Al Mennie

At a towering 6’5″and 250lbs, Red headed Irish big wave surfer Al Mennie operates on the scale of Giants. From humble beginnings at Castlerock Al eventually launched Project Red under which he discovered and pioneered many of the now notorious Irish big surf spots, resolutely forging his own way long before the surfing world recognised Ireland as a legitimate big wave arena. Although being one of the sparks that ignited Irish big wave surfing’s belle epoch and regarded as a sporting hero in Ireland this humble and affable man remains unsullied by the media and industry circus that surrounds the big wave scene. He took to the road and proved himself against the best at established giant surf venues such as Mavericks, Chile, La Vaca and Nazaré.  He has successfully competed around the world in both big wave paddle in surfing and tow in surfing.  Al has posted several entries in the XXL Big Wave Competition and finished second in the first ever tow surfing contest at Nazare behind Axi Munian.  Al was part of the crew that worked with Garrett mcnamara in the early days at Nazaré and was part of the team on the day Garrett rode the Guinness World Record Wave.  Al enjoys paddle boarding and was the first man to cross the treacherous Irish Sea between The Giants Causeway and Scotland raising money for charity in the process.  Al mainly focuses on mining the almost limitless vein of isolated, cold water big wave breaks that lie off the Irish coast. It is not unlikely that Al Mennie will continue to do what comes so naturally to him and discover, pioneer and ultimately ride what could be the biggest wave ever ridden.