A cold morning start at Thurso East in Scotland, with small, with contestable conditions of clean 2-3ft surf greeted competitors for the BPSA UK PST Scottish Open. Clear skies saw all the competitors setting up for the days heats with the first round called into the water for an 8am start.

An exciting final was seen with Fergal Smith taking the win dominating the set waves at the beginning of the heat, gaining a 7.3 tube ride making it hard for the other finalists to regain the lead. With a back up score of 6.5 and overall score of 13.8, this was enough to put him ahead of Johnny fryer, 2nd Alan stokes, 3rd, and Dan Carpel 4th.

Fergal said: “My win hasn’t really sunk in, I took the final like any other heat, it was all about getting the right waves- I seemed to luck out. My barrel ride felt really easy and I feel confident to do well in the final leg of the event in Ireland.”

Dan Carpel who also claimed the Relentless Money Manouver prize of £250 with his 9.5 barrel ride surfed exceptionally well in round one heats, landing himself with the highest wave score of the contest. The semi finals also saw Llewellyn Whitaker, previous contest winner and one of the favourites to take the Relentless Triple Crown title, surf again incredibly well.

With his consistency of power throughout his turns taking an 8.6 ride, hacking loads of spray into the inside section, cutting back on his rail receiving a great scoring wave. Unfortunately, this was not enough to take him to the finals due to the dropping conditions of the tide.

Stand out surfing was seen by both Reubin Pearce and Reubyn Ash who unfortunately were knocked out in their semi finals. Also throughout the days events was an interference call on Oli Adams from a close call with Fergal Smith in their semis, Fergal took a lead into winning the finals.

Llewellyn is still in lead for the title of the Relentless Triple Crown with Lamiroy holding prime place within the points for tour champion 2007. With a first win from an Irish junior champion and new contender on tour, we see the first win by the young Irish talent going into an Irish event.

Dave Reed, Director of the UK Pro Surf Tour, said: “It was a great event, unfortunately the waves weren’t as consistent as we had hoped for, however, we did see some outstanding performances from the best surfers in the country and it was fantastic to see the new grom on the tour take a winning position.”

A big thanks go out to 2007 UK PST sponsors, G Shock, for providing hospitality for the competitors, staff and media throughout the weekend, Relentless for providing, not only an endless supply of energy drink but also the money manoeuvre prize of £250 for each stop on the Tour and Skinners Brewery for all the party refreshment.

Relentless Triple Crown in association with Wavelength top three after 2 rounds:

1. Llewellyn Whittaker.

2. Fergal Smith.

3. Alan Stokes.