‘You could not have scripted it better’: Sun shines on national surfing championships at Thurso

“You couldn’t have scripted it better.”

That was Jason Simpson’s verdict after Thurso East again proved to be the perfect venue for the Scottish National Surfing Championships.

The chairman of Thurso-based North Shore Surf Club (NSSC) said: “In the few days leading up to the competition the weather forecast was changing every three to six hours.

“It looked as if there were going to be waves on Friday and nothing on Saturday, then it all changed again and Saturday turned out to be the best surf conditions.”

Indeed, conditions were so favourable at the weekend that the competition was completed within two days. The standard was described as higher than ever – and, to cap it all, the sun shone.

Simpson revealed: “A few of us on the beach got sunburnt.”

Related story:

‘The level was higher than ever:’ Strachan is Scottish champion for sixth time

Asked whether he felt the 50th national championships had enhanced the reputation of Thurso East, Simpson said: “It always was a top venue, but when you see conditions like we got at the weekend it just verifies it.

“Because we’ve run so many competitions now, everybody knows their job and everybody just gets on with it. It runs itself, almost.

“That was probably the best-organised competition I’ve been involved with. Everybody did a great job.

“Everybody knows what their little piece of the puzzle is. It all comes together almost seamlessly.”

Three of the four categories were won by NSSC surfers.

Phoebe Strachan won the open women’s title for the fifth time in a row and the sixth time in total, while Craig McLachlan won the open men’s title for a third successive year, and for the fourth time in all.

Dylan Fogarty-Macdonald was first in the masters section for those aged 40-plus.

Another NSSC member, Mark Boyd, a previous open men’s champion and masters winner, came second to McLachlan in the open men’s section.

Simpson said: “Mark Boyd surfed really well. It’s the best I have seen him surf in a competition, and he still couldn’t quite beat Craig.

“That shows the level Craig is at. Craig is in a different league now from all of them.”

Lossiemouth’s Ali Matheson won the grand masters (50 and over).

Simpson, who is also a director of Scottish Surfing, reported that NSSC as a whole is “in good shape”.

He said: “We’ve put a lot into coaching and development opportunities for everybody, so it is definitely making a difference. The standard has improved year on year, and it’s good to see all these young groms coming through challenging the older guys.

“A few years ago we put in a training matrix for them all, and we did that across the whole of Scotland. And when you see the results in the competition, you can see all the young ones coming through so it shows that what we’re doing is the right thing and it’s starting to bear fruit.”

Dounreay was the main sponsor of the championships.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.