Easdale Island, just south of Oban on Scotland's west coast, hosted the World Stone Skimming Championships on Saturday, with more than 400 competitors representing over 30 countries descending on the car-free Inner Hebridean island.

This is not a bit of quirky fun on a beach. Competitors take stone skimming extremely seriously, travelling thousands of miles for the chance to become world champion on a flooded former slate quarry which has become the sport's unlikely global arena.

This year's competition was won by 32-year-old Liam Knight from North Carolina, who became the only competitor to hit the quarry's back wall during a day when fierce winds made conditions exceptionally difficult.

Knight had first travelled to Easdale two years ago and returned after becoming hooked on competitive stone skimming.

He defeated defending champion Jonathan Jennings, another American who had travelled from Kentucky hoping to retain the title he won in 2025.

The championships have become an extraordinary annual transformation for Easdale.

Scotland's smallest permanently inhabited island has around 60 residents and no cars. Visitors reach it aboard a small passenger ferry from Ellenabeich on neighbouring Seil.

For the championships, however, hundreds of competitors and spectators are transported across the narrow stretch of water to an island measuring only around 62 acres.

The event has become so popular that organisers introduced a ballot for competitor places after previous championships sold out within minutes.

Entrants came from countries including Argentina, India, Jamaica and across Europe for this year's event.

The unusual location is integral to the competition. Easdale was once at the centre of Scotland's slate industry, with generations of islanders quarrying stone which was exported around the world.

Its slate was used to roof buildings during the expansion of Scottish cities and was shipped as far afield as Australia and the Caribbean.

The industry ultimately declined during the late 19th century and the island's abandoned quarries gradually filled with water.

One of those flooded quarries is now the home of the World Stone Skimming Championships.

The competition was first staged in 1983 by former island resident Albert Baker before disappearing from the calendar. It was resurrected by the island's community development group in 1997 as a fundraiser and has subsequently grown into an international event.

Competitors have three attempts and must use naturally formed Easdale slate. Stones cannot measure more than three inches – 7.6cm – across their widest point.

Every stone must pass through the organisers' appropriately named "Ring of Truth" before it can be thrown.

A valid attempt must bounce at least twice on the water and remain within the designated skimming area, with competitors unable to take a run-up.

Reaching the opposite side of the quarry is considerably harder than it looks.

The championship course stretches 63 metres to a stone wall at the opposite end. Hitting that wall is one of the great achievements in the competition and is known as a "back wall".

On Saturday, strong winds sweeping around the old quarry repeatedly caught stones and pushed them off course.

Knight was the only competitor to successfully reach the wall, securing the world title.

There was an additional level of scrutiny this year following one of the strangest cheating scandals in Scottish sport.

At the 2025 championships, competitors were discovered to have altered stones by grinding them into more perfectly circular shapes in an attempt to gain an advantage.

The rules require competitors to use naturally formed Easdale slate.

Organisers responded this year by having a geologist available to examine suspicious stones.

The incident did little to dent the growing international popularity of the championships.

Competitive stone skimming now has events around the world, with recognised championships taking place in countries including New Zealand, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Canada as well as competitions in Kentucky and Wales.

Winners of affiliated events can qualify automatically for the world championships on Easdale.

The Scottish island remains the spiritual home of the sport. The event is also important to the tiny community that hosts it. Money raised by the championships supports projects including Easdale's harbour, community hall and museum as well as local charities.

Championship weekend has grown beyond the competition itself, with this year's programme including live music, food, a ceilidh and parties on either side of the main event.

After more than 400 competitors from over 30 countries squeezed onto an island with only around 60 permanent residents, Easdale will now return to being one of the quietest inhabited corners of Scotland – until the world's best stone skimmers come back to try again.