World Surf Kayak Championships: Galicia 2015 by Chief Instructor at Glenmore Lodge, Ian Sherrington
All images copyright of Julie Maguire
Towards the end of June I went out as part of Team Scotland to Pantin in North West Spain for the World Surf Kayak Championships. This corner of the country, Galicia, is an amazing place to visit. Our hosts were welcoming and very Celtic as they made a special place in their hearts for us. Our team were from every corner of our country and beyond, and included two from Shetland and two who originated from France and Australia.
If you’ve never considered Galicia as a destination then you should. It has beautiful beaches set in rocky coves and with forested backdrops. The food is fresh, plentiful and cheap, and much of the area has a rural feel to it that reminds you of Scotland with sunshine! Team Scotland loved the place. This was my second visit and I will definitely be returning.
Opening ceremony done we got on with the surfing. Sometimes the conditions you have to compete in as a surfer are challenging and uninspiring. Pantin beach has a reputation for catching consistent, high quality waves, and we were not disappointed. In the two and half weeks that I was there it was possible to surf every day and many of the competition days saw folk fighting it out in stunning weather in a world class venue. Heats containing 4 surfers, paddling for 20 minutes, with their top two scoring waves being added together to give them a placing. In the team event your placing generates a score in the individuals the top two progress to the next round.
The Worlds involves a team and a number of individual events that are defined by long or short boat and then split be gender and age categories.
Scotland had not fielded a team for four years and our happy band had come together at short notice. A mixture of relative newcomers and some with etched in granite form we were determined to make our return to the International stage a happy one. I was amazed and would like to thank all of the Scottish supporters and competitors. What a wonderful bunch, dawn ‘til dusk on the beach; waving flags, shouting lots, jumping up and down. They were born to it. But then also going the extra mile, looking to see how they support each other and no job too big or trivial. Our team result of Seventh place was hard earnt and we learnt lots that will help us improve for next time.
On a personal note I came home exhausted and fulfilled. I had decided to going back into competition in March, and had thought that I could usefully be Team Manager. I was thrilled to make the 2 finals in the Grand Masters categories and then coming away with two Bronze positions even better. It’s now hard to see why I won’t just keep competing and importantly surfing with great buddies. What a sport!