Surfers look to make waves at 2022 National Surfing Championships
The Scottish National Surfing Championships returns to the frigid shores of Thurso on the 15th April, for a three-day tournament to crown winners in four categories.
Thurso is the most northerly town on the British mainland. Despite an estimated population of around 7,000, Thurso is a hub for watersports, particularly surfing, thanks to an enormous fetch to the north.
Though the north of Scotland doesn’t seem to fit the cliched ideas many of us may have about surfing (scraggly blond hairdos, board shorts, palm trees and tiki bars), it is a place whose relationship with its coastline is as strong as anywhere in the world.
Surfers from across the country will compete in the Men’s Scottish National Open, Women’s Scottish National Open, Scottish National Longboard Champion and Scottish National Masters Champion.
Formed in 1975, the Scottish Surfing Federation aims to represent the interests of Scotland’s surfers, and is associated with both continental and worldwide governing bodies of the sport.
Local Thurso schoolboy Craig McLachlan is hoping to defend his men’s open title, while Phoebe Strachan is aiming for her second consecutive title in the women’s event.
Strachan said: “Thurso is one of the best surfing destinations in northern Europe and I know I speak for all participants when I say that we are excited to put on a show and showcase Scotland as a country with amazing surfing talent.”
“It’s incredible to see how quickly the sport has grown in Scotland and we’ve all been given a boost by seeing surfing take place at the Summer Olympics for the first time last year.”
The Championships will also pay its respects to pioneer Iain Masson, who died following a battle with leukaemia in February. He was 56. Masson was a native of St Combs in Aberdeenshire and won the Scottish National Men’s Open seven times.
Masson was also the oldest competitor at the 2014 World Surfing Games in Peru when he was 48 years old, and is widely recognised as a trailblazer in popularising the sport in Scotland.
Jason Simpson, director of the Scottish Surfing Foundation is predicting one of the closest championships in years, with a huge range of Scottish talent attempting to tame the waves.
With Scottish tourist boards keen to capitalise on the increase in surfing’s popularity in the country, events director at VisitScotland Paul Bush OBE said: “Scotland is the perfect stage for events and the response from the local community, competitors, and visitors from further afield to the Scottish National Surfing Championships shows how much our country has to offer. We are proud to support this national sporting event and invite everyone to join in for a weekend of excitement.”
You can watch all three days of the event for free, online at this link: https://url6b.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1newJa-0000DJ-4W&i=57e1b682&c=JKSrZgXOTjswIKUd9kaZKld009WgukAchkedd3c_nP8IqfY5XLOL7I1bt1Q_vbYySd6QI0N7wnTvOuva7YkVSNN4OUdz5nYBfSmKY3Hx47tHobXdzUXXPpDNlN41TFPuDkpHT1QVTOfXDaVzdNhpbXKbS7zSQ49CNAvjV9dDA6709nsbeDCQeFjdhKsR8ceJ
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