Old man and the sea

Ratso Buchanan in action. Photo / ASP/Cestari

There aren't too many people who can claim a maiden world title at the age of 50 in most sports, let alone surfing. Nor are there many people who would do so as a complete underdog called "Ratso" - known more for being a judge than a competitor. But that's exactly what Piha surfer Iain "Ratso" Buchanan did earlier this year when he won the grand masters division (over-50) of the ASP World Masters Surfing Championships in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, this year.

"I was the total dark horse in the event and no one thought I'd be there in the final," he says. Ratso beat a bevy of international surfing legends en-route to the biggest victory of his 30-odd year competitive surfing career. Also a top international ASP judge, he was a late entry into the event which hosted a number of former world champions, including Shaun Tomson (South Africa) and Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew (Australia).

It was only a late night email from a good friend and fellow ASP judge that convinced him to enter the event. From the outset, it was obvious he was going to be hard to stop. A former five-time New Zealand champion (1983-87), he is no stranger to the rigours of international competition.

Coupled with his dominance on the New Zealand scene, Ratso also qualified for the elite World Competitive Tour (WCT) in 1983 and travelled the globe for three seasons. During this time, he won some historic battles against surfers such as Tomson and 1980s wunderkind Mark "Occy" Occhilupo (Australia) but never quite cracked that elusive victory.

Of his time on the WCT, Buchanan recalls fulfilling a life-long dream: "The biggest thing for me was to finally get to surf all the waves around the world I'd dreamed of since I was a kid. Travelling to places like Jeffrey's Bay, Hawaii, Tahiti, South America, Japan, Europe and others, was an awesome experience, and all the other things that you witness when travelling." To do it with the best surfers in the world made it even better. But during those early days of professional surfing, there wasn't a huge amount of money in the industry.

"Back then, it was really hard to get any backing and I kind of just did it on my own," he says. "I had some support from my sponsors but it wasn't always easy travelling on the road. When you're young and in strange countries and competing every other week, it was easy to burn out, so you had to have a really good mental approach and really want it."

Buchanan then ventured into the surf industry by way of surfboard shaping and retail, and spent 12 years working in Sydney before returning to New Zealand in the late 1990s.

He became heavily involved with Surfing New Zealand and was head coach for a number of New Zealand campaigns to world events with surfers such as Maz Quinn, Daniel Kereopa and Blair Stewart, who all went on to compete on the ASP World Tour. But the itch was still there and Buchanan found his way into the ranks of the ASP as an international surfing judge.

"I was in Europe around 2000 and got invited to compete in the ASP Masters in France. It was then I realised I really missed the travelling, surfing in different countries, and being part of the ASP World Tour. I felt I could contribute somehow from my years of competing and judging was the logical step." Buchanan was ASP head judge for the European leg of the ASP World Star Tour (formerly known as the World Qualifying Series) for seven years and has been an integral part of the constant evolution of world professional surfing.

Ratso is unique in this role, as he is the only foreigner to officiate over another region of the ASP in the world. Judging surfing is challenging and requires a high level of knowledge and skill, especially when it comes to the finer details of surfing technique and ability.

Like many other sports, surfing is being pushed into the future by an elite group of athletes and judging must change at every corner in the road. His own evolution led Buchanan to taking on the challenge of the 2011 ASP World Masters event.

Through victory, he was also able to blow some of the old competitive cobwebs away in the process. Beating 1978 ASP world champion Bartholomew in the final, Ratso finally closed a chapter on his life. The win meant so much to him on many different levels.

"It was like a circle in my life had been completed. I'd competed against all those guys so many times in the past and lost on some marginal split decisions. I often had the feeling I got burned by the judges," he says. "When Derek Hynd [former professional surfer and international team coach] sent me an email congratulating me on my win, I felt a lot of satisfaction. He said, they finally let you get on the right side of the ledger'." Also, a victory demonstrates he can really put his money where his mouth is' by showing that not only is he a top international judge, but he can surf as well.

"My fellow judges were really stoked for me as well, as it gave us more credibility," he says. "There are some really good surfers among the ASP judges and I think it's important that we are seen to be surfing at a good level so the competitors know we understand how difficult it is to surf to the level they do."

Like the All Black World Cup winners, Buchanan's win was also dedicated to his family and friends in Christchurch who have endured such hardship in 2011. "I'm from Christchurch and was visiting my family when the February earthquake hit. It was a heavy experience. My sister's house got destroyed and it was quite a stressful week afterwards. So winning this world title gave everyone in my family and friends a bit of a lift."

Ratso spends half the year based in Europe working for the ASP and is otherwise based at Piha, where he is the owner of the Lion Rock Surf Shop. He is also starting a girls' surfing school at Piha this summer.