Swells Galore at Highland Open
THURSO, SCOTLAND, April 28, 2008 - It was a truly Scottish experience for the surfers from around the world on the sixth day of The O’Neill Highland Open by Swatch.
However, relentless rain with gusting cross-shore winds, grey skies as far as the eye could see, and muddy fields, could not detract from the decent three to four foot swell coming in at The Bowl at Brims Ness.
Nathan Hedge (AUS) and Russell Winter (GBR) - the past two winners of The Highland Open - both suffered shock exits, meaning that this year’s competition will have a first-time winner.
Jay Thomspon, who said he felt ‘like a cow’ as he walked through the muddy fields to get to his heat was the only ASP World Tour surfer to make it through this third round after Tiago Pires and Leonardo Neves were both eliminated.
“This is taking surfing to the next level,” Jay said after his heat. “It’s pretty crazy. It’s so raw, and you are so high up on the globe. It’s sick.”
Surprisingly, it was the Hawaiian surfer, Sunny Garcia, who was relishing the waves and conditions of the north shore of Scotland.
“It’s like home here,” he said. “It’s always raining in Hawaii, the only difference is that it’s colder here, but the O’Neill wetsuits I am using make it absolutely no problem.”
Sunny advanced to the next round at the top of his heat, as did the Australian, Josh Kerr. Also a former ASP World Tour surfer, Josh was pulling his signature high aerials and radical maneuvers, scoring the highest result of the day.
“The waves were tougher than I thought,” said Josh. “I thought they would be a lot more fun than that.
With all the Australian, American and Hawaiian dominance, O’Neill rider Hugo Savalli, one of only four European surfers to make it through this stage.
That’s not to say that Hugo was enjoying the waves and weather as much as Sunny. “I can’t really say I enjoyed it,” he said. “It was really hard out there. But I am happy to have got through.”
Keep up to date with all the action on the live webcast right here at HUCK.
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