O'Neill Highland Open

It is just over a month until the world’s northernmost and coldest professional surfing contest makes its third appearance in the north of Scotland. With its long, clean, super-fast icy waves, the O’Neill Highland Open by Swatch attracts a host of the world’s best surfers to the small town of Thurso in Caithness.

For World Qualifying Series (WQS) competitor and last year’s runner up, Australian surfer Jarrad Howse, the Highland Open is an event that stands out from everything else on the gruelling WQS circuit. “I love the event,” says Howse.

“I think it’s the history of the place and the fact that it’s so different from everywhere else on the tour. Usually we’re in and around big cities and festivals but it’s so special that it’s in this little town of Thurso. It’s just so down to earth and so far removed from everything.”

It’s not just the location – at 59 degrees north – that makes the Highland Open so special. The winner of the event walks away with a unique prize in contemporary surfing – The Chieftain, a double-handed, limited edition Medieval Scottish war sword. The sword is a replica of an early Claymore, a sword depicted on ancient grave slabs in the Scottish Highlands.

O’Neill event director Bernhard Ritzer explains that “having the sword as a first prize means that the event is about more than money and championship points. We present the winner with the sword as a way of recognising Scotland’s unique history. It’s a symbol of why we’re here and why this event is so special.”

His fellow countryman Nathan Hedge might have walked away with The Chieftain last year, but Howse is determined that he’ll be the one to wield the sword by the end of the week-long 2008 Highland Open. “I wanted that sword so bad last year,” he said. “It’s the best feeling to win a competition, and it would have been all the more special because it was O’Neill – but mostly I wanted that sword.” No surprise when Howse reveals that “Braveheart was my favourite movie.”

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