Next up in our series following the stand out riders from NWF, we catch up with winner of the night windsurfing freestyle tow in, Adam Sims.
Check out the other stars of NWF:
Name: Adam Sims
DOB: 11/03/1988
Windsurfing history:
I’ve been windsurfing for about 7 years now I think. I really started properly at Uni where I set up a Portsmouth University Windsurfing Club and went to all the SWA (Student events). I competed there and got some valuable competition experience, then I tried out the UK circuit in both waves and freestyle and got some good results.
Combined with a lot of travel I finally took the UK Freestyle title last year and am now sitting in 7th place in Europe. Actually, I’m completely stoked by these results and really hope I can hold a good position on the EFPT (European Freestyle Pro Tour) this year, especially as we now have the first ever confirmed EFPT stop in the UK (3-6th November in Weymouth).
Who has inspired/influenced you in windsurfing?
I always looked up to Jason Polakow after watching his movies on VHS movie tapes, as I got more into freestyle I think my style has been very much influenced by the change to the power move format. To be honest I don’t really enjoy doing the sliding moves so watching Steven Van Broeckhoven and Gollito flying through the air in power moves is what captured my attention.
Why did you enter NWF?
Because I have done every year and it just gets better and better.
What fleet did you enter, where did you finish and what was the experience like?
I was in the night tow-in freestyle, the night race with the kids and the light wind freestyle competition. I managed to win the night tow-in which I was pretty stoked with and took 3rd place on the kids master blaster with Leah. The light wind freestyle didn’t really go my way but I gave it a shot.
What was your favourite part of the event this year?
Coming in at 40+knots behind the rib towards the lights with a 1,000 people watching was a buzz, but I think the party topped that.
Have you entered any other windsurfing events this year? Yep PWA Austria, PWA Fuerteventura, EFPT tow-in in Austria, EFPT Sigri (in Greece), UKWA Freestyle in West Kirby.
What’s next for you? What do you want to progress next with your windsurfing?
I just want to continue to improve, enjoy my windsurfing and be a part of some cool videos along the way. The immediate future however is this EFPT event, I’m a big part of the organisation team for it and the new events company XPLG (Extreme Playground), we’ve got a short amount of time but we are working hard to make an awesome event for all that attend.
Images courtesy of RRD/Dave White and Hanna Poschinger.
