Damien Wildes had never been on a prone paddleboard before when he purchased his 14’ Surftech Bark Commander a few years back. Growing up in Ireland, he had been immersed in the water at a young age- swimming, sailing, and surfing. He was lucky to do so, he notes, as even though Ireland is surrounded by water, there isn’t much of an ocean culture there. It wasn’t until he spent some time in Australia and Hawaii that he saw prone padders, and immediately was intrigued by the sport. Finally, one day back in Ireland, he notes “I was sick of not trying it- but I knew I liked surfing and swimming. So I said F- it, I’m going to buy a board”. From there, he got going.
Damien had completed iron mans and was an avid open water swimmer, so the transition to paddling was natural. At first, his plan was to target races like The Catalina Classic and Molokai, but when Covid hit, he realized he needed another mission. He started looking at something closer to home, but with no races around him, decided to create his own challenge. He started thinking about crossing the Irish Sea with his friend Charles, and- as he puts it, “it all snowballed from there”.
While training, Damien took an interesting approach. He swam and incorporated endurance and strength training, but also made his paddles “as grim as he could”, to deplete himself during the workout and thus prepare for larger paddles ahead. Much of his training in the winter is what he calls “misery paddling”- having to wear a 5’4, gloves, and booties to stay warm in the cold water. He focused on stroke technique in swimming to improve his paddling stroke as well.
Something tricky about this endeavor would be the planning. The weather is quite unpredictable in the Irish Sea… you could start the paddle and have the wind and tide shift on you, creating entirely different conditions than what you were previously paddling in. Damien also calls the planning a “logistical nightmare”. Since it hadn’t been crossed before on a prone paddleboard, there was no “how-to” or guidance. Damien found a few tide windows that would work throughout the summer, and set his sights on July, aiming to make the crossing with Charlie accompanying him on his stand up board. However, that first attempt turned into a disaster- both boats broke down, leaving them with no choice but to try to reschedule. The next day, Damien picked up the phone and made some calls, until he tracked down an experienced captain, boat, and crew to escort him as soon as the conditions allowed. He anticipated a good weather window in two weeks, and the plan was made- unfortunately without Charlie. Up until the day of, he notes that they still were watching the weather, not knowing exactly which day would be the crossing. This uncertainty- compared to knowing an exact launch day- made training difficult. It was hard to fit in a peak and taper when the date could change so drastically- and mentally it was nerve wracking not knowing when the launch date would be. Luckily, this window would ultimately work, and Damien and team headed out to Holyhead to get ready to cross back to Greystones.
“A Welsh sunrise to start the day with conditions looking ideal. 25 degree Celsius heat and Factor 50 sun cream is unusual for this part of the world but set the scene for an incredible day.”
During the logistics, the last minute bookings of ferries and accommodations, the one thing getting Damien through all the chaos was knowing that once he got in the water he would make it across. Finally, he hit the water and felt relieved that he was finally doing what he came to do.
“Despite a solid start and settling in quickly, 30km in everything went downhill…my watch failed, food wasn’t sitting right and I completely lost my rhythm. At this point I had to dig deep and push on and luckily everything came around…except my watch!!! My dad had to shout out my splits so I could stay on top of my pace.”
The tide was constantly changing- at some points helping push him along, and at some points going against him. Around 30k his stomach started to feel bad, but his rhythm came back after another 10k.
“Some crazy silky conditions in the middle of the Irish Sea…despite it being such a small body of water it’s rarely this flat due to the tidal movement but scenes like this made it super exciting to be out there.”
Around 50k, conditions glassed off and some real food offered him “a new lease of life”. At this point he could see the mainland, but now he had to paddle in a completely different direction against the tide to stay on course. Things took a turn as he had to wait about a half hour for a cargo ship to cross, his temperature dropped, and it was getting late.
“Anything beyond 65km was unknown territory for me…and it hit hard. With chafing, pressure sores, swollen hands, sunburn, jellyfish stings and shoulders screaming it was pretty full on but I kept churning.”
Something Daien notes is that- unlike running or cycling, paddling has factors that can actively work against you. “That’s the interest in paddling… if you’re on a road cycling, the road never works against you. But when paddling, if you get onto the wrong tidal flow, you can be paddling nowhere for a certain length of time. You have to have a high level of resilience… to keep one hand pushing in front of another and just keep grinding it out”. And he did that until finally, after 2 years in the making, he completed his paddle in 14 hours and 57 minutes, covering about 98km.
“The last few hundred metres…at this stage the pain was overcome with pure stoke, buzzing to get back to my wife, SarahJane, who I could hear shouting to me from the marina with a crew of family and friends!”
Even though this challenge was a feat of physical endurance, Damien emphasizes how important the mental side of things is. Because he was so “buzzed” about trying to finish this paddle, it outweighed all the negative factors, which ultimately helped propel him forward. “I wanted to finish this more than I wanted to stop”. Another factor he notes that helped so much was the support of his friends and family, who readily entertained his idea and helped him make it a reality.
“I had to take a minute to thank my support crew before landing…without Lee, John and my Dad, this could never have happened…15 hours on a boat is no easy feat!”
Damien hopes that this crossing will help generate some interest over in Ireland and get more people into the sport.
“If you get the opportunity to do something like that, do it. It was really really cool, being on the water for that long- I love getting out there. It was a great way to spend the day… having my wife and family and friends at the end of it- it was really great.”
“Still smiling and incredibly proud…after 2 years of effort and planning I had managed to prone paddle across the Irish Sea in unbelievable conditions…about 5 minutes after this I was sitting against my car on the ground completely depleted, exhausted and elated.”
“I had been envisioning paddling into that marina once a day for the past two years, because I wanted it so bad. Two years of effort for 15 hours of fun… now it’s time for something else!”
Next up, he’s setting his sights on races like The Catalina Classic and Molokai out here in the states. “I would love to go pit myself aginst guys in California and Hawaii and see how I get on”.
Nice work Damien! We’re stoked to see you out here for some races next year.