The tide was out, the waves were small, but the surfers of Ireland had united to put the Co Clare resort at the centre of the international surfing movement in a bid to break the world record for having the most surfers on a single wave.

The town had been buzzing all week after word came back from London that its application to attempt to enter the record books had been formally recognised by the authorities in Guinness World Records. Old men in pubs discussed their chances, pinning their hopes on a new generation to carry Lahinch's name to glory.

The crowd began to gather at midday. Usually they would head straight for the surf but yesterday afternoon, there were two problems. Firstly, there wasn't much in the way of surf out past land's end, and secondly they were waiting for the official kick-off at 3pm, when they would bid to etch their name into the immortal pages of the Guinness Book of Records.

Among the eager surfers who travelled to Clare for the event was Peter Conroy, a Dublin fireman who spends most of his week trying to catch waves. "We work a shift system in the fire brigade so there's a lot of time to spend surfing, " he explained. "That's the reason I went for the job in the first place."

At 2pm, the Tiger Beer Blues Band struck up, beginning their set with that immortal rock 'n' roll line, "hello Lahinch". As the band played, men wearing wetsuits and carrying buckets mingled with the crowd, collecting money for the Lahinch Playground Appeal. Surfers may have attitude but they also have a caring side, dude. "Feel free to dance, " urged the singer. "Don't mind the traffic, it's only a minor hazard."

Back on the beach, the judge had arrived. Pamela Schoenhofer of Guinness World Records had flown in to see whether Lahinch had what it takes to become a global surfing landmark.

If watching 170 people surf a wave simultaneously sounds like a strange way to make a living, it is a normal day at the office for German-born Schoenhofer. Her last job was in Rotterdam, where she witnessed an attempt to have the most people dressed as mobile phones. Were they successful? "Yes." How many people were involved? "I can't remember, " she says. "But it was a lot."

Guinness World Records receives 1,000 applications a week and only a tiny percentage are accepted. Just 3,500 records are featured in the Guinness Book of Records.

"We read about the current record, which was set in Rio last year when 42 people surfed a wave, and we thought 'sure that's a piece of cake', " said organiser John McCarthy.

"We'd have 20 people surfing the same wave down here most weekends, so 42 isn't that big a deal."

At 3pm it began. One hundred and seventy surfers took to the water like ducks dressed in black, all trying to stay on the same wave for the required five seconds. They all seemed confident, as was television presenter Hector O hEochagain, who was MC-ing the event.

"Someone get some pints of Guinness for the woman from Guinness, " Hector told the crowd. "We'll get her tipsy and she'll be seeing double. She'll think there were 690 people riding the same wave for four years. On one surfboard."

And so they went up, and then they came down. Every 15 minutes, another attempt at the record was made. It was all filmed by the judge, who will analyse the footage at a later date to see whether the required number of people stayed up on the wave for the required amount of time.

When it was all over, the lads were still confident. "Definitely did it, " said McCarthy.

"The record is ours."

While the tapes made their way back to London, the surfers made their way to the pub, where the party continued all night, everyone in the town toasting the new-found global fame of Lahinch.

Dried off and at the bar, the surfers happily swapped one liquid for another. Water, water everywhere, and quite a lot to drink.