The background

This coming month a team of three windsurfers from Christchurch, Dorset have set themselves the challenge of windsurfing around the Isle of Wight. What makes this challenge unusual is that the three team members are also brothers.  Simon, Tim and James are all seasoned windsurfers, and James a regular competitor on the UKWA wave sailing tour. When asked what their motivation was to circum-navigate the Isle of Wight together, Simon said:

“We grew up and learnt to windsurf at Hengistbury Head, so each morning we’d wake up and check the Isle of Wight on the horizon for wind sign – it’s always been a consideration that it would be a great trip to challenge ourselves with. Now we are fortunate enough to be living in the same area again, and after regularly windsurfing together it didn’t take long to come to a joint decision that it had to be done. The fact that all three of us windsurf and are passionate about the sport provides us with quite a unique opportunity to enjoy the challenge as a team. It’s going to be a tough trip and we are going to have to cover a heck of a lot of ground, but there’s no better team to do it with than my brothers”

Over the past few months they have been planning and training for the journey around their own work commitments, trying to get everything drilled down with precision from support boat, to equipment and peak fitness. They are well aware that if even the smallest thing goes wrong, it could be disastrous for the trip.

The motivation

The three brothers have not only committed to this journey because of their desire to get stuck into a big windsurfing challenge they are also raising money for the British Heart Foundation. Coronary Heart Disease is recognised as the biggest killer in the UK and many heart related illnesses can be prevented through lifestyle changes in relation to diet and levels of exercise. Outdoor sports like windsurfing are a great way of keeping the bodies health in check so publicising the benefits makes great sense.

(For further reading visit: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/hsq0506.pdf)

One of the brothers has also experienced an episode of blood clotting, so the work that the British Heart Foundation does driving forward medical technology in this area is of personal appreciation. With their trip planned for the next solid few days of wind, all eyes are firmly on Big Salty weather forecasts to plan the necessary time off work. For more information on training strategies, progress and to sponsor the brother’s trip on behalf of the British Heart Foundation, visit: www.bigsalty-challenge.co.uk