Matt Bromley Charging Ireland In The Eye Of The Storm

Remember storm Ophelia back in October?

Wild winds tore through much of Western Europe and while the resulting waves were fairly disappointing for much of Britain, Ireland saw a large pack of the world’s best chargers pulling into caverns the size of busses at Mullaghmore.

Among them was South African charger Matt Bromley, who’s love for the Emerald Isle has seen him making the trip over from his homeland year after year.

“Mully is one of the most intimidating waves I’ve ever surfed.” He told Zigzag mag of the trip “The sets march into the bay, growing out of the super deep water. As a wave hits the first reef, it stops and bubbles onto the slab, throwing a massive barrel, which you take off next to. The real good ones look like closeouts, as the wall stretched all the way to the skis in the channel. I remember bottom turning on a few big ones, and it feels like the whole ocean is sucking off the reef. As you lock in, the bottom of the wave drops out, and you have to negotiate a boil or a step, depending on how low the tide it. This the slingshots you into the money section which is round and thick, like the Teahupoo west bowl but taller. The wave is a rush from start to finish, and a lot of the time you have to get barrelled to make it. Its one of the craziest, scariest and most unpredictable waves I’ve surfed and keeps me coming back each year in the hope of a nugget.”

After the Mully session Bromley stuck around to soak up the remainder of the storm swell, snagging a few more bombs just up the coast. Hit play and enjoy the fruits of his mission in Episode three of his Risky Ripples series: