Lost Shore to host Scotland’s first wave pool surf contest

At time of writing, this year's event is set to be contested by teams from Belhaven Surf Club, Tiree Surf Club, Sandend Surf Club, North Shore Surf Club, Lossiemouth Surf Club, Broch Surf Club, Aberdeen Surf Club and Edinburgh and Borders Surf Club. There are six different categories – open men, open women, masters, longboards, junior boys and junior girls – and each club can enter two surfers in each of the open categories plus one in each of the others. The club with the best aggregate score across all the categories is declared the winner.

The North Shore Surf Club have won the last six Clans contests, but they face some serious challengers this year, as Scottish Surfing Federation secretary and NSSC team member Mark Boyd explains.

“It’s looking like it’ll be a lot tighter this time,” he says. “I know that Tiree have got a couple of questionable ringers in their team stolen from Thurso” – he laughs – “although to be fair there are connections there. There’s Finn MacDonald – he runs North Coast Watersports [based in Thurso] with Iona McLachlan, but he’s originally from Tiree. Iona’s going to be in the team with him as well though, as is Andrew MacLeod from Thurso – he's visited Tiree a lot over the years. Then they’ve obviously got Robyn and Ben Larg as well [Ben Larg being the Tiree-raised big wave surfer now sponsored by Red Bull], so they're looking really strong."

Boyd also fancies the chances of the Edinburgh and Borders Surf Club.

"They’re looking good as well,” he says. “I know Finn Clark will probably be competing in the juniors and they’ve also got Sebastian Jimenez, the Uruguayan who made the podium in the men’s open last year – he was third – so it’s looking quite exciting. Some of these guys down south will probably have been getting more practice in the pool than the rest of us, too.”

Holding a surf contest in a wave pool is certainly very different to holding one in the open ocean. You’d think it should make things much easier for the event organisers – after all, there’s no need to worry about the surf going flat or about the wind shifting onshore in the afternoon and messing up the waves. However, surprising as it may sound, holding a contest in perfect, on-demand, machine-generated waves can also present certain problems.

For a start, because the Wavegarden wave machine at Lost Shore can generate a mind-boggling 1,000 waves per hour, there’s a danger of so many waves being ridden in each heat that judges are unable to keep up with the scoring. To guard against this, a system will be put in place to ensure that there are long enough gaps between ridden waves to allow the judges to assess each one properly.

“I’ve been studying the Urban Surf wave pool in Melbourne,” says Boyd. “They had a WQS [World Qualifying Series] competition there, and they were pumping out six waves per set. The surfers would go on the second and fifth waves of each set, and that just gives enough time for the judges to watch both waves.

"Then there’s a 45 second gap and then the next two surfers go on the next set. I think we’re going to follow a similar model, but maybe with five waves in a set.”

The wave pool at Lost Shore is divided into two halves, either side of a central spine. The waves on the left hand side of the spine break from left to right as you look at them, while those on the right hand side break from right to left. At time of writing, it seems likely that the SSF will be able to use the left hand side of the pool for the whole of Saturday, but even with this considerable resource at their disposal, getting the contest run in the time available will be a challenge.

“We’ve obviously only got a limited amount of daylight at this time of year,” says Boyd, ”and we’ve got quite a lot of heats to run, but as long as my maths is right I think we’re going to be fine to get it all done in the one day.”

Watching conventional surf contests sometimes can be an attritional way to spend a day: you’re usually a long way from the action and variations in wind, tide and swell often cause events to be put on hold for long periods. At Lost Shore, however, Scotland’s surf spectators will never have had it so good: an endless supply of perfect waves, vantage points to die for and fresh coffee and pizza available whenever you feel the need. What’s not to love?

For more on the Scottish Surfing Federation, visit www.scottishsurfing.scot

For more on the Lost Shore surf resort, visit www.lostshore.com