ScottishSurfingFederation.com

Scottish National Surfing Championships 2012

2012-01-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

The Scottish Nationals will take place in Thurso on the weekend of the 31st of March 2012. Should conditions not be good enough for the contest to run the following weekend will be used as the backup date. As per usual keep your eye on www.scottishsurfingfederation.com for updates and the call which is usually made on the Wednesday before the contest

Through the Whisky Barrel - Thurso Premiere Fri 27th January

2011-12-22T11:22:00.000-08:00

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!!

2011-12-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-15T05:42:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-07T09:51:00.000-08:00

Through the Whisky Barrel Premiere Night

2011-11-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-25T07:53:00.001-07:00

Scottish Premiere this weekend in Aberdeen

So....Get yir kilt on!!

www.throughthewhiskybarrel.com ... for details

Gathering of the Clans Results

2011-10-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-10-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-26T08:05:00.001-07:00

Scottish Lowland Longboard and Junior Contest

2011-09-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-18T16:27:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-03T23:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

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!!

2011-03-31T08:21:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-17T02:36:00.001-07:00

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!

2011-03-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

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

2011-02-21T05:53:00.000-08:00

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

Done and Dusted!

2010-10-04T12:36:00.000-07:00

Evening everyone,

Well that's the Gathering of the Clans done and dusted for another year, and I'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone who turned up, helped out and basically allowed the event to happen.

It was a real tough call, there was a chart for waves but of questionable quality and duration. A few phone calls later with the possibility of the event not running if it was postponed we decided to give the event the green light and go for it.

I left Thurso early and arrived in Fraserburgh just before seven am watched a few sets and decided that it was at least worth a paddle before things kicked off.

It's been a while since I've had to paddle out through any surf and just after my feet left the sand I thought that I was going to be challenged to say the least before I saw any breaking waves. It didn't take long though and it was actually quite easy to get out there, staying in the right spot was a completely different story! Forty minutes later and four waves I was back on the beach getting ready to set up.

In all honesty I have to say a big thanks to the Broch surf club who really pulled out the stops, arranging access to the beach viewing room which made for a fantastic judging, prize giving and general focal point throughout the event and helping massively throughout the day.

The sun shone all day, there were some challenging conditions but the waves held good shape and consistency all day. Due to the conditions in the morning it was decided to run the open first and extend the heat length to forty minutes to give competitors a fair chance of getting waves.

Next to run was the seniors, longboards and ladies. Once the first rounds were completed it was decided that it was still a little too much for the juniors to contend with at that point so it was onto the finals.

By this time the surf was beginning to shape up well and the wind calming down, all of the finals were closely fought, even though it was the finals and everyone wanted to win as much as the next there was a good atmosphere in the water and a fair bit of joking around if I was to be truthful.

With the day drawing to a close the swell had died down to just overhead and was looking good for the juniors, after a quick chat with them they were eager to get out there and give it a go. All of the juniors gave it a good dig and it was a real inspiration to see so many juniors competing and enjoying the day in general.

At the end of the day it was the Fraserburgh team who won the event, although I would say that it wasn't all their way as the Aberdeen team were hot on their heels and narrowly missed out.

I was going to say below is a full rundown of results from all of the divisions and the overall team placing, however I forgot the sheet with the full listings and i'm offshore now. I'll post the team placings and winners from each catagory instead for now and post the rest later.

Once again huge thanks to everyone and sponsors Staunch who provided prizes for the winners of each division. Hope that everyone had a great day and we can see you again next year at the Scottish nationals in the spring.

Team placing:

1st Fraserburgh
2nd Aberdeen
3rd Belhaven
4th Banff

Catagory winners:

Open: Lester Cruickshank
Senior: George Noble
Longboard: Iain Masson
Ladies: Dee Ripol
Junior: Louie Chadwick

Congratulations to all...
Thanks
Chris

Clans is On!

2010-09-30T03:14:00.000-07:00

Everyone,

Well we finally made a decision, and the Clans is a go for this weekend.

We have had a few folks keen on entering and there are a few teams. If you are looking to enter but don't have a team please email me and I'll try to sort it out before the weekend for you.

Check in will be at 8am Saturday the 2nd of October down the beach at Fraserburgh.

Cost: £5 per team member.

Hope to see you there,

Thanks
Chris

Clans Update

2010-09-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

We will be posting a final decision on whether the event will run this weekend tomorrow evening after looking at the chart again.

Thanks for your patience
Chris

Clans Update

2010-09-25T03:36:00.000-07:00

Morning everyone,

Time's marching on now and the Clans is almost upon us. We will be looking to make a final call on Wednesday the 29th of September on the event location. Basically its either going to be in Fraserburgh or Thurso although Fraserburgh is the primary location for the event.

I haven't heard from anyone about teams entering so if you could let me know that would be fantastic and help the event run smoother on the day. If you are looking to enter a team you can contact me at scottishwaveriders@gmail.com

Looking at the team for those of you who don't know, you can have up to ten people in a team. The team has to be from Scotland although the members from the team don't all need to be Scottish.

The divisions are as follows:

Open
Junior (U18)
Ladies
Senior (Over 30)
Longboard

Thanks
Chris

Boom!

2010-09-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

Had to post this.... Even if only for the first wave!

Cloudbreak September 2010 from Surfing Life on Vimeo.

Dates for the Gathering of the Clans '10

2010-09-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Sorry its been a while been pretty busy lately!

We finally managed to come to a decision regarding the date and place for the Gathering this year. We are looking to run on the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd in Fraserburgh. This is however dependant on the chart where if the chart is poor for Fraserburgh and it looks like there will be waves on the north coast we will be looking to move the event to the north coast.

More info to follow soon, but as always if you have any questions please feel free to mail me at scottishwaveriders@gmail.com

Thanks
Chris

O'Neill Surf Academy 2010 Rocks Scotlands!

2010-07-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hey kids, ever fancied trying surfing? We’ll now here’s a chance and it’s absolutely free!

In the final week of July the O’Neill surf academy will arrive in Scotland armed with 60 boards, 60 wetsuits and 6 professional surf instructors. The surf academy hopes to give kids aged from 6 to 16 the opportunity to try surfing for the first time under professional supervision.

The academy kicks off in Thurso on the 28th and 29th of July then moves on to Fraserburgh where it will run open courses on the 31st of July and the 1st of August. Each day the surf academy hopes to attract up to 50 kids; the aim is to start at approx 09:30 am where each kid will receive professional beach instruction followed by hitting the water for the first surf lesson, lunch will be provided before heading off for a second surf lesson in the afternoon (conditions permitting).

The format per day is outlined below:

09.30 - 10.30 Inscription & registration

10.30 - 11.30 Welcome and introduction

11.30 - 13.00 Surfing

13.00 - 14.00 Lunch

14.30 - 16.30 Surfing

16.30 - 17.00 Material back in trailer

17.00 - 17.30 Award ceremony + autographs

The Academy is open to all kids aged 6 to 16 however due to limited availability spaces will be allocated on a first come first serve basis. Spaces can also be reserved up front by contacting the following email address: oneillgrommets@gmail.com and providing each potential participants name/ age/ parental contact number/ home address and preferred location/ dates (as specified above).

All equipment will be provided along with lunch and tuition is free just bring a towel!

Hope to see you there!

Liked This Too!

2010-06-30T13:43:00.001-07:00

Food for Thought...

2010-06-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

Now thats what I call surfing!

2010-05-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a sick wee vid from Allyn Harper...

Slab Hunting in Scotland from Allyn Harper on Vimeo.

Scottish Champs Teaser

2010-05-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

Scottish Surfing Championships 2010 Teaser >>

Time flies.....

2010-05-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Well sorry about the shortage of posts lately, guess that's how it goes eh?!

Plenty happening since my last post, had the QS on for a week before I went away last time. Yet again been blown away by the standard of surfing in waves we wouldn't look twice at, one of the highlights would have to have been the free surfing at the bowl when it was onshore mush one of the mornings halfway through the contest. It's also pretty amazing to see the airs that the guys were doing, not just in free surfing but in heats too!

Must say that they boys put up a good effort, Boydie had a good game plan and stuck with it throughout. His knowledge helped him to get quite a few good waves however he was out pointed on better set waves. Georgie had a tough heat with not many waves going his way, the waves he did get weren't really keen on cooperating. Scratch put in a fine effort, his experience from the past two events helped him prepare for his heat. Surfing well throughout his heat Scratch did himself proud unfortunately he found his roll of the dice not in his favour. He found himself in one of the highest scoring heats of the first round, even though he did not make it through his heat he could still walk up the reef with his head held high.

I'm sure that everyone seen the photos that have come from the event, I'm going to upload some of my favourites soon. The photo above is Scratch just before his heat and for me this is an outstanding photo. It really sums up the feelings and thoughts that go through your head just before a heat like this. In all honesty its not a very nice position to be in, sure you have all of the journalists calling and talking about how you are the wildcard, the chosen one. Here we have the warrior that the Scots have chosen to put forward as our best.

The ego boost that the journalists give soon subsides leaving the cold hard reality, you are about to surf against some of the best surfers in the world. This is their job, they surf heats every week, winning means continued support and a shot at the big time loosing isn't really an option. Here you are waiting for the countdown, thinking... All I want to do is my best, if I do the best I can and fail that's OK I've done my best. The other option is to surf badly, make the wrong decisions, pick the wrong waves, fall, get stuck inside, it could go flat and I won't get any waves. There are more things can go wrong than right.

Then you have the walk back up the reef, that in itself is a daunting thing. If anyone knows anything about the guys who are at the top of their game it's that they HATE loosing. On the other hand if you win, the world is your oyster all smiles and life is good. winning means living up to the expectation, all the hype from the journalists, the support of the guys on the reef. Loosing is something that you have to deal with and I think that some handle it better than others. Whichever way you look at it it's a long walk with your head bowed.

Anyway I'm getting sidetracked, as you can see from this photo here Scratch surfed well and as far as I'm concerned he did enough to walk up the reef with his head held high.

Later

Chris

Better late than never!

2010-04-11T14:12:00.000-07:00

Evening everyone...

Well I have to say a big sorry to Martina and James as I've been so long at posting about the great work they did during the weekend of the Scottish. I've uploaded a selection of shots that they forwarded onto me but if you would like to see mroe please visit...

http://surfingnorth.wordpress.com/

and

http://www.jamesgunn.co.uk/page80.html

As for me, I'm going to be hanging out watching the 'QS. Boydie sneaked up today to try and get a wee bit of practice in before the event, said that he had a fun surf out at the bowl with twenty seven other guys. One things for sure.. he'll be looking forward to his heat so that there are only three other guys out there with him!

Later
Chris

Scottish Surfing Federation Scottish National Championships 2010

2010-03-12T10:01:00.000-08:00

The SSF Scottish Surfing Championships sponsored by Staunch was held on the weekend of the 6th & 7th March, at Scotland’s most famed wave, Thurso-East. Attracting competitors from all over Scotland to compete against one another for the prestigious title of Scottish Champion, and for the opportunity to represent Scotland in the forthcoming ASP WQS event, the O’Neil Cold Water Classic, and compete for a share of the $145,000 prize purse. The finalists of this year's open competition would also qualify for the Scottish National Surfing Team.

'The Scottish' saw competitors compete in five different divisions: Open, Seniors, Longboard, Ladies & Juniors. Testing conditions greeted competitors on Saturday; head high waves and 15 mph on-shores challenged competitors as a full day of surfing ensued. The 1st round of the open ran, followed by the Seniors semi-finals, Juniors, Ladies, and Longboard finals, all with fine displays of surfing.

The junior event was an exciting man on man final heat - both competitors surfing for their first time on Thurso-East's heavy lipped waves. Louie Chadwick came out on top after catching a high scoring set wave. Both juniors showed great confidence taking on the barelling right handers of Thurso-East on a day that was by no means small and proved to everyone that the future of Scottish surfing is in good hands.

The ladies also surfed with great confidence, this time Fraserburgh's Jill Noble taking the title after catching the best waves and stylishly carving her way to the channel.

The longboard final faced difficult conditions, bumpy faces and fast walls. This year Scottish Longboard Champ, Sam Christopherson had a worthy challenger - Simon Parkinson. Simon was ripping powerfully and stylishly on his 9 footer as if it was a shortboard, and combining traditional nose riding on steep sections of the wave in all his heats. Longboard favourite, Sam, picked off a bomb mid way through the final and rode the tube to secure his title for the second consecutive year, although it was obvious to everyone that Simon has the repertoire to be a contender for the title next year.

You could hardly have asked for a better day on Sunday; over-head world class waves, light off-shores, and even a little sunshine! The remaining heats of the Open promptly beginning at 9am with all competitors and spectators absolutely frothing over the conditions. Surfers were exchanging long barrels, huge floaters and heavy hacks on Thurso Easts flawless copper walls.

Standouts in early rounds of the Open were Mark 'Scratch' Cameron, Chris Noble, Mark 'Boydie' Boyd, Georgie 'Slater' Watt, Russel Cruikshank and Alex Sutherland.

Regardless of conditions Scratch picked off the best waves and surfed them with textbook style to the highest standard. Scratch dominated his heats throughout the competition until he met Chris Noble in the semis, where Chris' tuberiding skills put him on top.

Winner of the Staunch Eagle for highest scoring wave of the competition was the Thurso local, Chris Noble; taking a perfect throaty right with two long deep barrels in the ¼’s, scoring unanimous 10’s from the judges. Thurso-East resident Alex Sutherland had the second highest scoring barrel and was a threatening competitor in the tubing conditions.

Russel Cruikshank was looking strong early on in the contest, throwing buckets of spray on his backhand until an unfortunate wipeout whilst pig-dogging his way into the tube in the semis resulted in a broken thumb.

Mark Boyd and George Watt who both had podium places in the 2009 championships were feeling confident and looking strong early on. Georgie was surfing progressively with a variety of manoeuvres such as reverses and even a layback snap on a lefthander in early rounds. Boydie's backhand attack is always dangerous, although he surfed reservedly in early heats - not the usual radical surfing he is capable of. His tactical knowledge came into play in a tough semi final where a fierce paddle battle ensued with George Noble for a set wave in the dying minutes in the heat for Boydie to protect his lead. Boydie and Georgie Watt both progressed through the semis and into the final for the second consecutive year.

It would be Cameron, Noble, Boyd and Watt who made the final - the experienced regular footers against the youthful goofy footers; Cameron, Boyd and Watt all had podium places in 2009 and Cameron and Noble were both ex champion therefore all finalists were hungry to take the title this time round.

Conditions slightly deteriorated for the Open final, with the wind swinging onshore and the swell pulsing with a lesser frequency than in earlier heats. Event favourites Mark ‘Scratch’ Cameron and Chris Noble were looking tired having surfed their semis and senior final immediately prior. UKPST surfers, Mark Boyd and George Watt were looking strong, but with them both surfing on their backhand against the two favoured, yet tired regular-footers, on Thurso’s reeling rights... who would take the championship title and the WQS wildcard was anyone’s guess.

All four finalists surfed with commitment, control and confidence in the heavy and challenging conditions, but nobody could stop reigning champ, Scratch, from finishing first and retaining his title. Chris Noble came a close second with Boyd and Watt taking 3rd and 4th respectively. It proved to be another close battle between Scratch and Chris who are 10 years older than the other finalists Boydie and Georgie. The rivalry the Scottish Championships has witnessed over the years between Cameron and Noble is sure to be mirrored in future years by the two promising young guns Boyd and Watt, keeping the SSF Scottish Surfing Championships as exciting as ever!

A big thanks to the organisers, the Scottish Surfing Federation, the competitors and all the spectators for making this such a great event. Particular thanks to Andy Bain and Grant Coghill, the head and assistant judges for the weekend, Peter Fenwick the beach marshall and Staunch Industries the competition sponsor.

RESULTS:

OPEN

Mark 'Scratch' Cameron
Chris Noble
Mark 'Boydie' Boyd
Georgie Watt

LADIES

Jill Noble
Lizzy Sutherland
Dianne Ripoll
Angie Fraser

LONGBOARD

Sam Christopherson
Simon Parkinson
Boydie
Angus

JUNIORS

Louie Chadwick
Max Ferguson-Hook

SENIORS

Mark 'Scratch' Cameron
Sam Christopherson
Jason Burnett
Chris Noble

Words by Simon Parkinson & Mark Boyd

Done and dusted!

2010-03-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

Well that's it for another year...

Pretty successful and eventful all round I reckon. There were some good waves, some not so good waves, a few injuries and aching bodies the next day but most importantly some pretty good surfing in all of the divisions!

Sunday had to be the highlight, Scratch took the Open title again this year and set out his intentions right from the hooter in the first heat of the day. His first wave for the heat on Sunday pretty much sealing his heat win leaving him the rest of the heat to find a back up wave which of course he had no problems in doing.

Conditions throughout the morning were some of the best we've seen for a contest in quite a few years, I must say I enjoyed my heats, the waves allowed mostly everyone to have a fair crack at a couple of nice ones and I'm sure that there were some happy campers on the way home on Sunday evening.

Another good turn out from everyone, stoked to see the longboard and Senior division's becomming bigger at the event too.

Big thanks to everyone for turning up and helping out especially Grant and Andy for Judging, Pete, running the beach marshall for the two days, Boydie for his first efforts at Contest Director and again thanks to everyone who picked up a clipboard and judged a heat or two.

Anyway I have to get going just now, full results to follow soon, I'm away just now so once I can get it organised I'll get them posted.

Thanks
Chris

Scottish champs '10

2010-03-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Well we've decided to call the Scottish on for this weekend (6th & 7th) at Thurso. With a reasonable chart we're hoping for a few waves over the weekend. Check in will be 8am at Thurso East car park.

There is also the AGM planned for the evening of the 6th. This will start at 7pm at Tempest surf cafe.

If you would like to see the agenda please follow the link to the side.

Cheers
Chris

Have you been injured whilst surfing/body boarding/knee boarding?

2010-02-26T05:22:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I am a Masters student currently studying an MSc in Sport and Exercise Medicine at Glasgow University. For my thesis I am undertaking a research project on injuries related to surfing. As a keen surfer (knee boarder) who has spent over 25 years in the water I have suffered, as well as seen many various injuries whilst out in the water. Therefore, I am keen to see if the choice of what type of surfing you participate in (stand-up/body board/knee board) can predispose you to certain types of injuries.

Many previous studies in this area have mainly looked at stand-up surfing, but as stated above, I am keen to see if your choice of surf craft can lead to particular types of injury. The injuries that I am looking for can range from the most minor cut or scrape, to more serious forms of injury. No injury is too small or too large. However, the injury that I am asking you to report must have happened during the year 2009 or early 2010. All that I ask is that you click on the link provided and answer the on-line questionnaire (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CY8S59Y). It is completely anonymous, and please be as honest as possible.

Also, if you know of any other surfer who may have been injured, or they know of any other surfer who may have been injured, could you please forward the link onto them? They do not have to be Scottish! As the more respondents to the survey, the better understanding of the risks associated with the choice of board you ride.

If you require more information please feel free to email me on b.ferrier@napier.ac.uk and thank you for your time.

Brendon Ferrier
MSc Sport and Exercise Medicine
Glasgow University

Staunch supports the Scottish champs

2010-02-18T01:15:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

Just had a really exciting call from the guys at Staunch clothing, turns out that they're super stoked on the event and would like to support the SSF this year! If you've never heard of them they're an up and coming clothing brand made in Scotland by Scots for Scots, if you'd like to know more check out http://www.staunchindustries.co.uk/

There was a wee bit of confusion from some of you regarding my last post so just to clarify, our dates that we would love to run the contest is going to be the 6th and 7th of March. Obviously this will depend largely on Huey!

Hopefully the event runs and we will be able to hold the 2010 SSF AGM on the evening of the 6th, I'm still working on the venue but will update everyone once that's finalised. A copy of the agenda will be available soon for anyone who would like a copy, Also if you would like to see anything on the agenda please feel free to email me at scottishwaveriders@gmail.com.

As always there will be a final call made around Wednesday the week of the contest, if everything goes belly up there is a back up date for the start of April but keep your fingers crossed and prey to Huey!

See you there...

Chris

Dates for the Scottish

2010-02-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

Evening all,

Sorry it's taken a wee bit of time to get these to you, things have been a bit hetic on my end however I'm hoping that you'll have enough time to get ready for this years Scottish.

The first date we are looking at is a bit earlier than usual on the 6th and 7th of March with a back up date of the 3rd and 4th of April.

Once again we will be looking at running the event in Thurso.

A final call will be made around the start of March so that you know what's happening.

On a similar note, we are still working on dates for this years Gathering. Hopefully I can confirm them soon!

Thanks
Chris

RESULT!

2010-02-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Coastal Car Parking Charges not going ahead

After discussions within the administration group- it was decided not to progress with Coastal Car Parking Charges

Budget papers are now available for the meeting on Tuesday- link attachedhttp://cmis.eastlothian.gov.uk/cmiswebpublic/

Labour and Tory Groups have both proposed to proceed with charging, however the administration councillors form the majority of councillors and charging will not go ahead

Difficult decisions however had to be made throughout the budget

Cllr Paul McLellan

Paul has also ensured that there will be no futher charges for the period they continue to be in administration (2 yrs)

So looks like you can still turn up and surf for free!

How good is your duck dive?

2010-01-22T06:54:00.000-08:00

All,

Please see below from a student who is studying the art of the duck dive...

I am a keen surfer and a 4th year Sports Science student at the University of Edinburgh. For my thesis I am undertaking a research project on the biomechanics of the surfing duck dive technique. As a surfer I am sure you will appreciate the importance of duck diving, an effective duck dive allows a surfer to get out back more quickly, reducing fatigue and increasing time spent catching waves.

The purpose of this research is to analyse the technique in order to identify the movement patterns required to perform it successfully. This will provide information on how the technique can be improved and which muscles can be trained to make duck diving as effective as possible.

The research is taking place at the University of Edinburgh Centre for Aquatics Research, which has cameras placed both above and below water, providing detailed three dimensional analysis. There is very little research on surfing and nothing published in this area at all, making the results of this project potentially very interesting.

I am planning on getting started with the project in the next few weeks and I am hoping to find some surfers who may be interested in taking part. It would require performing a few duck dives in the University pool, allowing for the performance to be filmed. This would only take an afternoon and should be interesting to take part in because immediate feedback of the performance is available so a participant can watch themselves duck dive, and see how they could improve their own technique.

This project is completely reliant on volunteers being willing to take part and I would greatly appreciate anyone who is willing to come along and participate.

If you think you might be interested in participating, please email me at s0673892@sms.ed.ac.uk and I will be happy to give you some more information.

Kind Regards,
Robert Kupris
4th year Sports Science Student
University of Edinburgh

Well hello there!

2010-01-11T03:36:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it's been a while since I posted anything, I had some major computer problems over the last couple of months. So there goes my first shout out... Cheers Santa! Old Saint Nick didn't fail me this year, he delivered a nice shiny new lap top so we should have a few more updates coming soon.

On the email front, thanks to everyone who has been in touch, I'll do my best this time I'm home to catch up with everything and get back to you, If I don't get back to you in the next couple of weeks feel free to mail me back and call me slack! ;o)

On the wave front it's been a really poor season up north with only a couple of days here and there, no real swells of note. However I've been lead to believe that the East coast has had a good run of waves since Christmas, if you've braved to freezing temperatures and really bad driving conditions to get a couple good on you. I reckon you earned them...

One last note, the East Lothian Council want to introduce parking charges at ALL beaches in the county. This was rejected once already but they are trying again. If you value your beach access please sign the petition and pass on to as many as possible. The decision is being taken at a finance meeting on 9th Feb - the Council seem to think this will rescue them from their budget deficit! http://www.gopetition.co.uk/online/33265.html

Thanks
Chris

Gathering of the Clans Update 12 Nov 2009

2009-11-12T08:50:00.000-08:00

All,

Unfortunately after looking closely at the charts over the last few days we've sadly had to cancel the Gathering of the Clans once again. The reason for this is the current weather charts still carry a large amount of uncertainty given the position of the low pressure system and it doesn’t appear that there will be a long enough swell window over the forthcoming weekend to give the event the full justice it needs. Once again on behalf of the Scottish Surfing Federation I'd like to thank you for your patience and apologies for any inconvenience. The SSF team will work at revising dates for fallback and will let everyone know in due course.

Thanks

On behalf of the SSF

W.Watson

UKPST Update

2009-10-30T14:25:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update as to how the guys are getting on with their UKPST campaigns

Scottish surfers Mark Boyd and George Watt traveled to the Tynemouth UKPST North East Open at the weekend to try their hand against the UKs best surfers. The normal Thurso leg of the tour had been cancelled so this was the closest contest to Scotland for this season. Messy 1-2ft waves with strong winds made for difficult conditions. Mark Boyd narrowly missed out on progressing through to the quarter finals. Boydie found one right-hander on which he made a few backhand turns to the beach, this took him to second place behind Australia's Micah Lester but ahead of Newquay's Martin Black and Australia's Jordan Cuff. However Martin Black replied with two solid scoring waves, Boydie was unable to find another higher scoring wave which left him 0.5 points behind Martin.

Unfortunately an interference was called against Georgie early in his round 1 heat making the last 15 minutes in the water an uphill struggle. Georgie has continued onto Wales for next weekend’s competition so the best of luck to Georgie and let’s hope he can do Scotland proud. Georgie has been participating in all of the UKPST contests this year, the only Scottish surfer to have a real crack at the tour. Here’s hope his hard training and commitment really pays off and he can make his mark on the overall ratings.

Chris

Joxy Girls

2009-10-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

All,

Looks like this ladies surfing thing might really be taking off here?

Here's a wee link to a facebook page for a group of girls who have called themselves the joxy girls. Their aim is to get more ladies into the water here in Scotland, good on them I say!

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=84810788541#/pages/The-Joxy-Girls/84810788541

Cheers
Chris

Chicks Dig It.....

2009-10-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Having spent many hours splashing about in the cold Scottish waters of the North Sea, a group of surf-inspired chicas decided enough was enough, and migrated to the warmer climes of South-west France. That was five years ago, and now they're encouraging other like-minded ladies to do the same.

This summer witnessed the first ever surf camp for British girls held on the sunny beaches of Seignosse and Hossegor. Teaming up with Ashleigh Bennetts, head coach of the O'Neill Surf Academy, the Surf Affinity girls enjoyed a summer of sick surf and sunshine, where everyone's surfing progressed massively. The camp was sponsored by Nikita, who donated treats by the bucketload, and their team riders came along to hang out on the beach and boost some nifty surfing tricks!

It was a really good way for the girls to strike out on their own and boost their confidence in the water. The emphasis was definitely on having plenty of fun! All levels of ability were catered for and, once the surf session was over, the girls headed off to explore the local area.

There are plenty of courses planned for next summer, so don't hesitate to give us a shout if you're interested. From newbies to hotshots, everyone is welcome, so check out www.surfaffinity.com for more info or call us to discuss your Surf Affinity surf camp experience!

Cheers
Corinne

MVP... Who Decides?!

2009-10-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

Evening all...

Well things are heating up with a wee bit of competition on the MVP front. If you don't know what MVP is it's basically a competition with the top ten guys being taken around the world to film their section. The beauty of it is that YOU decide who goes.

We now have two guys from Scotland in the running George Watt from Fraserburgh and Mark boyde from Sandend. So go on go to http://www.mvpyoudecide.com/ and have your say!

Gathering Update

2009-10-15T05:56:00.001-07:00

All,

Just another quick update - unfortunately the chart isn't looking much better this time either - and once again we have had to postpone the Gathering of the Clans event. For the time being we will now aim to hold the event on the weekend 14th– 15th November we've had to choose this date due to unforseen circumstances.

Apologies for any inconvenience and hope to see you in a months time,

Thanks

Watson

Gathering of the Clans '09

2009-09-24T00:46:00.000-07:00

Morning everyone,

Unfortunately due to poor forecast conditions we have had to cancel the Clans this weekend.

We will now be looking at the 17th - 18th October to run the event. Again there will be another call closer to the time to let everyone know what's happening.

Lets hope for swell next time!

Thanks
Chris

Gathering '09

2009-09-17T06:16:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Well it's getting closer to the Clans again, hope everybody is ready and have their teams in place.

Anyone still looking for a team can get in contact to try and arrange a place.

Clan Chiefs...

Can all Clan Chiefs please contact me with details of their teams at scottishwaveriders@gmail.com

Pray for waves!

Chris

Links...

2009-08-11T04:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quick heads up,

Added a few new links over the past couple of weeks, a few different things going on there. If your looking for a new board you should have a look at J's link. He might not have been shaping for that long but I've seen quite a few that'd be worth checking out.

Anyway looks like swell for the start of next week, hope everyone has fun.

Chris

Dates for the Gathering this year

2009-07-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone...

With the distinct lack of swell for the last couple of months we've had a chance to look at this years Gathering.

Here are the dates for this year.

First weekend we're looking at is 26th and 27th of September.
Failing that the 17th and 18th of October and the last back up we got is the next weekend 24th and 25th of October.

This years event is going to be held in Fraserburgh.

More details to follow closer to the time.

Hopefully there's going to be more swell than there's been lately. mind you there's been talk of a few east coast waves over the past month or so, the place to be?

Cheers
Chris

ESP Team in Indo...

2009-07-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

Finalists from this years Scottish Championships Mark Boyd and Scott Main made their way to West Java, Indonesia over May and June.

During the trip the boys managed to get a few shacks and spanks under Indos scorching sun. Scotty managed to get severly sunburnt and ended up surfing in his wetsuit for the remainder of the trip. Despite this he still scored the best forehand tube of his life at Turtles right in front of Boydie who was in the channel, all on his first day!

Nobody could top Scotty's 6 second double shack at Turtles for the rest of the trip, however fun waves were had at Cimaja, Sawarna and Panaitan Island. Unfortunately the swell never really produced during their stay at Panaitan Island and One Palm Point did not break. There were some tubes and some fast rides however at the most perfect left set up Scottish eyes have ever seen... Napalms.

Scotty and Boydie returned to Turtles where they had began their trip to find a few more fun days before they left. Overall it was a successful trip with plenty time in the green room avoiding the flatness at home. Both Scotty and Boydie agreed that they will be back to Panaitan for another look on a bigger swell though!

Boydie

Once I can figure out how to post there will be a wee video to follow and maybe a few shots too...

One day left!

2009-07-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the delays been having some proper bad days on the old computer but if you get a chance and your in the area this looks well worth...

WAVERIDERS
directed by Joel Conroy

FRIDAY 10 – SUNDAY 12 JULY AT GLASGOW FILM THEATRE

“IN THE icy waters off the coast of Ireland, surfers are riding exceptional waves that are now rated amongst the best in the world.”

WAVERIDERS is the previously untold story of the unlikely Irish roots of the worldwide surfing phenomenon and today’s pioneers of Irish big wave surfing. The story unfolds through the inspirational and ultimately tragic history of Irish/Hawaiian legendary waterman, George Freeth, the son of an Irishman, who was responsible for the rebirth of this sport of Hawaiian kings in the early twentieth century.

With its distinguished cast of world-renowned Irish, British and Irish/American surfers WAVERIDERS journeys full-circle from Hawaii to California and back to Irish shores following Freeth’s wave of influence. The journey reaches a spectacular climax when the surfers conquer the biggest swell ever to have been ridden in Ireland by catching monster waves of over fifty feet.

This raw and exhilarating film is narrated by Cillian Murphy, (The Wind that Shakes the Barley) adding a beautifully understated voiceover to this raw and exhilarating film’s soundtrack that includes The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks, U2 and John Martyn.

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Film at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2008, “Joel Conroy harnesses something intangible: the spiritual purity that lures extreme surfers to the ocean.” (Paul Lynch, film critic).

Note to editors: Director Joel Conroy is happy to be interviewed. Please contact Seonaid Frame: press@gft.org or on 0141 352 8613

Pics: High quality production stills can be downloaded from www.waveriders thefilm.com or contact Richy Freeman: digital@gft.org.uk or on 0141 352 8612

Summer time blues

2009-06-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Well looks like summer's well and truly here. Only two days of swell last time home, mind you can't really complain the sun was shining and the swell held for the whole weekend. As the swell died on Sunday it left time for a quick BBQ, a few beers and a spot of sunbathing on Sunday afternoon just before the sun went home on Monday.

rumors are that the east coast may have broken their two month flat spell last weekend, mind you that was only rumors and that's not to say that it's not going to be flat for the next two months!

Looks like magic seaweed is predicting that wee pulse for later in the week... then the weekend... then later in the week but it'll never get here! Oh the joys of the Internet, if only it would say it was going to be flat we might actually manage to do something with our lives instead of always hanging on for that elusive summer swell.

But wait... Looks like there's a swell coming soon ;o)

O’Neill CWC Highland Open 2009

2009-05-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

By Marc Cameron

Is it that time of year again? Come on work ma coming up for Easter which I think is a cracking time of year for surfing. Longer days kicking in birds chirping and swell... Well not on the east coast this must be the worst season for swell for years I’m sure you’ll agree

The Scottish surfing championships was held in Thurso a welcomed boost for waves and after seeing numerous good charts this year thought we’re up for a good one. Sadly the surf was very small but contest organizers Chris, Watson and Damon did a belting job hunting enough conditions to run of the comp that finished late Sunday at Melvich. With 3 goofyfoots and me regular in the final and the waves being small lefts I needed to think big on my first wave I came off the bottom smashed it then pulled off a huge 360kickflip air choke on at boys no wait a minute I just woke up. Damn! I managed to scrape together a couple of half decent rides then late on picked up a good one with a wall for a few spanks. After the heat I thought me and George scored the best ones with nothing in it I got the nod.

So for the second year running I got a wildcard into the O’Neill CWC highland open a 6 star WQS oocha boys. So except the main asp tour this is the highest standard of surfing I could compete against. I was in the second heat and up against sunny Garcia who I’ve watched in videos like green iguana, filthy habits for years what a result power man up against the haggis hack and a jap surfer. The waves were at the bowl sick little numbers for hooking into a wee pit or a quick solid wall for real good turns but with only say 2 or 3 sets per 30 minute heat it really was a case of pick the best waves and you’ll be in. For me my chance to progress is with waves like this because the mort time they get on a wave the more to their advantage because they are amazingly fast and pull off manoeuvres like I dreamt earlier. The first 10 minutes of the heat nothing came in, we just sat there looking into shore I’m like gee whiz lets get busy folks. I caught a nice one with a float the boat n a nice spank then turned round here’s Sunny took off tucked in using his hand full in the wave honking little pit all the way passed me I’m like on you go that’s a beauty. Sunny was convincingly 1st, me and (Jap surfer) battling for 2nd. I knew one good wave would give me a chance to progress. I have to say, sitting there I was buzzing for it go on ocean give me a peach but, with time running out, I picked a smaller one, surfed it well to my standard. It was not enough but I was stoked up.

Seeing the guys close up, how they draw their lines and position in the line up to dishing out sick turns is fantastic for me to see. It really shows you what can be done; inspiring stuff.

Make the most of the swell before summer kicks in – could be a bad one for surf. I’m off to Oz in September for a months surfing, I’m going to bang in the Sydney marathon as well so I’ll be running all summer. Keep on it boyz.

Scratch

Swell Time: The 2009 Scottish

2009-04-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

By ROGER COX

IT'S 1pm on the second and final day of the 2009 Scottish Surfing Championships, and the best surfers in the country are gathered in a farmyard-cum-car park, overlooking the fabled reefbreak known throughout the surfing universe as Thurso East. In an ideal world there would be perfect, hollow waves spitting and reeling along this kelp-covered rock slab, but today: nothing. A few heats were held here early in the morning in smallish surf, but now the sea looks worryingly calm.

Thurso East is Scotland's premier wave, but it only works in a big swell. There are other spots in the area which should be surfable under these marginal conditions, however, so contest director Chris Noble and his team are going to have to up sticks and transport their entire operation to a different beach. And with only a few hours to go until dark, and lots of heats still to run, they will have to move fast.

"I know this isn't what a lot of you guys are going to want to hear," Noble tells the assembled competitors, "but we're going to get this event finished today, even if it's in the ugliest waves you can imagine."

In years gone by, there wouldn't have been any great rush to crown a Scottish surfing champ, but times have changed. Since 2006, the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) has held a major contest in Thurso every spring – the O'Neill Highland Open – and offered a first round "wildcard" berth to that year's best Scots rider. With the 2009 pro contest just weeks away, the Scottish Surfing Federation (SSF) needs to select a representative to compete against the big boys, and soon, preferably today.

When the surf is too small for Thurso East, there are usually surfable waves at Brims Ness – a nearby reef open to the full force of the North Atlantic. The surf here is reported to be more powerful but also lumpy and unpredictable because it's exposed to the wind, so in the end, Noble gambles and calls the contest on at Melvich – a beachbreak half an hour's drive to the west. Within seconds, a convoy of surf mobiles is bouncing out of the farmyard and heading for the coast road.

The arrival of the ASP event in Thurso in 2006 wasn't to everyone's liking. Sure, local surfers would get to see the best in the world riding their waves, but they would also have spectacular pictures of their favourite spots plastered all over the surfing media, potentially sending hordes of foreign surfers high-tailing it to the north coast of Scotland.At the SSF's AGM, held at the end of the first day of this year's Scottish Surfing Championships at Thurso's Tempest surf shop and cafe, the general consensus seems to be that the media feeding frenzy surrounding the ASP contest has definitely resulted in more crowded waves, but that the thing is here to stay, so the Scottish surfing community may as well try to get something out of it.

The SSF is very keen to foster youth development. At one point it looked as if event sponsors, O'Neill, were going to get some of the pros competing in the 2009 event to put on masterclasses for young Scottish surfers at beaches all around the country, but now, the humongous multinational retailer claims it no longer has the budget for such altruistic acts. Credit crunch or no, it would surely be a nice gesture – a way of putting something back into a surfing community that has, on the whole, welcomed the pro surfing circus with open arms.

Melvich is a beautiful surfing spot – a huge sweep of white sand – and it's a relief to see small but perfectly formed waves breaking in front of the rivermouth at its eastern end.

As the tide pushes in, the waves get a little bigger until, by the time the four-man final hits the water, they're shoulder-to-head high and peeling into the river with machine-like precision. Fraserburgh's George Watt takes an early lead, surfing with real power and style – at just 21 years old, he's surely one of the brightest hopes for the future of Scottish surfing. In the end, though, he is narrowly beaten by last year's champion, Mark "Scratch" Cameron, 31, who pulls off a spectacular 360 to clinch first place.

"I'm obviously delighted to have come out on top," Cameron says, at an awards ceremony at the nearby Halladale Inn, "particularly when such a good crew of surfers came up for the competition."

Last year, Cameron narrowly missed out on causing a major upset in the first round of the Highland Open with a brave display of tube riding. Does he think he can do something similar this year?

"It's a great experience to come up here and see all the pro surfers," he says. "They're really good compared to me, so it boosts my surfing, having to compete with them. So, we'll see."

Scottish Surfing Championships '09

2009-04-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

The Scottish Championships wsere held on the weekend of the 4th and 5th of April '09 on the North coast of Scotland. Conditions were testing not only for the competitors but also for the organisers but in the end the event was held in the best waves possible with some really fun 2 - 3' waves to be had at Melvich for the finals.

Here's a quick run down of the results

Open

1 Mark 'Scratch' Cameron
2 George Watt
3 Mark Boyd
4 Scott Main

Seniors

1 Mark 'Scratch' Cameron
2 Scott Main
3 Sam Christopherson
4 Christopher Williamson

Ladies

1 Shona McGuinnes
2 Dianne King
3 Dee Riphol
4 Shelia Findlayson

Junior

1 Ali Coghill
2 Louie Chadwick

Longboards

1 Sam Christopherson
2 William Watson

Thanks
Chris

East V's West Contest

2009-04-10T02:56:00.000-07:00

Hey,

You may or may not know but the Belhaven surfclub ran a wee contest the week before the Scottish, here's a short review and the results.

Belhaven Surf club hosted the 2nd East V West Surf comp with teams from around Scotland competing in nice 2ft offshore surf at Belhaven beach Dunbar. Unlike the first competition where we had 8 teams (3 West and 5 East) we struggled to get any teams from the west to come through to challenge us due to the Universities having a big bash in Tiree on the same weekend however those that did arrive from the East made the competition competitive and fun socially!
Thanks to Coast to Coast, St Vedas, Puro Nectar, and Ratho for sponsorship.

Final results:
Open Men

1.Lee Wood (Edinburgh)
2. Karel Phillips (Coast to Coast)
3.Sam Christopherson (Coast to Coast)
4.Alistair Chalmers (Belhaven Surf Club)

Open Ladies

1. Diane King (Coast to Coast)
2.Olivia Advil (Edinburgh)
3.Gillian Thomson (Belhaven Surf Club)

Longboard

1. Lee Wood (Edinburgh)
2. Sam Christopherson (Coast to Coast)
3.Andrew Leiper (Belhaven Surf Club)

Bodyboard

1. Tim Christopherson (Coast to Coast)
2. Douglas Howie (Belhaven Surf Club)

Junior

1. Douglas Mackenzie (Belhaven Surf Club)
2. Max (Coast to Coast)

Overall Team Placing

1. Coast to Coast
2. Edinburgh
3. Belhaven Surf Club

Cheers
Chris