Scottish surfers prepare to take on world’s best in Biarritz

This weekend the ISA World Surfing Games – the nearest thing the sport of kings has to a World Cup – will descend on the chi-chi resort town of Biarritz, on France’s Basque coast. The place is already an odd mixture of faded glamour and contemporary beach culture, where packs of local surfers pad bare-footed past grand, Belle Époque and Art Deco hotels on their way to and from the waves. But from 20-28 May the town’s already considerable surfing population will be swollen out of all proportion as teams of waveriders from around the globe arrive to do battle on its beaches.