Craig Butler

(Full credit to @paddywalshe for the photo)  

Craig Butler, 27

Tramore, Ireland

Regular foot 

  

Surfing has always been a part of my family. My grandmother's garden shed was for a time part of the first surf club in Ireland. It was a meet up spot for a host of local and Irish surfing legends. So surfing has always been rooted in my family. My mother eventually opened her first surf shop in Tramore in 2007 and being a kid I was extremely fortunate to have access to the best equipment and got to hang around a lot of the older surfers in Tramore who rip and I learned a lot from them. 

  

I am currently concentrating on the Harley Ingleby series. Harleys boards are shaped by Billy Tolhurst for Thunderbolt surfboards. His boards are incredible and it's easy to see how Harley has become a 2x WSL world champion when you stand on one of his boards, as they feel incredible under your feet. I have been riding the Diamond Drive carbon black for the past couple of months. I find this board wraps Incredibly well when surfing point breaks on your frontside, it's one of the best boards that I have surfed in the tube too. But also due to it being 67 litres it works perfectly on the nose in small weak waves and is able to hold it's own in any conditions. Next up for me is the HIHP and the HI4 models in the Harley series by Tolhurst and these are the two boards that I will be using in competition next year. 

  

I hold 7x national longboard titles. I have had stints competing on the WSL over the years. 2015 was my best year competing on the WSL before taking a much needed break. 

  

I mainly spend a lot of time training for when there is surf and concentrating on reaching optimal peak fitness, by looking after my body and mind. I do vigorous gym sessions and train with my childhood mentor Liam Walsh to help make sure that my fitness is up to scratch for heavy days in Ireland in winter and to make sure that my performance in the water continues to progress. Days that I am not in the gym or training, I am at my families surf shop. The beauty of working to get yourself back to the top of your game is people are comfortable to come to you for advice on how to progress their ability when it comes to riding a longboard and what is the next step for them or having enough faith in you to come and ask about buying their first longboard and making sure that they choose the right board to suit their ability. To sell someone a board and see that board give them the same level of stoke that I get from riding a longboard makes the job the best in the world. 

  

6. Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?  

  

I am starting back competing on the WSL Longboard Tour in 2022, now that I have the best boards under my feet along with support from some top Irish brands and companies. 

I see myself continuing to compete on the longboard tour in 5 years and hopefully I can get a result that I am happy with, it's something that I will be happy to look back on and win or lose I will be able to say that I gave it my all. A big goal of mine is to get enough points to be able to compete at the tour stop at the Surf Ranch in Lemoore. I really want to have a surf at the Ranch. 

 

Check out Craig's Instagram  →   @craigbutlersurf