(first published Aurora, magazine of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, Sept 2011)

IMAGINE crystal clear water breaking over soft sand, the warmth of the sun on the back of your neck … and cool, fresh air filling your lungs. When it comes to sun, sand and surf, the Isle of Tiree has a distinctive pedigree.

Next month (Oct) the UK’s windsurfing elite will descend upon the island for the 25th annual Tiree Wave Classic, a major event that also brings in competitors from around the world. This country does watersports rather well, of course. When you consider Scotland has around 60 per cent of Britain’s coastline, and around 790 islands, it’s hardly surprising messing about on the water represents a significant pastime.

Whether enjoying a peaceful sail upon tranquil waters or a high-octane bounce across the waves, Scotland’s scenery and atmosphere are unrivalled. Wild and free, there is plenty of room to splash out (there were more than 31,000 freshwater lochs in Scotland at the last count), and without heavy commercial shipping traffic or crowded harbours, the seas and waterways are clean and inviting.

When it comes to board sports in particular, however, Tiree has staked a claim. It’s not difficult to understand the appeal of this Inner Hebridean gem. The island sparkles like a diamond, fringed by white sandy beaches, and warmed by more than its fair share of summer sunshine. Family friendly, the flat quiet roads add to the charm of a rural-based community, where 800 people are scattered across its 10 by five-mile stretch.

When the Wave Classic hits Tiree’s shores, though, it does get a tad livelier.
“We’ll have around 85-100 competitors, plus plenty of visitors, so the island will be completely full,” says event director Gordon Ritchie of Dialogue Sports Marketing. “The location is just great, Tiree has a fantastic combination of a mild climate and strong winds, and the event has a proud accident-free record. Not bad for 25 years of adventure sport.”

We put those claims for climate and conditions to the test in summer this year, heading to Tiree with friends and our collection of teenage sons, and renting a roomy house by the sea on the north of the island. The weather didn’t disappoint: there were a few rainy moments, but if you wait, they soon pass.

As we hoped, the boys had an idyllic week, cycling the 15 minutes west to Balevullin Bay for daily surfing lessons. I watched, somewhat fearfully, from the shore, as they flipped and slipped in the waves, emerging euphoric each time they followed through to skim upright into the shallows.

Keeping a careful eye on their progress was Craig “Suds” Sutherland (surfschoolscotland.co.uk), who chases the winds to the beach each day, hiring out the boards and the wetsuits, coaxing all ages into the surf.
Originally from East Lothian, Suds first began coming to the island on family holidays, and was soon hooked.

“It’s just such a laid-back place,” he enthuses. “It offers a really good lifestyle and we have some of the best beaches in the world here. For learning to surf, it’s as good as you’ll find anywhere. The season start at Easter and goes right through a busy summer until just after October.”

What passes for a “busy” summer on Tiree, however, would hardly rival the equivalent European seaside resort. There might be a longer queue in the Co-op, say, or perhaps all four of the outside tables at the Scarinish hotel might have been taken?

There is a second hotel on Tiree, the Lodge at Gott Bay, the eastern shore where the drama of next month’s Wave Classic will be played out – and the bar is sure to be in good voice for that week. Also at Gott Bay, however, is an internationally-recognised kitesurf academy (tireekitesurfacademy.com), run by Helen Thompson. The former British pro women’s kitesurfing champion, Thompson is another Tiree resident who had holidayed on the island, eventually moving from her home in Killearn to settle there because of her sport.

“Tiree has the clearest water and the highest statistical wind speed in Scotland and the UK, it’s the best place to learn,” she says. “It’s also allowed me to practice at the highest level, it’s difficult to find all these conditions, the climate, the wind, anywhere else.

“I started windsurfing from the age of eight, after coming here on holidays. At 16 I started kite buggying and eventually progressed to kitesurfing. The sport has taken me all over the world and I’ve competed throughout Europe, in Egypt, South Africa and the US.

“Still though, for offering everything in a small area, Tiree is unique. There is a 360 degree wind angle, which means you can have perfect conditions any direction, and the island is so flat and right out in the ocean, so there is no turbulence. The wind is clean, there are no mountain ranges to disrupt it, and it just exposed to the big swells of the Atlantic.”

This unique appeal extends to the clouds of wildflowers strewn in the Tiree machair, the flocks of seabirds, the evening call of the seals, and the breathtaking glimpses of basking sharks, their fins silently cutting the waters offshore.

We finished up our evenings on the island with sausages sizzling on the barbecue, and cold beers sipped in the garden overlooking the sea. Bronzed and exhausted, our sons had a carefree week, the best possible preparation for a looming school year to be focused on Standard Grades.

Small, but perfectly-formed, Tiree is ideal for boardsports, but it is not the only place in Scotland where you can enjoy them. So – whether you are looking for the chance to check out an event or to take the plunge yourself –a good starting point is simply to check out the various governing bodies.

With one in four of us enjoying watersports of some kind each year, it’s worth remembering other types of sailing can be less labour intensive than the board variety, but still provide a thrilling sense of adventure.

Scotland’s Shirley Robertson might have gone on to bag gold medals in back to back Olympic Games, but she learned the ropes by sailing on Loch Ard in the Trossachs from the tender age of seven. Whether you play hard, or just want some fun, there is nowhere better that Scotland’s wide open waters to take some time out, and turn your face into the wind.