Young surfers of today: you have no idea how lucky you are. Yes,I know, I sound like a grumpy old man, but I speak the truth. Backin the lo-fi 1990s, when I was a surf-mad teenager, there was noworld wide web. Well, not in any meaningful sense. The only way Icould find out what was happening in the surfing universe outsidethe UK was to subscribe to American magazines which, when theyeventually arrived, contained information at least two months out ofdate. Thus, I would usually discover who had won December's nail-biting world tour showdown in Hawaii sometime around the middle ofthe following February.And surf films. Surf films weren't things youwatched for free on YouTube - they were prized possessions, to besaved up for over several weeks, purchased on VHS and then viewedover and over again until you knew every line of the usuallyappalling commentary off by heart. And when I say appalling, I meanappalling. Sample quote from Bruce Brown's iconic 1994 film, TheEndless Summer II: "The surf. Was. Gangbusters." Really Bruce?"Gangbusters?" Swingin'.Very, very occasionally, surfing would makean appearance on TV, at which point a prolonged debate would ensuewith my brother over which of the first two Die Hard movies shouldbe erased from a blank videotape in order to make way for a nuggetof surf cinema of as yet unproven quality. I remember on oneoccasion recording an episode of the Holiday programme about a groupof jolly metropolitan muppets (sorry, but they were) attending asurf school somewhere in Devon. The segment consisted of about tenminutes of footage of these chubby beginners gamely flailing aroundon brightly coloured foam boards in marginal conditions, followed byabout 15 seconds of proper surfers surfing proper waves at Croyde.Disappointing? You have no idea. But I still watched those 15seconds on a loop until they were seared into my memory.It goeswithout saying that professional surfing competitions were neverbroadcast on't telly when I were a lad. In an age when chain-smoking snooker players were considered role models (and givencorrespondingly endless coverage by the BBC) anyone with even a hintof colour in their cheeks was viewed with suspicion. Things haven'tchanged much in that respect - British television execs still seemincapable of screening sports that don't take place on a greensurface with white lines drawn on it - but, in contrast to mygeneration, today's young surfers don't give a damn. Thanks to theinternet, they can watch all the surf competitions they want liveonline.Which brings us to this weekend, and the last few rounds ofthe dollars 145,000 O'Neill Coldwater Classic at Thurso. Billed as"the most extreme contest on the world tour," the Classic attractssome of the best waveriders on the planet and has a habit ofgenerating high drama. Whether it's top British surfer RussellWinter winning the inaugural event in 2006 with a heart-in-mouthtube ride, Hawaiian hardman Sunny Garcia storming the judges' boothafter a controversial elimination, or Thurso local Chris Noblemaking history last year by becoming the first Scot to advancebeyond the first round, there's never a dull moment.Well, actually,that's a lie. The thing about surf contests is, there can be quite alot of dull moments. As with many sports, there are often long gapsin the action - the sea can suddenly become calm halfway through aheat or surfers can use tactical positioning to prevent each otherfrom taking waves. But just as fans of cricket and American Footballaren't remotely bothered by the stop-start nature of their favouritesports, so surf fans are happy to go with the flow.Having won theScottish National Surfing Championships last month, Noble once againhas a wildcard entry into round one of the Classic. Hopefully he'llstill be in contention by the time you read this. If you can, getyourself up to Thurso and cheer him on. Or, of course, you couldalways just watch his exploits online.The O'Neill Coldwater Classicruns until Tuesday. To watch it live, visit www.oneill.com/cwc
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