'Surfing genes' from grandad led to big wave win

A surfer said genes "passed down" from his grandad helped him win UK Male Big Wave Length Surfer of the year.

Louis Thomas-Hudson, who has competed globally at big wave events since he was 20, scooped the Wavelength UK award in Newquay and said being from a long line of surfers helped.

He said his grandfather Ronnie Hudson was a well-known surfer in Tynemouth, in North Tyneside, in the 1960s and he had inherited his love of the sport.

The 29-year-old said: "The hotspot for surfing in the UK is normally down South, so It's great to bring back the award back to the North East."

Thomas-Hudson now owns the family business, Tynemouth Surf Co which was established in 1995 by his late father, Stephen Hudson, who was also well known in the surfing community around the North East.

"I started surfing when I was five years old.

"My grandad Ronnie Hudson, was one of the first surfers in Tynemouth in the 1960s and from there he passed the surfing genes on to my parents and they passed it on to me.

"I grew up around surfing, my family have a surf school and as a kid I naturally started surfing from there and fell in love with it."

He competed as the captain of Team GB Junior Surf Team at 18 years of age.

He said being crowned UK Male Big Wave Length Surfer of the year was a "huge achievement".

"It's great to bring the award back to the North East.

"A lot of the awards and the surfers are down South, which is where the hotspot for surfing in the UK tends to be, and it feels great to bring the win back home," Thomas-Hudson said.

"It's also amazing just to see how surfing is growing in the area, we have some great kids coming up who are amazing surfers."

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