2024 East Coast Classic Surf Competition
The 2024 East Coast Classic was a pretty special event for the Yorkshire surf scene. Held at Cayton Bay, near Scarborough, on 14–15 September 2024, the competition marked the return of the East Coast Classic after an 11-year break.
Organised with the support of Secret Spot, the event brought surfers together from across the region for a weekend celebrating competitive surfing on the Yorkshire coast.
There were several competition divisions, including Men’s, Women’s, Longboard and Under-16 categories, giving surfers of different ages and abilities the chance to compete.
But the East Coast Classic was about more than just the competition. The weekend was designed as a celebration of the East Coast surfing community, with surfboard demonstrations, a surf jumble, food, live music and other activities taking place alongside the contest.
For me, this was a great event to photograph. Competition surfing gives you so many opportunities to capture different types of images — from surfers paddling out and waiting for their heat, to the split-second moments when they hit the lip, throw spray or make a critical turn.
Shooting from the beach also gives you the chance to capture the atmosphere around the event. The surfers, spectators, photographers and people involved in the Yorkshire surf community all help make competitions like this more than just a few heats in the water.
The return of the East Coast Classic was particularly significant because of the gap since the previous event. Seeing a competition of this size return to Cayton Bay was a great reminder of how strong the surfing community is along the Yorkshire and wider East Coast.
These are some of my photographs from the 2024 East Coast Classic at Cayton Bay, capturing some of the surfers, action and atmosphere from the weekend.
For me, events like this are also a great way to keep improving my surf photography — trying different angles, following the action and looking for those moments that tell the story of the competition rather than simply photographing someone riding a wave.
