Curragower is situated in the heart of Limerick city, overlooked by an 800 year old castle and is Ireland's best freestyle feature.
The falls are formed when the river Shannon drops over a rock ledge at the right tide. Around 2 hours before low tide the waves begin to form.
The wave itself is pretty big and has two main sections, on surfers left is a breaking section and a curling shoulder, I tend to stay on the left as its easy to carve out and get to the top of the wave quickly, this can be great in competitions.
On the right is a slower but bigger green shoulder, this is a great place for beginners but it can be quick flushy and unpredictable on certain levels but it still can make you go big.
I have been paddling the wave since I was 15 and have always wanted to document it by making a video and after about 4 months of taking and editing footage, countless amounts of computer crashes and only a handful amount of paddling days I eventually got a Gower edit together. Because the wave is out in the middle of the river you cant leave your camera rolling on the side of the bank so we filmed with a combinations of taking breaks and taking turns staying on the side of the bank filming.It was great seeing the lads like Barry Loughnane and Moe Kelleher throwing big behind the lens but filming breaks were short lived as everyone was keen to get back on the wave.
I got to test out my new 197 Streamlyte Freeway Elites on the wave for the first time last November and MAN are they powerful. I have been switching between blades constantly for nearly a year before I got my hands on the Freeways and I couldn't believe the difference they make. I really noticed a big difference when trying to paddle onto the wave from the eddy which can be extremely difficult at times, the blades have a very longer face than the average blade, which really helps you grasp the water to add every extra bit of power to every stroke.
I also got a quick go in the Pyranha Jed and I was very impressed. The boat is very fast and loose on a wave which actually made spinning very fun, I think I spent about 5-10 minutes out on the green just doing spins on the spot. The tail on the boat is slightly longer than the front of the boat which makes it noticeably fast, carve extremely well and pushes the boat further down the wave, I really noticed this when paddling on little gower (small green wave, near the bank) where the Project X would simply flush off the Jed could surf all day. My only criticism was that the nose of the boat tended to dip or nose dive on the main wave on occasion, this would happen when I was sitting low and relaxed on the wave but it never resulted in a flush or an ender. I definitely would recommend this boat and I cant wait to give it another go.
So here is the video hope you enjoy.
