Like a knife through water

Ireland has had but a smattering of sports heroes who compete at the very highest levels internationally. From Roy Keane and Sonia O’Sullivan to Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche they are few and far between, especially those who’ve stayed at the top consistently. But currently we have a real worldbeater in the unlikeliest of sports, windsurfing. Finian Maynard has held the world speed record in his sport for four years and in September 2001 is hoping to be the first person in the world to break 50 knots. You wouldn’t doubt him.

Finian was born in Dun Laoghaire and until the age of eight lived in Wexford with his parents who were running a restaurant. One day someone asked them to do the same job in the Carribbean and, understandably, they took off. It was in those balmy waters that Finian discovered windsurfing. He began entering World Cup competitions when he was 17, threw caution to the, eh, wind and dived full time into the sport. Consistently winning the World Cup speed competition, his goal is now firmly fixed on the record.

“It’s great that an ultimate goal when you were nine, comes around and nips you on the ass when you’re 26,” he notes in the most perfect, soft, neutral Irish accent.

Windsurfing actually falls into the broad ‘yacht’ category when it comes to the speed record. Anything three hulls or less and wind assisted, is included, or as Finian puts it, “you could have your mother on a bath tub holding a bed sheet”. The record hasn’t been attempted since the Australian boat Yellow Pages made 46.5 knotts in 1991. Now, coincidentally, Finian isn’t the only one attempting this challenge. “There are four other syndicates all going for it with different types of hydrofoils and boats including the Red Pages boat in Australia, sister boat to the current record holder. Word is that they can’t get above 44 knotts though”.

Trying to suss out its relevance, I wonder if 50 knots is the equivalent of the four minute mile? “To me it’s like going under nine seconds in the 100 metres”, he replies, without breaking into a sweat. Finian is in fact one of the calmest people you could meet. With this challenge ahead of him I wonder about his safety, and indeed his sanity. Turns out many more, especially those in his fraternity, have wondered about the latter for while.

“In the World Cup in April I hit a sand bar in 50 knots of wind, my foot stayed in the strap, and I tore all the ligaments on the top of my foot,” he recalls. “My foot was blue, and huge but with a lot of great, great French painkillers, x-rays clear of fractures, and a footstrap set to maximum width to accommodate the swollen foot, I went back out the next day. I walked down to the water’s edge on crutches. The organiser was holding my arm saying, ‘I’m not letting you go out’ as it was still blowing 50 knots.

“There weren’t even many guys going out normally, but I hopped on and then couldn’t get my engorged back foot in. So without purchase, the mast kept hitting me in the head, constantly, and in the same place. So with a lump developing now on my head, I reached the top of the course, jammed my purple foot in the strap, looked down the course and thought ‘Jesus, what the fuck am I doing?!’”

What he was doing it turns out was over 40 knots when he got going. He went out the next day and did the same. He won the competition which he had to, as it was the last competition before this record attempt and not winning would just be bad press.

What he’s hoping to do in Ireland, as well as seek out sponsorship, is increase recognition of the sport.

“Windsurfing is the fastest form of sailing,” he remarks. “I can go out, with the equipment I have, in six knots of wind, which is nothing, and outpace an America’s Cup boat. It gets a lot of bad press as a beach bum sport, but it’s more akin to yachting”.

The real crock of gold Finian is seeking is the £250,000 he needs to pay for his assault on the 50 knot milestone. With his website being updated over the course of the attempt, Channel 4 filming it for a documentary, and the distinct possibility of this man becoming a household name if he succeeds, it would seem a lucrative deal.

But is he going to do it?

“In my mind two of the three components are done: the rider and the equipment. The third part is getting the support to do it. I don’t feel like I’m blowing hot air up anybody’s arse when looking for sponsorship. For me it’s a breeze. The easy part is at the end. Hook in, hunker down and focus on a small bit of water just in front of the nose. You’re doing 50 knots but it will feel like 15. You just zone out; despite the speed it feels like you’re not doing anything and all this despite the tremendous pressures on your body”.

The calmness and confidence of a man who could shatter one of the world’s most sacred records is astounding. It’s a serentiy that seems dramatically at odds with his chosen profession, and much like his envisioned state of mind when he careers at over 50 knots down the waterway in France in September, and surely into history.

“It’s like yin and yang,” he smiles. “I love it.”

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