I set off for Peru 2 weeks before the competition to get in some practice at the competition wave and take advantage of the plentiful swell there to train after minimal surfing recently due to university exams.
The journey was relatively painless with all the boats getting on the plane in Dublin, and arriving in Trujillo 3 flights later without any issues.
The next the two weeks went by really quickly surfing twice a day, watching old and new friends arrive from all over the world. Filled with great sessions in Huanchaco, the site of the competition on some big, punchy waves and a day in Chicama, the longest wave in the world.

Surfing Chicama was unlike any wave I'd ever surfed before, it wasn't the biggest or steepest wave, but the length of the wave was amazing. It was such an intense experience, taking off on the wave, doing a few turns, and the ride had barely started, a minute later and almost a kilometre further down the point you pulled off the wave core burning. After this you could either paddle across and catch another wave for a few more hundred meters into the bay, and walk your boat around the beach and get in closer to the take off point, or paddle back against the strong current constantly pushing you north.

The next day I finally took a day off and explored the ancient Adobe city of Chan Chan, built by the Chimu people around 850AD, considered one of the largest Adobe cities in the world. This brought the first week to an end, and by this point I was starting to feel ready of the competition and excited for it to start.
The next week followed on with more people arriving, the lineup getting busier and a growing sense of excitement. On the Friday, the day started off with registering, collecting the event t-shirt and wristband to enter the competition site, followed by a boat check in to make sure all the boats had airbags and ties, and finished off with a parade through the town with all the teams and an opening meal at the local surf club.

The competition started with the open long boat class, I felt quite jittery leading up to this heat but I surfed well enough to make it through this heat into the quarter finals. Despite not being able to surf how I wanted to, I felt a lot more relaxed after this heading into the rest of the competition.
The following day brought the first round of the open short boat, unfortunately, due to a delay caused by the scoring system, my heat started almost 15 minutes later than expected. I hadn't heard this as I'd gotten in further down the beach where it was easier to launch the kayak without damaging the boat and fins on the rocks. As soon as I'd paddled out, I heard there were 17 minutes left, I couldn't see the previous heat and assumed my heat had started and I was 2 minutes late as I could see the other competitors in my heat paddling out behind me. I immediately took off and got in 2 big rail to rail turns followed by a huge panam, only to then find out about the delay. I battled it out against the set waves landing on my head, before waiting for my heat to start. The heat went really well, winning my heat and I advanced to the following round.

The competition was then postponed for a day due to large waves and safety issues, before kicking off again with the short boat again, I really enjoyed this heat, leading for quite a while, before dropping to second place in the last few waves. But it was still enough to make it through into my second short boat quarter final and a really enjoyable, close heat.

The next day brought the team competition, unfortunately as the only competitor from Northern Ireland, I wasn't able to take part, so I had the day off. This was completed around midday the following day, before the individual competition restarted. I struggled in both my quarterfinals and took off on poor quality waves which limited my surfing and scoring potential. In the closing minutes of the long boat quarter final I took off on a reasonable wave, laying down two massive turns and throwing the boat into a barrel roll. The boat stalled coming out of the barrel roll and I finished my second quarter in third place. Not enough to make it through.
I was pretty disappointed with this, I knew I could have surfed better than I did in my quarterfinals, as I'd shown for the last two weeks free surfing. The pressure got to me and I went out. But I'm already excited to try and work on this at the British open and Irish open later this, and leading up to the next world’s.

I've had a great time at the event and really enjoyed my time in Peru, with some amazing sessions. Watching the finals was amazing, in particular seeing how close the short boat final was with some amazing rides going down. I can't wait to see everyone from around the world again in 2 years time.
A big thanks to Peak UK for the amazing ST topdeck, I've really enjoyed surfing in it and been amazed at how comfortable it's been and how much closer I've been able to get to the water without catching the wave and losing speed.
You can follow Mathew on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MathewLamontSurfKayaking.
