New SWA media man Duncan Dumbreck interviews the four winners from this year’s SWA series; Louis Morris, Jo Wright, Ollie Acton and Matt Yeates.

Interviewing Louis Morris, race series winner from Bristol University.

Q: Which event did you enjoy the most this year?

A: I’d definitely say Liverpool, we had an awesome crew from Bristol and UWE up that weekend, the dedication on the fancy dress side was epic. The wind even showed up briefly. The Liverpool committee had put a lot of hard work into organizing the event and it went off without a hitch. They definitely deserved the award for best club this year.

AK was awesome because it was windy and it’s such a huge event, but I didn’t know many people having just arrived at Uni, so it was a bit intimidating. The events got better through the year as I got to know more people.

Q: What was your best result, and which result meant the most to you? 

A: Bristol easily, we were sailing in planning conditions. It was almost marginal which meant getting on the plane quickly was important. I won the advanced race, which was awesome.

Q: What do you look forward to about next year?

A: Where do I start, the wave events. It would be awesome if we got some good conditions for the series this year as the level is really high and the conditions we had this year really didn’t show that at all. I’m also representing on the Bristol committee this year as the Intermediate/Advanced rep. I’m hoping to hook up with the advanced group from UWE for lifts and stuff.

Q: As you mentioned you are a part of the Bristol/UWE clubs. What is it like coming from such a big club?

A: The two clubs from Bristol Uni. and University of West England are joined at the hip. We share everything from kit to socials. Being such a big club is awesome; we have a big pool of kit, which is awesome for beginners. The social scene is really good too as it means that we have a huge core group at socials. No other sports in Bristol have this kind of friendly vibe between clubs. We’re in the same city and we love doing the same thing so you’d have to be stupid to not take advantage of the benefits that can be had from cooperating. The only trouble with Bristol is that it is a bit of a trek to get to somewhere we can sail, but that just makes us more excited when we do get to go for a session.

Q: You are often seen giving clinics and words of advice at events, even when it is windy and all the other instructors are on the water, why?

A: I love seeing people on the water and improving.  I think it comes down to the fact that I really enjoy windsurfing and want to share that with other people. I remember finding it really frustrating trying to get past those early hurdles. People really appreciate the advice and will remember you if you helped them climb the next step on the ladder. 

Q: You attended the majority of the events this year, is there anything you’d like to see next year?

A: It was great to see Phil and Danielle from getwindsufing.com at nationals and the feedback from that was amazing. It would be cool to see a greater continuity in the coaching that goes on at events. Especially when it is windy.

Q: So what are your plans for summer?

A: No big trips, more of the usual. I work at Siblyback lake in Cornwall, teaching windsufing. I love the job, especially coaching the T15 squad. I used to be a part and now I coach them, they helped me so much in those early years and it’s a great feeling to be able to give back. Our squad won the regionals last year, so I’m really excited to build on that success this season.

Also, I’m going to try and get down to Bigbury, Daymer, and St Johns Lake to get some practice in freestyling and wavesaling. Then there are the UKWA events. I went to the BSA slalom event at the OTC in Weymouth. It was windy and I could get demo kit, it was a truly amazing event. I’d love to get into slalom more, but sadly being a poor student can’t I afford new kit.

check out the other interviews on the next pages below….