Through the Whisky Barrel - Thurso Premiere Fri 27th January

Thurso Premiere of the film 'Through the Whisky Barrel' a film about Scottish Surfing. Much of the footage is from the waves around Thurso and our local surfers are featured. Come and join us for a night to celebrate the film and enjoy an alternative Burn's Night with Hag...gis, Neeps and Tatties and even a wee nip!

Tickets are charged at £8.00 and available from Caithness Horizons, Thurso

More information can be found at http://www.throughthewhiskybarrel.com/ and on the SSF facebook site

After Party to follow the Film in Y-Not Bar and Grill

SSF 2012 Calendar NOW AVAILABLE in stores and online!!

The much anticipated Scottish Surfing Federation calendar is now on sale!!

 Click on images to see full size

The calendar features photographs from Scotland featuring many of Scotland's top surfers as well as surfers from abroad taken by a range of great photographers.  The photos featured in the calendar were voted on by SSF members and the public on the facebook page.

The calendar costs £10 and is a great Christmas gift idea.  All proceeds will be going towards the SSF.

The calendar is available to buy from most surf shops and other outlets around Scotland including; Granite Reef in Aberdeen, E.S.P in Elgin, C2C Surf School in Belhaven, Caithness Horizons in Thurso, Tempest Cafe in Thurso and more...

If you are interested in stocking the calendar please contact allynharper@live.com

The calendar can now be purchased online, just follow the link:
http://www.throughthewhiskybarrel.com/Through_The_Whisky_Barrel/Buy_The_SSF_2012_Calendar.html

Granite Reef Open - Results

Granite Reef Open Surf Comp Results; Junior - 1st - Jamie Bain, 2nd - Greg Millar, 3rd - Andrew Robertson. Novice - 1st - Phil Lealey, 2nd - Andy Forbes, 3rd - Erlend Inkster, 4th - Warren Bain. Longboard - 1st - Iain Masson, 2nd - Graham Bagnall, 3rd - Mark Boyd, 4th - Robert McKay. Ladies - 1st - Jill Noble, 2nd - Sophie Pigot, 3rd - Sarah Dickson, 4th - Angie Fraser. Open - 1st Chris Noble, 2nd - Russel Cruickshank, 3rd - Allyn Harper, 4th - Lester Cruickshank.

Thanks to Granite Reef for kindly contributing proceeds from the event to the Scottish Surfing Federation

Granite Reef Open - Aberdeen Surf Comp

Through the Whisky Barrel Premiere Night

The Scottish Premiere of "Through The Whisky Barrel" by Scottish film maker, Allyn Harper was held at The Belmont Cinema in Aberdeen on Saturday 29th October. The red carpet event was a sell out success and surfers from all over Scotland were in attendance in their kilts and other finery. Live music was provided by Evera, Davy Shanks and Ross Aitkenhead at the after party.

The event sponsors, O'Neill, Staunch, Granite Reef, Oggy Wax, Sutsu and Quiver put forward raffle prizes, which helped raise over £700 for The Scottish Surfing Federation. This boost will help get more youngsters involved in the sport and into the Scottish waters.

The film has been much anticipated in Scotland for some time and is the first Scottish surfing film to hit the big screen. The film has helped to put Scottish surfers back on the map. 

"I've had a passion for film making for some time but when I started surfing 7 years ago, the passion was fuelled and the dream of making a surf film about surfing in Scotland was ignited. My aim for the film was to tell the Scottish surfer's story and I wanted the film to bring the surfing community in Scotland together and raise funds for the Scottish Surfing Federation. The premiere was a huge success and I am really pleased." Allyn Harper

"A fantastically put together film by Allyn Harper showing a great insight into Scottish surfing" - Mark Boyd (Thurso local surfer)

The film is due out on DVD in December. For more information visit www.throughthewhiskybarrel.com or the Facebook page.




 

JOXY SURF DEVELOPMENT RESIDENTIAL

Joxy Surf is hosting a non-profit womens surfing development weekend myself and some friends are organising on the 11th - 13th Nov. It's for female Scottish surfers to try to get the more intermediate level surfers together for a laugh and to improve our technical aspects of the sport. We are a rare breed up here especially those surfing reefs and through the winter in snow and icy conditions! A maximum 20 women have signed up for the weekend.
We are gonna do a skating lesson at the local indoor skate park as well as a yoga session. During the surf sessions we will be filmed by Staunch's Janeanne Gilchrist so we can go through coaching points later in the day! We will also be improving fitness with beach lifeguard training and looking into conservation aspects of the surfing environment.

We will be mixing it up a bit with a music workshop and surf fashion design workshops so it should be good! Most of the girls have surfed for between 5-15 years so we're looking at improvements at intermediate level. 3 of us are Level 2 surf instructors and some of us have ranked in Scottish competitions.
Cooler magazine and Scotsman paper is also covering the weekend to help promote women's surfing in Scotland and raise it to the next level.

As you can imagine surfing in Scotland is radically different from the experience you read about in the magazines so we formed the spoof group 'Joxy' surf to demonstrate our experience of surfing. Check out the facebook pages! http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Joxy-Girls/84810788541

Sally

Through the Whisky Barrel

Scottish Premiere this weekend in Aberdeen

So....Get yir kilt on!!

www.throughthewhiskybarrel.com ... for details

Gathering of the Clans Results

Junior
1st Jack Buchan (Shire and City)
2nd Daniel Mowat (Broch)
3rd Callum Stanger (Shire and City)
4th Louie Chadwick (E.S.P North of Scotland)

Seniors
1st Micah Lester (E.S.P North of Scotland )
2nd George Noble (Broch)
3rd Matt Whitt (Aberdeen)
4th Andy Bain (E.S.P North of Scotland)

Open
1st Yudi Andika (E.S.P North of Scotland )
2nd Lester Cruickshank (Broch)
3rd Mark Cameron (Broch)
4th Mark Boyd (E.S.P North of Scotland)

Ladies
1st Jill Noble (Broch)
2nd Dee Ripoll (Aberdeen)
3rd Katie Watson (Broch)
4th Alex Mills (Aberdeen)

Longboards
1st Iain Masson (Broch)
2nd Mark Boyd (E.S.P North of Scotland )
3rd Robbie Mackay (E.S.P North of Scotland)
4th William Watson (Broch)

Clans total points
1st Broch 700 points
2nd E.S.P North of Scotland 600 points
3rd Aberdeen 400 points
4th Grampian team (Shire and city) 345 points

Winning broch team consisted of –
Mark Cameron, Russell Cruickshank, Lester Cruickshank, George Noble, Iain Masson, William Watson, Jamie Bain, Daniel Mowat, Jill Noble and Katie Watson.


Big thanks to all the sponsors - Granite Reef, Brewdog, O’neill, Rhino and Lunar Surf.

We're On!

Well folks,

Thats it, we're on for the clans this weekend, we have a fine looking north swell and good winds.

Check in at Fraserburgh beach, 8:00 am.

See you there.
Chris

Poor Forecast...And change of date

Due to the poor forcast for this weekend we've decided to call it off and postpone the Gathering until next weekend

The new dates will be the 8th and 9th of October in Fraserburgh

As always check the site on the Wednesday before for confirmation.

Hope to see you there and please spread the word

Gathering of the Clans 2011

Scottish Lowland Longboard and Junior Contest

Scottish Lowland Longboard and Junior contest – 17th/18th Sep.

The Scottish Lowland Longboard and Junior competition took place last Saturday in lovely waist to shoulder high surf at Belhaven.
The Longboarding had a great entry, the biggest of any Scottish Longboard competition this year, with very competitive heats, semi finals and final and I have attached photos and results below and you can check out the video of the final – thanks Adam! Josh took the honours taking home the Longboard wooden trophy hand made by Angus MacDonald.
Final Longboarding
1st Josh
2nd Sam
3rd Angus
4th Joe

The Juniors was well attended with some great surfing by all that took part. Both winners of each division really made the most of the conditions and where worthy winners!
Junior U18
1st Max
2nd Abbie
3rd Jacob
Junior U14
1st Andrew
2nd Adam
3rd Leigh
4th Flynn

---

  

SSF Autumn Contest Calendar

Well the surf season is nearing and everyone is getting excited about getting some real waves again, its been nice to have the gloves off but you get scunnered of summer surf at some point...so bring on the swell!!

The Scottish Lowlands Longboard and Grom Search has been postponed due to a poor forecast and will now take place on the 10th & 11th of September.  Contact Sam on 07971990361 for more info and for the call the week of the comp.

The Gathering of the Clans will take place in Fraserburgh on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of October - so start thinking about getting your team organised.  Details and poster for 'the Clans' will follow.  For information about team structure and rules check the link about the comp on the right hand side.

Scottish Lowland Longboard Contest and Grom Search Surf Comp

Come along and join the fun at the Scottish Lowland Longboard Contest and Grom Search Surf Comp in Belhaven Beach near Edinburgh.  This will be a Scottish Surfing Federation fundraiser - all surfing abilities welcome to participate.  Find Sam@ C2Cs contact details on the poster below for more info:

Through The Whisky Barrel - A Film About Surfing in Scotland

Please have a look at the website for Allyn Harper's upcoming film 'Through The Whisky Barrel'

A Quick Word With Scotland's Very Own Surf Photographer - Nick Law

how old are u?  27

where are u from?

The Highlands, Carrbridge.  But now i float about a bit (no pun intended hoho).

how did u get into photography? 

I've always liked cameras, I had an old film SLR which I learnt on when i was at school, I then studied Fine Art - Painting at Uni so I've always had an interest in aesthetics. Before shooting surfing my photos mainly stemmed from the fine art side and I had some photographs in art exhibitions and have some pics in the permanent collection at the Royal Scottish Academy.

how did you get into shooting surfing and how long have you been doing it?

I got into shooting surfing more seriously (at least the water side) when i went to indo the last time. I took a dive style water housing which kind of fitted a small SLR. After arriving I spent all my money on a dirt bike and had to survive for the other 5 months on selling pics to surfers. I got quickly board of cooking in the sun with a long lens from the beach/boat so did almost all from the water. 

So about 5 years now on the surf photo front.

tell me a bit about your water housing?

The housing that I'm currently using is one which I built. Taking the time to design and build a housing adds a whole other element to water photography. At one time that was the only way you could get in the water with a camera. Now it's available to anyone who can scrape together a few bob, however the charm isn't quite the same. The one which I'm using now is the second one i have built and allows complete manual control of the camera while in the water and saves about £2000

tell me about any shots you have had published?

I'm just really been making connections with the Magazines recently. I've had a few shots in surfer magazine from last summer in France and the contents page of wavelength in Dec was one of mine underwater at Bagpipes. I have lots of photos from this winter in Costa Rica which should hopefully be in wavelength shortly.

where is your favourite place to shoot? 

Honestly it's got to be in Scotland, it might not be cooking every day and the sun might not always be out, but when it comes together you have the sickest predictable reefs with crystal clear water.

who is the best surfer you have shot? 

I've not shot with many of the big international names but one water session springs to mind with Cornish Pros; Russell Winter, Alan Stokes and Mitch Corbett at in Scotland.

what do you think of the waves in your home country for shooting surfing? 

Tricky conditions wise, but easy waves to shoot when it all comes together. When it's on it's as good as anywhere in the world.

what ambitions do you have with your surf photography? 

We'll I'd love to do it full time and continue to travel, get well known for what i do and just keeping enjoying it like i do now i suppose.

which wave would you most like to shoot? 

It's scottish and I've shot there recently... but not speaking too much more about that...  I'd say No 10's, I keep missing it! I want to get some solid time up north with the local Scottish boys on local reefs thats what its about really if your from here.

what would be your ideal photo?    

Oooya, thats a hard one! I'd like to get something set up on a reef underwater with a tripod type fixture and remote flashes, I've never seen that kind of thing done before. My housing was built to accommodate a wireless flash trigger so I'm keen to get onto that once i've made the flash housings. 

Thurso Harbour Centre

Check out the plans to develop a facility at Thurso harbour which could be utilised by surfers and other sports clubs, including viewing and changing facilities: http://thursoharbourcentre.org.uk/

EuroSurf 2011

EuroSurf will take place in Bundoran, Ireland from Friday 23rd September to Sunday 2nd October 2011.

Anyone who is interested in participating in the Scotland team please send an email, with subject "EuroSurf" to: markboydsurf@hotmail.com

All participants must be eligible to participate for Scotland as stated in our consititution and those with the highest ranking in their chosen category at the Scottish National Championships will get priority into the team

Categories are:  Open, Ladies, Senior, Masters, Bodyboard, Longboard

Note that there is no Junior category in EuroSurf but we are looking into sending a junior team to The Atlantic Watersport Games, Interceltic watersports competition which will take place in North Devon, from July 23rd to 28th, 2011.

Teams will be sent to either of these international competitions subject to there being enough interest from participants

A Quick Word With Our 2011 Scottish Ladies Champion - Dianne Ripoll

how old are you and how long have you been surfing?
I'm 25 and I've been surfing for 4 years

where did you learn? was it difficult at first?
I learnt to surf at Aberdeen beach and it was really hard at first...took me months to be able to stand up and I got really frustrated. I would go out whenever there were waves and used to go visit (my boyfriend) Allyn in Edinburgh so we would go surf down there a lot too and it was down there that I first rode down the line on a wave.

what is your favourite place to surf?
Pipe in Fiji, and also Sandend and Point of Ness in Scotland

how do you cope with the cold in Scotland?
The cold weather in Scotland totally sucks but some of the best surfs I've had have been when it's been snowing and the water is freezing… I've got a really good excel suit, gloves and boots for when it's really cold and of course, couldn't go out without the hood

where do you surf mostly?
I mostly surf Aberdeen because that's where I live but if there's waves on the north coast
then I go up to Sandend and Fraserburgh

do you travel much? Do you think travelling outside Scotland helped progress your surfing?
In 2008, went travelling and surfing for 5 months - surfed in Bali, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii and California and I think it definitely helped my surfing

why do you think there are a lack of female surfers in Scotland?
I think there is a lack of females in the line up in Scotland because surfing here isn't very glamorous and it is really cold.  You need to be really committed, surfing as much as possible all winter.  . I guess a lot of girls get put off at an early stage with the cold and the snow but if they would just persist they would get hooked like I did!

have you always been interested in competitive surfing?
I used to play tennis competitively so when I started surfing I definitely wanted to try and become Scottish Ladies Champion

how does it feel to be a Scottish Champion?
It feels really good to have won this time as I've entered it a few times now

whats your next ambition with your surfing?
It was definitely an ambition achieved, but like I say I'm not the best in Scotland until I've beaten the best so I still have a few awesome ladies to beat before I can fully achieve that ambition.  I'll keep pushing myself to get better and surf better waves but for now

what would your message to any young girls in Scotland who want to get into surfing?
My message to any girls out there trying surfing out to keep persevering. It's not easy at the start but it is so worth it once you can do it and don't feel intimidated by any guys in the line up - just show them you can surf too!  Any girls in Scotland wanting to get into surfing should get in touch. I'm going off to do my instructor course this week and I'll be doing lessons!

Dee is on Facebook for any girls who want more information

Wave North Beach Day & Scottish Surfing Federation Fundraiser

Our Wave North Beach Day & Scottish Surfing Federation Fundraiser was a great success, with over 30 kids attending for surf lessons and others coming down to enjoy the beach games which involved volleyball, cricket, beach flags and a sandcastle competition.

A huge thank-you to those who gave up their day to come down and help us out in particular the staff at Caithness Horizons, Helen, Marion, Joan and Bethany.  Also a big thank-you to local surfers, their partners and Scottish Surfing Federation members who gave a hand too - Pete Fenwick, Roz MacLeod, Ali Coghill, Chris Clarke, Sheila Findlayson, Phil, Tamara, Laura (im sure I've forgotten someone please let me know)

And finally another thank you to Michael Heddle of Thurso and also to Idris @ Surf Wrath for helping us out with kit for the day - it would not have been possible without your generosity, and hopefully as a result we have some surf stoked kids in Thurso.  Should any of the kids who attended on the day be interested in trying surfing again equipment can be rented from Mike (obtain contact details from Tempest Cafe) and Idris http://www.surfwrath.co.uk/.  And if you do go surfing - be safe! ask advice from other surfers at the beach about conditions, don't go surfing without parental supervision and stay within your depth until a sufficient level of competence has been reached.

Boydie

ColdPro

Our 2010 Scottish National Championships finalists (with Scotty Main taking the place of Georgie Watt) in February were invited to attend the first annual ColdPro surf and music festival in Ireland from the 30th of May - 5th of June.  Follow the progress of the Scots and find out more information about the event by clicking on the link below.

WQS

Well April has been a very busy month for surfing in Scotland. On the back of one of the best winters on the North Coast in recent times, the O'Neill Cold Water Classic once again rolled into town with some of the world's best surfers and this year they scored!  The waves were epic as I'm sure you are well aware by now.  This year we had two SCO competitors in the competition - Scottish Champion Chris Noble, and Mark Boyd filled Scottish #2 Mark Cameron's spot as he was unable to attend due to work commitments. Both Boydie and Chris were astounded by the paddle fitness and heat tacticts in play during the heats at Thurso-East which made even catching a decent set wave a major task in its own, however the boys both got a couple scores on the board and did Scotland proud.

Wave North

9th - 17th of April in Thurso the Wave North festival will be taking place at the same time as the WQS surfing competition.  This week will include a variety of activities, live music and workshops including two Scottish Surfing Federation fundraisers.

The dates of the two SSF fundraisers are:

14th of April - O'Neill Autograph signing, Scottish Surfing movies and slideshow

16th of April - Come and try surfing! all ages (with our own qualified instructor and beach lifeguard), beach games, 5k run, BBQ, bouncy castle, etc etc

So come down and support us and any SSF members willing to help out on the day please contact Boydie on 07977867485.

For more info on the festival contact Helen at Caithness Horizons on: 01847896508

Videos!!

Check out the 2011 Scottish National Surfing Championships video clip at the following link (courtesy of Allyn Harper):
http://vimeo.com/21744038


Also,  check out last years Scottish National Surfing Championships 2010 video:
http://video.mpora.fr/watch/PDs0vqfIj/

Scottish National Surfing Championships 2011

Thurso East was once again the location of choice for the Scottish Surf Federation National Championships, held over the weekend of 19th & 20th March in prime conditions.


Not only was the prestigious title of Scottish Champion at stake but also a wildcard entry to compete against the Worlds elite at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, also to be held at Thurso during April.

Surfers from across Scotland competed in five divisions – Under 18, Ladies, Senior, Longboard and the Open.

Saturday’s smaller - but no less intimidating conditions – proved ideal to run the Under 18, Ladies and Longboard finals. All three of the Under 18 finalists found themselves paddling into Thurso’s world class for their very first time, and it was Daniel Mowat whose nerve held to take the title back to the Broch.

Some of the biggest tides of the decade saw the water rapidly draining off the reef, but failing to deter the Ladies who took to the water in conditions that many would think twice about surfing in, Dee Ripoll taking the crown.

Thurso East’s steep walls can be tricky to ride on a longboard (9 ft+), nonetheless the final was fiercely contested, with local surfer Mark Boyd edging out Sam Christopherson who was looking to take the title for his third year in a row.

Seniors ran through the semi-finals before the extremely low tide forced a postponement in proceedings until Sunday.

Dawn on Sunday vindicated the decision of the contest director as first light brought with it well over-head sets of world-class waves, light off-shore winds, and even some sunshine!

A tightly executed schedule saw the Open division take to the water with both competitors and spectators frothing over the conditions. Surfers showed exceptional commitment, pulling into the long barrelling waves on offer and risking snapped boards pulling off some huge floaters and heavy hacks on the flawless walls.

Standouts in early rounds of the Open were reigning champion Mark 'Scratch' Cameron, Chris Noble – who made history in 2010 as the first Scottish surfer to progress beyond the opening round of the Cold Water Classic, Mark Boyd throwing buckets of spray and Scott Main with perhaps the best barrel of the event. These four surfers would ultimately make up the final of the open with Chris Noble taking the title and Mark Cameron, Boydie and Scott Main taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively.

The final was too tight to call for the spectators on the reef, but the judges called the result in favour of Chris Noble who had generated unparalleled speed on the clean face of the wave allowing him to make a number of critical manoeuvres, which coupled with his ability to exit the seemingly unmakeable tube proved too good to deny.

Three of the Open finalists stayed in the water for the Senior event, but it was the fresh arms of Russell Cruickshank who came out victorious after a double interference was called on both Chris Noble and Mark Cameron in debatable circumstances as Chris Noble opted to go left on the World famous right hand reef break.

The event as a whole was a credit to Scottish surfing, and the SSF would like to thank William Watson, Mark Boyd and Chris Noble for organising a tightly run contest, Patrick Murphy, Andy Bain, Neil and Elliot Dudley for judging and Santa Cruz for providing the epic prizes.

RESULTS:

OPEN

1.Chris Noble (Thurso (formerly of Fraserburgh)
2.Mark Cameron (Fraserburgh)
3.Mark Boyd (Thurso) (formerly of Portsoy)
4.Scott Main (Thurso) (formerly of Fraserburgh)

LONGBOARD

1.Mark Boyd
2.Sam Christopherson (Dunbar)

WOMEN

1.Dee Ripoll (Aberdeen)
2.Sheila Findlayson (Thurso)

JUNIORS

1.Daniel Mowat (Fraserburgh)

Full list of results to follow…

More images from the event can be viewed at www.surftalk.co.uk

AGM Update

Sorry Guys,

I posted the wrong time yesterday for the AGM, it starts at 18:45 not 19:45

Thanks
Chris

The Scottish is On!

Evening everyone,

Well the charts looking reasonably good so we are good to go for this weekend.

The contest will be at Thurso East (swell dependant), 8am check in at the Thurso East carpark.

The 2011 AGM will be at the Orange room in the Park hotel at 19:45 on the Saturday evening.

Any questions just drop me a mail.

Cheers
Chris

Dates for this years Scottish

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it's been a while, anyway we have finally managed to decide on the dates for this years Scottish.

They are, the 19th and 20th of March there will be a call made on the Wednesday of that week. If we have to call it off the dates then would be the 9th and 10th of April.

Usual divisions, Open, Ladies, Junior, Senior and Longboard.

Any questions just shout,

Thanks
Chris