Saturday the 27th September saw the inaugural Lowland Open held at the back up location of Coldingham Bay, in the Scottish Borders. The incoming waist to shoulder high ESE swell made for good conditions in this beautiful natural amphitheatre.
The aim of the Lowland Open is to open up competitive surfing to surfers of varying skill levels who otherwise would need to travel to Thurso for the only other Open competition currently on the Scottish Surfing calendar. And, with this event not being a “National” event, it means that non-Scottish surfers could also enter.
The intent is also to give a platform to, and create opportunities for, surfers who have come up through the Junior ranks to continue to competitively surf, as they move into adulthood.
With a bumper and completely full entry in the men’s category (with a waiting list operating) and a solid entry in the women’s division also, after reviewing charts and seeking expert local advice from the local “chiefs”, the Contest Directors decision to call the comp “On” and to move it to Coldingham, was made at 12 noon on Thursday.
The “machine” then kicked into action with all the volunteers, officials and supporters confirming plans and meeting to set up the comp site at 7am on Saturday… We even had our very own Scottish Surfing CEO with us helping not just at Set-Up, but during the day with some Beach Marshalling. Good work Paul Stark…
Round One of the Men’s category came first with an unfortunate heat draw putting father and son Christopherson in the same heat (and against the reigning National Champ), both Parkin brothers in the same heat and also good pals Finn Clark and Joel Carleton in the same heat. That’s just the way it goes sometimes.
A number of the well known names made their way through the rounds to the final but it was also great to see a new name competing in Scotland, Gonzalo Zapater, ripping through the day to join Craig Machlachlan, Mark Boyd and Finn Clark. We even had the Scottish Surfing Junior Coach (aka a “Temu Kelly Slater”…) make it through a couple of rounds….
Men’s results:
1st – Craig Machlachlan
2nd – Gonzalo Zapater
3rd – Mark Boyd
4th – Finn Clark
In the Women’s competition it was great to see plenty of new names appear in the draw, along with some of the regulars… The young star in the making, 14yr old Erin Paterson, cruised all the way to the final as did North Shore’s Olivia Mackay with some buzzer beater rounds from Athena Sintoris.
Final results below, with Olivia taking a deserved victory:
1st – Olivia Mackay
2nd – Athena Sintoris
3rd – Catriona MacDonald
4th – Erin Paterson
Big Thanks to Lost Shore Surf Resort for providing some of the prizes, as well as Vision Events for all the technical support equipment. Also, thank you to the locals of Coldingham and the free surfers we were sharing the water with, for not being too upset as we descended on their playground with very little notice.
Also, thanks to Steve from Ste Vedas for both his local knowledge and his understanding as we held the competition when he was also giving surf lessons. The water was busy!!
Final thanks to the RNLI Lifeguards for looking out for us.
What say we repeat this every year??? I think so…
