17-year-old Craig Mclachlan is hoping to make a name for himself.
Edits like this, from in and around his hometown of Thurso, Scotland, are a good way to start. It’s hard to get good at surfing growing up in a place where the water is in the 40’s, and you never get to shed your hood, boots or gloves.
The tradeoff, of course, is empty tubes. Most surfers would fly around the world to ride these waves in Indonesia. But Scotland? Mclachlan can have it. Which is totally fine with him. More tubes means more experience, which will serve Mclachlan well as he practices to compete against the best surfers his age all around the world.
“I am currently training hard for comps and am the first Scottish person to take a British Junior title,” Mclachlan tells us. “As you can imagine, trying to train for the British and European competitions so far north can be tough, but fun! This winter I got the best barrels from sunny crisp cold days through to dark days before the blizzards. The water gets down to 5 degrees in the Thurso lineup due to the melt waters coming off the mountains, but with the right equipment you’re still pretty sweet in the keg. During the harsh winter conditions it was Malcolm Anderson who captured the incredible waves on footage and braved to stand on the reef for so long.”
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