‘The level was higher than ever:’ Strachan is Scottish champion for sixth time
Phoebe Strachan felt the standard of competition was higher than ever as she continued her remarkable record of success in the Scottish National Surfing Championships.
The 29-year-old won the open women’s title for the fifth time in a row and the sixth time altogether in excellent conditions at Thurso East over Easter weekend.
Strachan admitted she had been “quietly confident” going into the championships, which began on Friday and concluded on Saturday.
She played her part in a triple triumph for Thurso-based North Shore Surf Club (NSSC) as Craig McLachlan won the open men’s title for a third successive year, and for the fourth time in all, and Dylan Fogarty-Macdonald came first in the masters section for those aged 40 and over.
Strachan finished ahead of Broch Surf Club’s Callie Cruickshank, with Tiree’s Robyn Larg third.
“It went really well, better than expected, so I was delighted,” Strachan said.
“The level this year was higher than it has ever been before. I knew it was always going to be a challenge, but I was quietly confident.
“I knew what the conditions were going to be like and I know Thurso better than any of the other competitors.
“The conditions were really good, and they were friendly enough for folk that maybe weren’t so confident to still give it a right good bash.
“And the sun shone, which meant all the spectators loved it. You literally couldn’t have got a better weekend.
“We’ve been lucky with the sun in the last couple of competitions. On the Saturday night everybody was absolutely bright red and knackered.”
Strachan had to overcome a setback at the semi-final stage when she was penalised for going on a wave while an opponent technically had right of way.
“I ended up getting an interference, which I don’t normally do, but it’s just one of these things,” she said.
“It meant I had to try and get through the heat with only one score rather than two because I had my second score taken away from me. There was a bit more pressure, but luckily I managed it.”
Cruickshank had won the under-18 and under-16 girls’ titles at the Scottish junior championships held at Fraserburgh the previous weekend.
Strachan said: “I said to Callie, ‘You’re not beating me yet!’
“She won the under-16 and under-18 juniors so I wasn’t going to let her win the adults too.”
The six-times champion had a special word for fourth-placed Lola Mitchell from Broch Surf Club.
“Lola surfed really well all competition but just had a bit of a shocker in the final,” Strachan said. “She definitely deserves a mention.”
Strachan added: “We’ve got a wee break but not much because we’ll be off to the Euros in July and then hopefully the worlds later in the year, and we’ll have the British as well, so it’s quite a big year of competitions for the adult team.”
Nineteen-year-old McLachlan’s closest challenger was his NSSC clubmate Mark Boyd, a previous open men’s champion and masters winner.
Israel Noble (Broch Surf Club) and Finn MacDonald (NSSC) came third and fourth respectively in the open men’s division.
Dylan Fogarty-Macdonald came out on top in the masters, for age 40 and over, ahead of Mark Cameron (Broch Surf Club), Mark Yeadon (Lossiemouth) and Chris Clarke (NSSC).
Ali Matheson (Lossiemouth) won the grand masters for 50-plus, with Adam Robertson (NSSC) second.
Dounreay was the main sponsor of the championships.