SCOTTISH CHAMPS 2015
Shoana Blackadder retained her Scottish Ladies Title on Easter Weekend with her usual display of style and confidence
The great and good of Scottish Surfing descended upon Thurso East on Easter weekend to contest the 2015 Scottish Surfing Championships. Honours aside, this year had added significance with the competition being used as the selection process for the Scottish team that will compete at Eurosurf in Morocco the ISA World Games in Nicaragua and the ISA World Masters in Lanzarote. The big question leading up to the event was if Chris Noble could retain his open title in the wake of his lengthy spell out of the water due to a serious hamstring injury or would the competition from the likes of Mark Boyd,Iain Masson and Mark Cameron prove too strong? Doubts were soon dispelled as Noble cruised through his heats to face up to his friend Scott Main,Fraserburgh's Mark Cameron and the rising star from St.Andrews,Andrew Robertson in the final.A closely contested final had the judges having their work cut out but Noble just edged out Main giving him his 6th title win and arguably his greatest win in the competition to date. More success for Thurso followed in the Woman's Championship as Shoana Blackadder showed her class to keep Edinburgh's Pheobe Strachan at bay to ensure the woman's title remained on home turf. The competition recommenced on the Saturday morning to contest the juniors,masters and longboard events. Andrew Robertson successfully defended his junior title rounding off a great weekend for him after contesting in the open final as well. There was more success for Thurso as Iona McLachlan finished 2nd in her competitive debut in the Junior Division as well as being crowned Junior Girls Champion as the highest placed junior girl - her performance was testament to the great work being done by the North Shore Club which reformed in 2014. Jason Burnett enjoyed a spectacular weekend for more reasons than his triumph in the masters event against a strong line up which contained Chris Noble,Ali Matheson and Mark Cameron.Burnett, who owns Jay Surfboards, claimed victory upon one of his own shaped UFO boards and also had the satisfaction of Chris Noble riding one of his creations throughout the event. The last event of the competition was the longboard final which conditions proved perfect for.A hugely entertaining final saw naturalised 'Scot' Chris Clarke take the crown ahead of Ian Masson,defending 4x longboard champ Mark Boyd and Donald Peace from Lossiemouth. Clarke certainly had a lot of fun during the event and ending the weekend's action quite nicely with a headstand on his board as the timer signalled the end of the championships for another year. The award ceremony this year took place in the Pentland Hotel where local councillors John Rosie and Donnie Mackay presented the finalists with their awards before a presentation by Scott Brewster of the Wavegarden Edinburgh project. The raffle raised £300 towards the national teams heading to international competition this year and prizes were drawn shortly before the premiere of the longly anticipated surf movie of the Thurso Surfing season by Andrew MacLeod entitled "Sheeps on the Reef". "Wave of the Winter" was voted on by all in attendance using video also captured by Andrew MacLeod and the title was awarded to Mark Boyd, with another of his waves coming in a close second. The Scottish Surfing Federation would like to extend thanks to local councillors who again have extended a warm welcome to all involved.In addition we would like to thank Ester Spears and his judging team as well as the sponsors NDA,Granite Reef,Sport Scotland,The Highland Council and Caithness & North Sutherland Fund.Without their help the event would not be possible. Words by Niall Manson
Chris Noble retained his Scottish Champion Crown showing from early rounds that his in depth knowledge of Thurso-East would be hard to beat
This barrel in the semis wouldn’t be enough to claim a spot in the final for one of the favourites leading into the event, Thurso’s Mark Boyd
The powerhouse Ally Mathieson carved his way into the Open Semis and claimed himself a spot in the ISA World Masters team by making the masters final also
RESULTS:
OPEN
INTERNATIONAL TEAM SELECTION
2015 is going to be one of the busiest ever on the SSF calendar - particularly with international competition. With the SSF recently becoming a member of the International Surfing Association (read full story here) and Scotland sending a team to the ISA World Games in Peru in 2014 and finishing 16th overall, team Scotland are eager to capitalise on their high seeding by following up at the ISA World Games in Nicaragua on the 31st of May to the 7th of June 2015.
The 2014 Scotland team at the opening ceremony at the ISA World Games in Peru. (Left to Right: Phoebe Strachan, Mark Boyd, Mark Cameron, Iain Masson, Jennifer Wood, William Watson SSF President and Andrew Robertson)
This year’s team will compete against the likes of the recently announced U.S.A team which includes ex CT surfer Damien Hobgood and other big names such as Nat Curren and Ben Bourgeois.
The SSF will also be sending teams to EuroSurf in Morocco on the 12th - 20th of September as well as the ISA Masters in Lanzarote in November.
The 2015 teams have been selected based on current seedings as well as the availability of our athletes. Here is the provisional team lists for the 2015 International competitions:
If you are interested in becoming an alternate for one of the above events please get in touch with the SSF on [email protected] . There are spaces in the ISA World Masters team so if you are of a qualifying age and wish to compete but did not attend the Scottish National Surfing Championships please get in touch also.
Watch the full length video clip of some of the waves from the 2015 Scottish National Surfing Championships from Malcolm Anderson: