It is mid-winter, snow blankets the ground; indeed, it bedecks the sky as it falls from the clouds. A car full of friends travels towards the northeast of Scotland, Thurso in fact. They are not heading to the warmth of the indoors, nor the comforts of the local pub. They are going to the seaside. Are they mad? No, they’re surfers.

Donning extra-thick wetsuits, the surfing enthusiasts pursue the rugged shoreline that this country is blessed with. Come rain, snow or shine, Scotland’s surfers will jump at the chance to ride a good swell. With up to 300 surfable days in the year on some coastlines, Scotland is now a world-renowned country for the sport.

As some of this country’s best surfing talents battle it out at the Scottish Surfing Championships in the town of Thurso at the end of this month, they will be riding the same waves as some of the world’s best surfers. The town plays host to a six star prime World Qualifying Series (WQS) event in April, one of the top 20 surfing events in the world, and the winner of this month’s Scottish Championships will gain a wildcard entry to the prestigious WQS event.

In The Winning Zone caught up with surfing aficionado and current secretary of the Scottish Surfing Federation, Damon Hewlett, to find out where Scotland stands in the world of surfing, the Federation’s aims for the future, and how Scotland can learn from the best surfers on the globe.

Hewlett, 26, has been surfing the Scottish swells for over ten years. His first experience of water sport was bodyboarding, and his love of surfing escalated from there. “I liked being in or by the sea as a kid and when I realized it was possible to surf in Scotland I was hooked.  After spending a few summers messing about bodysurfing and using any sort of float you could get your hands on to catch whitewater, I got the kit I needed to bodyboard year-round at about 14.”

Growing up in Edinburgh amongst an ambitious group of bodyboarders, who thrived on competition and urged each other to compete and improve, brought out the competitive streak in Hewlett, even at a young age. All throughout his teenage years he was continuously entering competitions and aged 17 he went to the Isle of Lewis to compete for Scotland in an international event.

Having moved to Aberdeen to study, Hewlett was blessed with an abundance of good quality waves on his doorstep. Again, He was lucky enough to mix with a group of keen surfers in Aberdeen. He found himself at the epicentre of surfing talent in this country and was surrounded by a wealth of competitions to feed his competitive hunger.

“When I was up in Aberdeen I would be in the water at least five times a week. I started stand-up surfing when I was up there and I could pretty much keep competing straight away thanks to the Broch Winter Surf League. This successful series of competitions in and around Fraserburgh had intermediate divisions so I could gain experience of competitions without having to be at a very high standard.”

More recently, due to the barriers of life, Hewlett has been restricted in the time he spends in the water. Living and working back in Edinburgh, he is quite a distance from the high standards of waves he was used to in Aberdeen. However he still finds time to surf, and regularly competes at the highest level of the sport in this country, the Scottish Surfing Championships.

Having experienced surfing at all levels, Hewlett is now volunteering some of his time to put something back into the sport in Scotland. As Secretary of the Scottish Surfing Federation, Hewlett believes that it is important to keep the youth of this country involved and active in the sport.

“In an ideal world I wouldn’t have to be involved in bringing through the next generation when I’m only 26, but because it’s such a small scale sport and only a minority are interested in the competitive side we [the Scottish Surfing Federation] need to take it on or else it will just fade away.”

Considering Scotland’s waves attract interest from the best surfers on the globe, it is only a matter of time before a youngster with a mixture of natural talent and the determination to get to the top emerges from this country and Hewlett hopes that the Scottish Surfing Federation can guide and advise any young Scottish surfers through the ranks and towards the top of the sport.

However it’s not as easy as that. Australian surfers are sometimes entering competitions aged as young as 5. To find a young Scot who has seen, never mind stood on a surfboard at 5 years of age is something of an exception. In fact, Hewlett estimates that a Scottish surfer would usually peak at 30-35 years old because Scot’s don’t usually start surfing at a young age.

“What I can do now, as part of the Federation, is if the next young talent comes through at 12 or 13 years of age then I would try to ensure that there is a structure there to help them reach their potential.

“Definitely one of the aims of the Scottish Surfing Federation is to improve the standard of surfing in Scotland. There has been a lot of ‘exposure’ of surfing in Scotland recently; Thurso is really busy all throughout the year. You will get guys from all over the world who are at a really high standard and it would be good to have some Scottish talent who can compete against the visiting guys so we don’t get completely run over. It would be good to have a balanced line-up [group of surfers at any given break at any given time] with a strong home-grown presence.” 

As Scotland’s best surfers take to the shores on the 29-30th of this month, the thought that victory will mean mixing with the best in the world at a WQS event will be at the back of their mind. And if all goes to plan, Hewlett and the Scottish Surfing Federation will have nurtured a bright young talent to seriously compete against the best, who one day might win the event and be the best.

“Thanks to the quality of waves we get, if the right person comes along with an abundance of natural talent and receives the right coaching and support, it's not inconceivable that someone from Scotland could compete at the very highest level in surfing.”

Whatever the case, a group of about 40 surfing enthusiasts will head to the northeast coast of Scotland at the end of this month for some fun on the waves. The sun might not be shining, but that won’t stop them.

www.scottishsurfingfederation.com

IC
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