Mail Sport Extreme: After making a splash in Nazare, Tiree's Larg siblings are dreaming of making even more history
By BLAIR CONDIE
Published: 07:00 EDT, 14 March 2025 | Updated: 07:19 EDT, 14 March 2025
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When thinking of places some of the best surfers in the world are born, thoughts naturally turn to the likes of the USA and Australia.
It must come as somewhat of a surprise, then, to learn that not one, but two, surfers born on the Isle of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides recently made history at the World Surf League Nazare Tow Challenge in Portugal, directly and indirectly in terms of the competition.
Ben Larg became the first Scot to grace the competition, not only competing but cementing his place amongst the big-wave elite with a third-placed finish alongside fellow Red Bull athlete Andrew Cotton in the Big Wave challenge, where one athlete is on the board and is slingshotted into waves on the back of jetskis by their partner.
Having only received his entry after a fellow competitor withdrew at a day’s notice, Larg didn’t have much time to think about the competition and was instead thrown in at the deep end, literally.
‘I didn’t really have much time to think about it, with it just being the night before, which was probably quite good,’ says Larg. ‘I just went in, wrote down on a piece of paper as my mum taught us, what I wanted from the competition and that was getting my tow partner (Andrew Cotton) two good waves. So I went and did that and we came third.
‘It was amazing to compete at Nazarre. I was delighted, I wasn’t even meant to be in the challenge and I ended up getting third place. I found out the day before that I was going to get an entry because another guy pulled out. I entered with my good mate and we managed to place pretty high which was unreal.
Ben rides a wave on his way to a third-placed finish at Nazare last month
Now aged 18, Robyn has been making waves in surfing for years as well
‘It’s a bit of a dream come true. Being from the Isle of Tiree, it seemed surreal for something like that to happen.’
But the Larg well of talent doesn’t run dry there. Now aged 21, Ben has been making waves in the surfing community for years, first bursting on to the scene in 2019, when he was filmed riding a near-30ft wave off the west coast of Ireland.
Last month, Ben invited his younger sister Robyn over to ride the waves in Navarre with him, outside of the competition. The 18-year-old made a piece of history herself, becoming the youngest Brit to ride a near-15ft wave in history.
Like her brother’s own invitation to the competition, though, Robyn’s time on the waves was very last minute.
‘I just seen Ben doing so well, I’ve been surfing loads just now and watched him so I asked him if I saw a swell that would be good for me, to let me know and I’d love to come over and give it a shot,’ she says. ‘He just phoned me one day, and I was like: “Brilliant”. It wasn’t super planned, it was out of the blue, but it was great.’
Ben was riding waves as big as 30ft across the competition on Portugal's coast
Now, however, the Lost Shore facility at Ratho, just outside Edinburgh is giving people the chance to give surfing a try and Ben believes that it will be easier - and better - for more Scots to get involved in the sport.
‘It’s one of the best facilities that has ever come about. It’s amazing,’ he says. ‘I go and train there, brush up on my small-wave skills. You can get 100 waves in a couple of hours, whereas you might only get five or 10 waves on the sea in that time. So in terms of practice, that’s the best place to learn how to surf.’
While Ben continues to travel the world looking for the best swells to surf on and competitions to enter, Robyn is at a crossroads, with no decision made on her own future; whether it be a step into university or following in her brother’s footsteps.
Regardless of what happens, both Largs share the same dream.
Robyn says: ‘I think I’m just going to keep going forward with surfing, I guess, and trying to improve on that. I’m not sure if I’ll go to uni yet, I might just try to follow in Ben’s footsteps.
The 20-year-old has been sponsored by Red Bull since 2022 and admits it's a dream come true
‘Hopefully, I’d love to be a tow partner with Ben would be the dream. We did competitions together when we were younger, but being tow partners would be the best.
‘Being able to do this together is so good and it’s reassuring when you’re in the water. It’s so much fun.’
Ben concurs: ‘If we ended up driving the jetski for each other in the tow-surf challenge would be the dream. We do argue on the jetski quite a bit as well but it is really great fun. It feels so cool to have a sister that does the things Robyn does.’
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