Jaguar Magazine 03/2017 – English

XF SPORTBRAKE
The Northern Irish coast offers endless golden sand
beaches, secret coves, valleys with heart-stopping
vistas, and rugged, bare-rock cliffs. It is worldrenowned
for its oustanding beauty and for the
superb, often empty roads which run through its diverse
landscapes. But there’s another, more subtle quality to this
place, and it’s as much a reason for us coming here as the
quality of the scenery or the driving.
It’s the wind. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, the prevailing
winds gently breathe on this wild coastline most days. They
throw breakers on the shore, provide a subtle aural backing
track to the visual spectacle, and make any walk feel like a
fresh adventure. To get a feel for it, just watch the global
hit TV series Game of Thrones, much of which is filmed in
Northern Ireland, in particular around the coast near the
famous Giant’s Causeway - it is as much a character in
the fantasy phenomenon as Ned Stark, and its breeze has
ruffled many a long beard or gown.
It also makes the Ulster shore perfect for wind sports, and
we’re meeting up with two outgoing local characters who
harness this free resource for extreme thrills. ‘Cloud surfer’
Phil Barron is probably Ireland’s most experienced paraglider
and a fully qualified instructor too, while Robert Finlay is
the multiple Irish national kite buggy champion. The duo
have been friends for a decade, and they alert each other
when the wind is right and decide to converge on the vast
expanse of Benone beach for a barbecue, Robert racing in
at 60mph over the sand and Phil dropping in from the sky.
PHOTOGRAPHY: LKJDÄLKJDF KJLÄKJ ÖÄÖK ; DFÄÖLKJÄLKDJ ÖÄDFÖÄ (2)
58 THE JAGUAR