Cornish Through & Through
Stats: D.O.B - Dec '77
Height - 6'2 Weight- 85kg
Nationality - Cornish/British
Stance - Regular, No Straps
Fave Kite - North Rebel 2010 14 for racing or Evo 7 for waves
Fave Board - Resin8 Tokoro 6'3, awesome when its big or barreling for kiting and surfing!
Fave Pasty - Hampsons Medium Steak
Best World Ranking - 7th Waves 2008
Professional Goals-
For 2010 is to become British Champion in Waves and Racing.
In 2011 i will again fight for the UK Titles and aim to place Top 10 in the Course Racing Worlds and Top 5 in the Europeans. Also to gain a podium place on the 2011 PKRA World Wave Tour and place well at some PKRA Race events.
For full competition results click Here.
History
Being born in the darkest depths of Cornwall, into a fishing family, I first ventured onto the sea only a couple of month’s old and started surfing age 5. At age 8 I took up sailing and sailed at international level up to age 18, winning a national championship and numerous other titles. In 1996 I started work as a dinghy and windsurf instructor, working at some of the windiest places throughout the Med and Caribbean, saving enough to allow myself to travel to some of the best wave spots around the world during the off season for 10 fabulous years.
Whilst working in Greece in 1999, a new sport (Kitesurfing) suddenly popped onto the scene and I was instantly hooked on this extreme sport, which enabled you to get massive air on flat water. Living in some of the windiest places in the world, I was in the perfect environment to learn and I quickly advanced to a high level and started competing in freestyle competitions, the highlight winning Best Trick and placing 4th overall at the Lefkada Greek Open in 2004.
During 2005 advances in kite technology suddenly allowed us to ride waves properly with a surfboard and finally I had found the perfect sport for me- KiteSURFING.
Basing myself in West Oz for a year I trained hard before coming home to Cornwall and finding that the waves which were always too inaccessible or too big to ride just with a surfboard are now there for the picking with a kite and with the crazy weather we’ve been having lately, I’m now finding myself kiting 60% of the time and surfing 40% and riding more waves than anybody else.
Now working as a fisherman back in my home village of Newlyn, and coaching watersports, I am ideally placed to take advantage of every storm that passes our way and am also still able to venture off to warmer climes in the winter, to train and search for that perfect wave!
2008 was my first year competing on the kite world tour in the wave masters and course racing. After competing in 3 out of the 4 rounds, i finished 7th overall for the waves with my best finish of 5th in Morrocco at the finals.
I am now heavily focusing on Kitesurf Course Racing and will be competing on the UK and World circuits alongside my normal wave ventures. My aim being to get into the Olympics once Kitesurfing is included. So IOC hurry up and take note!
As Chairman of Kernow Kitesurf Club and an Ambassador for Cornwall Sport Partnership, I aim to promote and further the growth of the sport within the county as much as i can.