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The Great Britain Cup has been postponed after several freesurfers invaded the lineup at Thurso in Scotland on Sunday. Videos of the event show a group of surfers paddling into the water during the women’s semifinal and interfering with competitors.
GB Surfing released a statement saying that the men’s and women’s semifinals and finals had been suspended and would run at a future date and location to be announced. They said there is a police investigation of the incident regarding alleged abuse towards the women competing in the semifinals.
“Abuse directed at female competitors led to the premature suspension of the event on safety grounds, and event organizers were forced to seek assistance from Police Scotland,” the Scottish Surfing Board said in a statement. “Such behavior is completely unacceptable and runs counter to Scottish Surfing’s values of Innovation, Care, Inclusion and Excellence.”
An eyewitness who spoke with Wavelength recounted the incident, saying, “One of the girls said she was told to ‘f*** off’ by one of the people disrupting the event. There is no reason to doubt this is true. I do not know the name of the person who gave the abuse.”
A police spokesperson said, “Officers attended and no injuries were reported. Inquiries are ongoing.”
The event featured 12-person teams from England, Wales, the Channel Islands, and Scotland. The winners of the men’s and women’s division are each promised a spot on Great Britain’s team for the 2026 ISA World Surfing Games, which could play a role in Olympic qualification for LA 2028.
Earlier this year, French freesurfers similarly crashed a German surf contest in Seignosse, France, violently pushing a competitor off her board.
