Boyd waves hello to surfing glory at Thurso
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Mark Boyd was on the crest of a wave after retaining his Scottish national surfing title at Thurso.
Competing on his own back water, Boyd did his home town proud with an impressive display to get his season under way in fine style.
Boyd breezed through his heats in convincing fashion before facing old rival Mark Cameron of Fraserburgh in the final of the men's open in the Scottish National Surfing Championships.
A much closer contest ensued but, despite facing his toughest challenge of the championships, Boyd emerged victorious with a score of 14 to Cameron's 13.66.
He said: "It was a good weekend and it was great to retain my title.
"Your goal is always to win but when you achieve that then it's a great feeling.
"I had a very good start and I won all my heats on the way to the final. That was tougher but that was to be expected – especially when you're up against Mark Cameron who always provides you with some strong competition.
"The conditions were ideal and we both had some great waves for the final – they were about twice the size of myself. Mark gave me a good run but thankfully I did just enough to win."
Boyd's victory qualifies him for the Scottish team that will take part in the European championships to be held in Santa Cruz, Portugal, in July.
He is also hoping to embark on, and complete, the full UK Pro Tour this season.
He added: "I work offshore so I've never been able to do the whole tour due to work commitments.
"I've competed in various meetings on the tour but it would be nice to see if I can do the whole season. Hopefully I'll be able to work the events around my work shifts."
Elsewhere in the Scottish championships, Iona McLachlan pipped Phoebe Strachan by a slender margin of 0.07 points to take the women's open title.
Mark Cameron made up for his loss to Boyd in the men's open by winning the masters' crown in emphatic style, while Malcolm Findlay won the longboard event.
Ben Larg won the under-18s boys' event, with Natalie Kobedza winning the girls' version.
Larg struck again to take the under-16 title with Craig McLachlan taking the U14 crown.
