You can download an entry form here Send all entries to surf.kayak@canoescotland.org
Entries will be closed on the 5th April to allow heats to be drawn.

 Any questions about the event please contact the Surf Champs Team

Accomodation

Camping available at Thurso campsite. Contact ‎01847894631 Most people will be staying here. There are a few static caravans, however they may be already booked.

Bed and Breakfasts available in local area

2011 Surf Kayak Championships

The Scottish Surf Kayaking Championships were held on 9th April, on the “Pipe” reef break in Thurso.  For the first time, the championships were grouped with the O’Neill Cold Water Classic board surf event in a week of surfing mania, which included live local bands and surfing films, such as the all time classic “Big Wednesday” on at the cinema.  The non-competition events were organised by Caithness Horizons under the banner of North.Wave.

After a stormy week preceding the kayak competition, during which the surf kayak squad had a training week, we awoke to light winds and sunshine.  Better still we had waves.

There was a good vibe on the promenade.  Music playing courtesy of Marty’s PA system, sunshine all day long and plenty of action on the waves to watch.  As the heats progressed, the waves got smaller, but the standard of paddling did not decrease.  I’m sure the Novices, who were out at the end of the day, had been watching the action all day and were emulating the moves on the waves with moderate ease.

Event Photographs

Photographs from the event can be viewed here. Photos Copyright of Dave Stewart.

Notable Performances

 Results

 Here's an review of the competition by Mary Saunders, from Orkney

Having attended the Woman's Surf Weekend in 2010, organised by Tracy Sherrington, I have subsequently been very keen to do more surfing but only really managed to get out a couple of times. When the 2011 SCA Surf Kayaking Championships were advertised through Facebook, I was super keen to go across and get involved, it's not often that a paddling event is held where Orkney paddlers don't have to travel for hours to attend! Kristian and I managed to get 6 paddlers interested but in the end, only 3, Kristian, Adam and Mary, made it to the event.

From the minute we arrived in Thurso we were made to feel incredibly welcome by Tracy who was out watching Ian on the pipe. I wasn't sure she'd remember me but when I heard 'Mary Doll' shouted down the promenade I knew not to worry! We were directed to where the other paddlers were having tea, several of whom I had met at the Ladies Weekend. They too made us feel very, very welcome and were all incredibly friendly.

On the day of the event Tracy in particular was very keen to get us involved with helping out with various aspects of the competition and I started the day scribing for Dawn as she judged some of the mens' classes. Adam helped with the timing and signalling boards while Kristian scribed too. This really helped us learn how the competition and marking worked and we learnt a lot through observing alongside the judges. When it was time to compete, everyone was very encouraging and didn't even laugh at my hopeless performance! Everyone couldn't have been more positive and really encouraged people to have a go and enter a couple of classes even if they weren't confident in themselves.

I was really proud of Adam in the Junior events as he performed brilliantly for his first go in a surf competition. I think he really has potential for the future. The last class of the day was Novice into which both Kristian and I had entered. For this heat I had found my confidence and threw myself down some waves in comedy fashion and hopefully scored at least some points! I had a whale of a time, especially as I was able to paddle a proper surf boat which we don't have in Orkney. It was hard to see what the others in the heat were doing but Kristian caught some good waves that I saw.

At the prize giving, we were very, very pleased when Adam was awarded a silver medal for both his Junior classes and even more pleased when Kristian won bronze in the novice category. It was a good day out for Orkney! I am already excited about competing next year and am aiming for at least a bronze medal!

All in all, it was a brilliant day out with beautiful weather and lovely people. The surf committee did a marvellous job organising, but everyone else deserves a massive thanks for all the help and advice they gave and for doing everything to make us feel part of the event, despite our lack of competition experience.

Results from the Scottish Surf Kayak Championships 2010
18th & 19th September - Thurso

Please click on the link www.photoshopshowcase.com/ViewFlashMedia.aspx for photos from the event.

The Scottish Canoe Association have run The Scottish Surf Kayak Champs at Thurso and it’s North Coast breaks since 1983.  The area has world class surfing and scenery with wonderful friendly people.  It has also played host to 3 Home International Championships, a European Championships, and 2 World Championships, attracting competitors from as far away as Brazil, California and Vancouver Island.  Thurso is also the chosen training ground for the Scottish Squad who has produced a number of World Champions.   Previously I had always been a competitor fighting to win all of my heats but this time, due to injury, I was an organiser along with Ian Sherrington of Glenmore Lodge and some of the Outdoor Education students from North Glasgow College.  Having to be in charge is much scarier – let me out on the big waves any day!!!

After a very nervous 2 weeks of constantly checking data, watching swell charts, wind charts and willing the wind forecast to be very wrong -we ended up having the best conditions to run 2 days of heats for a long time.  This year’s SCA Scottish Surf Championships was an all round success. We saw the highest ever entries of women competitors, probably due to the highly successful Ladies Development Weekends also run on the North Coast. In total we had 61 entries which was fantastic given that some of the usual squad members and previous champions couldn’t attend.

The Men’s Masters kicked off the heats on Saturday morning with 10 foot wave faces on the pipe.  Showing off their skills to the crowd, they set a high standard for the rest of the day.  Next up, the Men’s Short boat and Long boat classes saw some fierce competition, with some real risky take-offs and amazing high speed critical manoeuvres.  Then came the Ladies! Although I was Chief Judge, I was watching with excitement and anticipation to see who would be, stealing my title and 12 years rein.  The ladies did really well in the big waves, it really did need a lot of bravery to get in amongst it and take off on the outside peak of the bigger waves.  After a host of well contested finals we proudly awarded our newly sponsored trophies.  This was quickly followed by a location change down on to Thurso beach to run the Novice and Junior classes.  We ran out of day light and headed back to the Halladale Inn for loads of great food and a good night’s sleep under canvas.  These Novice and Junior classes ran over on to the next day due to a high level of entries.  Sunday morning saw North Glasgow Students, the Volunteer Surf Kayak Club from Fife, Ladies , Juniors and locals from the Wick Club all battle it out to be crowned Scottish Champion.  All in all we had a fantastic time with everyone leaving totally stoked to get out surfing again and try the new tricks they had learned.

The results are as follows –

 The SCA Surf Kayak Committee would like to kindly thank our sponsors of this event