Aberdeen Surf Club “Fittie Foamie Comp” Report
Until last weekend, nine years have passed since the last open surf comp was held in Aberdeen. With the SSF Scottish Uni’s comp being held successfully in Aberdeen the last few years, Aberdeen Surf Club has been eager to see a return of competitive surfing inAberdeen and host a comp open to all (Uni’s is only open to students).
With a flat surf forecast ruining our plans in 2023, there were a few sleepless nights and anxious committee members in the week running up to the comp date. With some southerly winds potentially sending some wind chop our way, the committee nervously watched the forecast until Thursday night, when we decided the comp was on. Vans were packed with tables, chairs, gazebos, rashvests, judging sheets printed off, goodie bags made and we grabbed a few hours kip before meeting at 5:30am to assessthe conditions.
Campbell had kindly offered the Scot Surf trailer as our base of operations for the comp, but the question that morning was whether or not the southerly swell would be big enough at the south end of the beach (southerly swells are always smaller at Fittie). Theoccasional shining light from a tanker leaving the harbour would light up the small lines of swell, fighting against the high tide still yet to recede, as they tried to form a contestable wave and break on the sand bars. With nothing convincing appearing, we had a call tomake – a surfable set appeared at Tunnels (the mid northern part of the beach) and we knew we had to make a move.
Soon a small convoy made its way to the comp site and began assembling the competition base camp. The fluorescent orange glow of the rising sun warmed our spirits, illuminating waist high waves, peeling rapidly across the beach – we had surf and we were on !
Competitors soon turned up, checked in, and with everything ready to go, the timing horn sounded for the first heat, only 30 mins behind schedule.First up were the men’s semi’s, with a cross shore wind and dropping tide creating steep faces dumping onto the sandbanks, challenging conditions for a big 8ft foamie ! We had a good mix of local Aberdeen surfers as well as some travelling as far as Perth to get involved. Following the mens, we had the women’s Quarters, with a good mix of familiar faces and new competitors.
The Groms final was hotly contested by Aberdeen’s very own Morgan brother’s and a new face in the mix as well. Next, we moved onto the mens quarters, Womens final and mens final. The cross shore wind picked up a bit during the day, creating a strongsweep for the competitors to also navigate, but with good visibility, the surfers had plenty of beach to try their luck on the different peaks that had formed as the tide changed.
With the “official” heats a wrap, it was time for the expression session, with everyone hitting the water for another 20 mins, showing off their best tricks and trying to impress the judges to win “wave of the day”, “trick of the day” and “wipeout of the day” – the lattercoming with a coveted prize of a bag of tatties !!!
RESULTS:
With a few photos and prize giving to round up, all that was left was to pack up, head home for some well needed rest and to reflect on what was a fantastic morning !The Foamie comp was all about getting folk involved in their local surfing community, having fun, trying something new, giving people the confidence to have a go at friendly competition – any waves were a bonus !A BIG THANKYOU! To our event sponsors who done a fantastic job. Firstly, we had quite a few local businesses coming forward to get involved with the event supplying various gift vouchers & prizes to go towards the goody bags which was very much appreciated, thanks to:
THE FUNHOUSE, CAIRN COFFEE, ABERDAM DUTCH FRIES, FABIOS SAUNA, ERIKA’S FOOD VAN, GOOD STUFF KIOSK, RECREATE SIGNS & GRAPHICS, CIRCLE ONE, SCOT SURF, SCOTLAND’S BOTHY
Special thanks to our 3 main event sponsors SCOT SURF, SCOTLAND’S BOTHY, KERNJ LANDSCAPES. These guys supplied the hardware necessary to get the comp going with items supplied such as gazebos, toilet, pa system, surf boards, fire pit, tables,benches etc
Special thanks to Michelle at The Funhouse for supplying the nice hot soup & bread for lunch and also Annie at Scotland’s Bothy for laying on the breakfast buffet and sandwiches for lunch time. Originally the plan was to feed the officials and judges involved with the event but we ended up with so much food that we were able to feed everyone who was at the comp!
More people we should thank: Special thanks to Paul Barlow PLB Surf Pics who we invited along to capture the day, a fantastic job done by Paul with the photography. Thanks to Aberdeen Surf Lifesaving Club for supplying the safety cover on the day, as well as mucking in with some of the general duties such as erecting gazebos, running back and forth to their base for extra items etcThanks to committee member Colin Buchan who made the timing board/stand in his free time, or at least he created some free time to work his magical DIY skills, if you need a screwdriver to get your big longboard fin in place, Colins the man, he’s got every tool under the sun! Thanks to Nick at Roots Catering for lending us his generator as backup, which we needed as our one conked out half way through comp.Thanks to Keith and Viki and the extra helpers, Big John and Igo doing a great job with the setup and flagsBig Thanks to the judging officials who travelled up for the day to lend their expertise. Finally, a HUGE THANKS to the competitors, and also the spectators who came along to make it a fantastic day!
