Gathering of the Clans 2022 – Shetland

The Gathering of the Clans 2022 will take place in Sumburgh, Shetland this year for the first time hosted by the 60° North Boardriders on the 15th and 16th of October 2022.

The Scottish Surfing Federation along with Northlink will be subsidising the cost of one vehicle with passengers and cabins to Lerwick from either Aberdeen or Scrabster for each SSF affiliated surf club entering the event – please contact SOM@thessf.scot asap to enter your club team and book your club’s preferred subsidised ferry spot as travel dates and route options are limited.

Trip price is £350 for a club van or car booking plus passengers OR £117 for an individual booking. Both bookings can be made on ssf.justgo.com and you must email SOM@thessf.scot once booked to discuss your travel options.

Price Includes:
– Space or entire vehicle to Shetland (option to bring own car)
– Cabin & Bunk on Ferry
– GOTC Entry Fee
– Food on the Saturday night
– Accomodation (FREE shakky doon on boating house floor, FREE van parking in car park, or >20% discount at Sumburgh Hotel)

Travel options are (departure dates):

12-17
13-16
14-16
13-17
14-17

Aberdeen Ferries depart at 1900hrs and arrive following morning at 0700hrs. There is also a Scrabster Ferry Option (13-17 only) which also arrives the following morning. Therefore for those who wish to be away for the minimum time the 14-16 option would depart on the Friday night and arrive back in Aberdeen on the Monday morning.

Accomodation options have also been organised to keep costs down for competitors and spectators. The Sumburgh Hotel are offering >20% discount on rooms which could be as little as £50 per night for a twin or a more budget option the Boat Hall are offering SSF members the option to camp on the hall floor at a cost of only £5 per night per person.

Rules:
Each team gets 12 scores, so the team can be made up of a maximum of 12 separate surfers who compete in one division each, or can be made up of a minimum of 8 surfers (allowances will be made for teams with less than 8 surfers but they will forfeit one scoring surfer for every surfer their team is short), with surfers competing in more than one division, to make up the 12 scores. The highest possible score would be a team where their surfers place 1st and 2nd in each of the 6 divisions to make up their 12 scores.

Teams (unless by formal invitation) are entered via an SSF affiliated surf club. Affiliated clubs may merge together to form a team should they require to because of numbers and depending on entries, clubs may be allowed to enter more than one team. Team members do not need to be Scottish but they should be living in Scotland at the time of the event and must be a member of an affiliated surf club/SSF. Club captains or “Clan Chiefs” should contact the SSF SOM@thessf.scot to submit a team. Each surfer must have a valid SSF member licence which you can purchase online at ssf.justgo.com . Your local surf club may also require you to join their club if you wish to participate in their team. For any queries or help in finding your local club please also email SOM@thessf.scot

The Divisions:
OPEN
LONGBOARD (boards over 9ft)
LADIES
MASTERS (over 35)
JUNIOR BOYS (under 18)
JUNIOR GIRLS (under 18)

Where is it?
Sumburgh, Shetland
When is it?
15-16 October 2022

How does it work?
A team of up to 12 surfers come together to form a Clan. There are 6 divisions that may be contested Open Men, Open Women, Junior Boys, Junior Girls, Ladies, Longboard and Masters. Each team member can compete in a division and receive points for their Clan based on how well they surf against others in their division. The Clan with the most overall points at the end of the event wins the Gathering of the Clans Quiach and Sword.

Hosts: SSF / 60° North Boardriders

How does the Competition work?
The teams are made up of 8-12 competitors with a Captain (Clan chief) and at least 2 entrees capable and willing to judge. Each team will have a total of 12 scores counted in the event. There are 6 divisions that will be contested:
•Open Men
•Open Women
•Junior Girls (under 18 on 01/01)
•Junior Boys (under 18 on 01/01)
•Longboard (minimum 9ft long)
•Masters (Aged 35 or over on 01/01)

Points will be awarded in each division based on the ISA teams scoring system: 1000pts for 1st, 860 for 2nd, 730 for 3rd, 670 for 4th, 610 for =5th etc…

How to register:
Clan Chiefs should register teams in advance by emailing: SOM@thessf.scot . Further information will be provided on the registration process in due course. All competitors should ensure their SSF membership is up to date.

If you don’t have a team and would like to compete please contact the SSF who can put you in touch with your local surf club. We want everyone who would like to compete to be able to have a team.

Clan Scoring Example:
A team could be submitted consisting of 6 Longboard competitors and 6 Masters competitors. Through scoring of the event the maximum that team would be able to score would be 8,850 points(1st– =7th in the Longboards + 1st– =7th in the Masters = 1000 + 860 + 730 + 670 + 610 + 555 + 1000 + 860 + 730 + 670 + 610 + 555 = 8,850points). The highest possible scoring for a team would be having 2 competitors in each category scoring the team 11,160 points (1000 + 860 + 1000 + 860 + 1000 + 860 + 1000 + 860 + 1000 + 860 + 1000 + 860 = 11,160). Clan Chiefs could also decide to strategically plan their team, for example if they think there will not be as many competitors taking place in say for example the masters event than the open event (e.g. 3 masters competitors & 20 Open competitors) then they may wish to put more competitors under the masters division with the hope of increasing their chances of scoring more points. This competition format allows the Clan Chief to play a critical role in selecting and managing an appropriate team. The success of clans who have won previous events has been down to the strategic planning of a good Clan Chief.


Clan points:
•The Clan Chief will enter the team before the deadline stating which of their 8-12 person team competes in which division and their seeding order.
•It is the responsibility of the Clan chiefs to ensure that all those competing in their clan have joined the Scottish Surfing Federation
•If a team has less than 12 surfers then some of their team may compete in more than one division to make up their 12 scorers.
•Minimum team size is 8 people.
•After all entries are taken the contest director will make the draw for the various divisions.
•If a competitor is unable to make their heat without supplying a legitimate reason their clan will be penalised 500 points. (This will be left to the discretion of the contest director.)
•Judges WILL be needed and we encourage those who can help out to do so – ISA qualified judges should take on a head judging role where appropriate and pass on knowledge to volunteers on the panel
•At least 2 members of each team should be capable and willing to judge or help with other officiating duties such as beach marshalling or priority. If 2 judges are not made available by each clan the clan will be penalised 500 points.
•There is no limit on the number of competitors a team can enter in any division.
•It is strongly advised that all those coming to the event should bring warm waterproof clothes.
•Entry will be restricted to representatives currently living in Scotland unless by formal invite from the Scottish Surfing Federation. In other words it is understandable that some teams, in particular university teams, may put forward some competitors representing their area that are not Scottish by descent. This is of course accepted however these competitors should be capable of proving that they are currently residing in Scotland and are affiliated with their local surf club (e.g. Kelly Slater, should he wish to enter, would have to prove he is a student at a Scottish University or living in Scotland and a member of his local SSF affiliated surf club). The purpose of Gathering of the Clans is get as much Scottish surfers together as possible and it is important to ensure that people are not put off going to the competition if they don’t think they can get a team together. We will do our best to cater for this and teams could be made up of surfers from various areas if neccessary.