I had the privilege to recently go to Loughborough during a rest week from training, to the British Sailing Talent Pathway Female Futures Camp! A great couple of days covering all things about being a woman in the sports world, and how we can support each other to perform better and enjoy the experiences and … Continue reading British Youth Female Futures →

I am back using this website now, a-few things have changed since my last post, not least that I am now a full time IQ foiler, campaigning for the LA 2028 Olympics. I will keep you more updated in the weeks that follow.

It is coming to the end of my first full year on a foil, from starting the year in Portugal with a large group of other British windsurfers through to staying in our homes not windsurfing in April through to the summer spent on the south coast, making up for the hours lost during the … Continue reading What a year! →

Ive been soo busy this summer spending time on the water so there has been a small break in my posts. The new IQFoil equipment has arrived and i'm spending as much time sailing it as possible to get a feel for things. Every session I am seeing improvements and having so much fun out … Continue reading Summer 2020 →

10 weeks after entering shielding at home due to the Coronavirus pandemic we are back on the water at West Pennine Windsurf Club with sun and wind both at the same time! My first few sessions back have been great fun getting back on the foil, preparing for whenever our first foil competition will be. … Continue reading Back on the Water! →

We had to fly back from our final training camp in Portugal a week early due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus Pandemic across the world. We all came back to England and headed home before the lockdown. I have now had time to review and catch up with everything since all the training camps … Continue reading COVID – 19 →

I've just returned from an amazing couple of months out in Vilamoura, Portugal with the British Sailing Team. The weather was perfect and the conditions on the water for foiling were glamour! I have lived and trained with other windsurfers for the past 7 weeks and the non stop training has been such a fantastic … Continue reading Vilamoura, Portugal →

I have been invited to train with other windsurfers from around the country as part of a foiling training group to improve our skills and develop the techniques needed to sail the foiling equipment. At the start of January I am heading to Vilamoura for a three week camp in the hopefully slightly warmer seas … Continue reading Winter Training →

For windsurfing in the following olympic games after 2020 it was decided in November 2019 that it will now be with new equipment. Quite a substantial change now means we fly above the water not just sailing on it. Wind foil is the name and IQFoil is the olympic setup that will be raced in … Continue reading Goodbye to RS:X →

After completing my A levels back home in west yorkshire I decided to move to the coast for my university studies at Southampton solent university to aid with my windsurfing, giving me more time to train in more challenging sea environments and new venues. I have a scholarship to the university and as part of … Continue reading University →

The National Inland Championships takes place annualy in September and this year it was held on Grafham Water. The first day was around 12 knots and i lived the conditions, gusty and shifty, which i am familiar with as my local training location is a small lake, this gave me an advantage when it came … Continue reading Nationals 2019 →

I arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia for the youth worlds at the start of August and had a couple of days training at the venue of St Petersburg Yacht Club, on the waters where the racing will be held. We then transfered to the local beach where the event village was situated, sailing from the … Continue reading Youth Worlds 2019 →

Over the first month of my summer holidays I have been windsurfing loads, and heading to the gym to get my fitness up to perform at my best during future competitions. I have just spent 10 days on the south coast of England, in Southampton and then Weymouth sailing everyday to make the most of … Continue reading Summer →

I traveled to Stokes Bay, near Gosport at the end of May for 2 days racing and then 2 further days of training. This was for the second UKWA cup event of 2019 where I raced RSX in some mixed conditions, and had to focus on the tide alot as this had a big effect … Continue reading Stokes Bay →

I have studied at Huddersfield New College for 2 years for my A levels and I am part of the Talented Athlete Support Scheme there which enables me to train on the youth sqaud and still maintain good grades for my A levels along side all the training and competitions. On May 1st I was … Continue reading Athlete of the Year →

After training in Mallorca in February it was time to test these skills back in Palma bay for the Europeans in April. We had a couple of training days with good winds and huge waves, the biggest ive ever sailed in, before the competition began. Racing started on Tuesday after registration and a practice race. … Continue reading RSX Youth Europeans 2019 →

As it is now March, the racing season is about to begin, with my first major competition of the year in just under 2 weeks, out in Mallorca at the European Championships. I have been training hard all winter and now is the time to out the training into practice. Keep an eye out on … Continue reading Ready for the Season →

As part of the British Youth Squad, during February half term I headed out to Palma bay, in Mallorca for a 9 day training camp. This was held in Mallorca to help us get venue experience ahead of the European championships that are going to be held here in April. For the majority of the … Continue reading Mallorca February 2019 →

After a winter of high wind training, I headed up to watergrove (my local resevoir) for some lightwind training and as we got higher into the hills a light dusting of snow was present on the ground. Just enough for a snowball fight as a warm up then onto the water for acouple of hours. … Continue reading Snow Session →

2019 started with a windy weekend for me. We got up early, packed the car and hit the road to West Kirby, for a chance to go shortboarding in 30 knots of wind practicing my gybes and waterstarts. The lake was quite popular and it was amazing to see the speed sailors there hitting speeds … Continue reading Shortbording West Kirby →

Traveling to Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy for the last time in 2018, singing along to christmas songs ready for another windy weekend of training. We started off the weekend with a shortboard session in 25-35 knots, with lots of jumping and waterstarting to improve my skills. On Sunday we got out of the … Continue reading Last WPNSA of 2018 →

I went on holiday to Newquay, Cornwall for my October half term with a windsurfing friend and we thought that since we were in the surf capital of Britain it was necessary to try and learn to surf. After just 1 hour we were on our feet surfing the waves and having alot of fun … Continue reading First Time Surfing →

We met the rest of the National Youth Squad on Wednesday morning after rigging my sail and board ready for the first session on the water. My dad left back to home as this was residential so we all stayed together as a squad in Portland House next to the sailing academy. We did two … Continue reading First NYS Camp →

To broaden my windsurfing skills set, I was offered the opportunity to go foiling for the day with Sam Ross. Foiling is using specialised equipment to enable a windsurf to 'fly' approx. 70cm above sea level, with only the foil at the back of the board touching the water. This was an amazing experience and … Continue reading Foiling Taster Day →

Following my success over summer, in October I was invited to join the RYA National Youth Squad, which trains 6 RS:X youth girls and boys over winter in preparation for international competitions the following year. Most training happens in Weymouth at the 2012 Olympic sailing venue. Having worked hard on my fitness last winter, at … Continue reading National Youth Squad 2018 →

This is a two day event held in September each year, is the culmination of windsurfing  within the UK . Every windsurfer comes together for a weekend of fun racing and camping towards the end of each season. This event is also a selection event for the RYA Winter Youth Squad,  following my success at this … Continue reading Nationals Sept. 2018 →

This was held in Sopot, Poland,  after a LONG car journey we arrived ready for the event. We decided to drive to Poland, taking the 15kg board plus 2 rigs (1 spare) meant that flying was not practical. When traveling overseas to a windsurf event, safe arrival of kit is essential, damaged equipment means I … Continue reading 2018 European Champs →

This was my first international on the Olympic RS:X board. The venue was Penmarch, Britanny and it was held in July. We had a week of pre event training and then the 6 day event started. The wind was light to moderate, however some days were windier and the direction was variable. The waves weren't … Continue reading 2018 World Champs →

This was a national RYA event held in Weymouth, in preparation for the summer season racing. The day before this event we had profiling, to review our fitness levels. The first day was light winds and rather warm for April. The next day was foggy, wet and slightly more windy, we completed no races due … Continue reading Youth Nationals 2018 →

I Started to improve my strength training as I realised the RS:X needed a lot more core strength to handle it and sail its full potential. This winter I was frequently training in Weymouth with other sailors that had recently progressed into the youth class . This was great fun, getting lots of time on … Continue reading Winter 2017/18 →

As I became to old for the Techno293 class racing, I now moved on from the junior to youth class. This means racing on bigger faster kit, against other u19 sailors. This was initially hard to begin with as the kit felt MASSIVE! However after a couple of tries I was getting the hang of … Continue reading Transition to RS:X →

A successful summer resulted in the selectors inviting me to represent GB in the World Champsionships in October 2017. I traveled out with the team for 10 days sunshine and surfing in Salou, Spain. The conditions were mainly light winds with a couple of planing days - perfect for my style of sailing. I came … Continue reading 2017 World Champs →

I decided to enter these championships, following my strong results in the UKWA Cup series over the previous months. The championships were to be held over 6 days in L'Orient, Brittany during July. The racing was hard, the course was along way offshore with a considerable swell from the Atlantic. The wind strength  increased during … Continue reading 2017 European Champs →

This was the last UKWA race of 2017, having taken part in most of the series I really wanted a good finish over this weekend.Due to age restrictions this would be my last race in the 7.8 fleet as a 16 year old. This would mark the end of my Techno racing, I had already … Continue reading October 2017 →

I am an active supporter of the UKWA, a national body of volunteers who actively promote a variety of windsurfing activities across the UK. I love the diversity of the racing venue's, everything from inland lakes to the open sea.  All levels of competition are actively encouraged on a variety of class specific boards, Techno,  … Continue reading UK Windsurf Assn. (UKWA) →

One of my aims is to become a Windsurf Instructor with the RYA. A requirement for all instructors is to hold an RYA level 2 Powerboat Certificate. This is a 2 day course, with a mixture of classroom and practical instruction - I passed my PB2 in May 2017.  http://mclarketraining.co.uk/

A good standard of personal fitness is really important to me, I maintain my aerobic  fitness by regular cycle training sessions and the occasional cyclo-x race. For RYA windsurf squads, it is a requirement to attend regular fitness testing / profiling sessions. My personal goal is to attain a 20% above benchmark profiling result.

The ET's are they are known, are national championship races, usually held on Rutland Water in memory of Eric Twiname. The Techno 293 class are well represented  as all T15 clubs, plus many other category of dinghy's are invited to attend.  I attended the 2016 event on a 5.8 sail, this  was where I really … Continue reading Annual ET’s →

The ultimate achievement for a young windsurfer must be to represent their country. In 2018 the YOG were held in Argentina with two representatives from the UK attending. The first medal for TeamGB  was a bronze in Techno293+ for Finn Hawkins from Cornwall. Our female representative, Islay Watson, winner of the ISAF World Championships in … Continue reading Youth Olympic Games →

This is a one design (OD) class of windsurf board, manufactured by BIC in Vannes, France. Designed to be used in a wide variety of winds, the board is stable, easy to rig and quite forgiving of mistakes by inexperienced sailors. The sail size can be altered to suit conditions / sailor ability and development. … Continue reading Techno 293 OD →

T15 is an Royal Yachting Assn. initiative aimed at getting young people more active by going windsurfing.  T15 clubs are located across the UK offering access to qualified instruction in a safe and fun environment. Meeting usually on a weekly basis at a local sailing club, the standard equipment is a Techno 293 OD board … Continue reading RYA T15 →

Once I had mastered the basics of windsurfing (got my level 2) , during late summer 2013, I was invited to join HOLWAC  (Hollingworth Lake Water Activity Centre) . The club introduced me to the RYA T15 series for TECHNO 293 windsurfs. This enabled me to train alongside other windsurfers, using similar equipment and develop … Continue reading HOLWAC →

Staying at Sea Star Apartments, Assala travelling across town to the Harry Nass Windsurf School on the back of a small pick-up truck, lunch on the beach, the waiting for the afternoon winds to come is the ideal way to develop your windsurfing. Home again in the evening, a walk around the shops enjoying the … Continue reading Dahab, Egypt →

My introduction to watersports was through 'Minisplash' during junior school holidays at Hollingworth Lake, Rochdale. Family holidays overseas offered much more pleasant locations to develop my windsurfing skills, with warmer water and sunshine. Visits to PGL in France, a trip to a fantastic Greek Island, Milos for a weeks sea kayaking adventure to develop my … Continue reading Early Days →

Thanks for joining me! This is a brief review of my windsurfing career and also a way of saying a big THANK YOU to everyone who has helped me during this amazing journey.