not least the “Irish Craic”.

I have been involved in this beach culture festival for 4 years now and the event keeps growing both in terms of watersports events and as a showcase for leading Irish innovation.

This year was special for a number of reasons. The first ever Liffey SUP race happened with 40 people racing up and down the river through the heart of the city I was an ambassador for the SUP divison

Lastly a crew of drone pilots from I fly Technology captured the whole event from the air!!!

I used the 2015 Starboard Astro Racer for the Liffey SUP race. Starboard have been working hard to show that their inflatables are as fast and durable as all the other brands.

I was surprised with the performance of the board compared to the Red Paddle Co. Elite, which many other competitors were using in the race. Both boards are fantastic but both use different technologies to stiffen the boards. The famous rocker Stiffening system (RSS) from Red paddle Co. and the new dual stringer technology from Starboard.

Racing the board to a 1st place finish in the race showed me that Starboard have put their time to good use. Small changes with the construction of the rails, fin box and the addition of the dual stringer technology made the board feel solid and responsive.

Lady of the bay winner was Katie McAnena also riding Starboard.

Lord & Lady of the Battle for the Bay – Photo by Wojtek Kosinski

European and Spanish Freestyle Kite Champion Alvero Onieva was staying with me for the weekend. The Spaniard from Tarifa had some bad luck in the Kite Boarder Cross event but his passion for the sport was infectious. He works along side Wainman Hawaii and runs his own company Clash to push the  innovation of kiteboarding to the next level. At the end of the event he gave away his board to a local young gun showing his humble attitude to the young community of Kitesurfers.