Australia’s youngest ever Windsurfing Champion, he won the 2010 Starboard Prokids IFCA Freestyle World Championship, in the under 11 division at age 8! He also won the Slalom and Flowstyle events…!
We managed to get him off the water long enough to ask a few questions.
OK, on commencera avec la grosse question… Comment te sens tu étant champion du monde en freestyle a 8 ans??!!! (accomplissement incroyable!!!)
Je suis très heureux que mon père m’ai appris la planche a voile. C’est géniale de gagner la coupe du monde! Je me suis éclaté pendant la compétition, ce n’était que du plaisir… du coup, comme l’entrainement – J’ai fait ce que j’aime de toute façon…Avec l’éventement, j’avais un but pour m’entrainer et comme je voulais me concentrer sur les manoeuvre freestyle, ça tombait bien.
Do your friends at school know what you do?
I talk about windsurfing all the time. My friends like to watch my movies.
What do they think about you being a world champ?
When they believe me, they think it’s pretty cool!
Has it inspired any of them to give windsurfing a go?
They all want to learn and I think it has inspired a lot of their parents too.
What’s your favourite thing about windsurfing?
I love it all – freestyle, flowstyle, slalom and jumping! I love to be on the water and I love going wherever I like.
What moves are you working on at the moment?
I’m doing a lot of speed sailing. We haven’t had enough wind this season but school holidays have just started – maybe we’ll go to Sandy Point and see what I can achieve. Dad and I are in the GPS team challenge and it’s pretty fun to see if you can beat your previous scores.
I also want to learn some more freestyle – I’m practicing the forward loop, gecko and willy skipper.
How did you get into windsurfing?
My Mum and Dad taught me to windsurf.
Do you have any windsurfing goals for the next few years?
I’m hoping to compete in the Slalom World Championships in Curacao in 2011. I don’t think they’re going to have an under 11’s division though so it looks like I’ll have to compete in the under 13’s. I’m up for the challenge…
I also want to find out what speed I can do. I don’t have any one else that is my size to compare to so it’s hard to know what speed is possible – I would like to try and be the youngest windsurfer to crack 30 knots!
What do you think of your new custom slalom + speed CarbonArt boards?
I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life. The boards are awesome and I know they are going to make a huge difference in my speed. The Slalom board is amazing to ride – so fast and really easy to ride. Before I got my Carbon Art I was cruising at around 16-17 knots. I have now already cracked 23 knots with my Slalom Carbon Art as well as a 15 knot alpha racing 500m! It gybes much faster and smoother than any of my other boards! I have managed to score consecutive Personal Bests (PB) in each of my last ten sessions on the water. Last week at Sanctuary Point I achieved my distance PB, riding my Carbon Art for 65 kilometres that day! I wanted to keep going but Dad bribed me to get off the water with a Mr Whippy icecream. We’ve had a shocking season so far so I’m itching for a change in the weather so I can give the speed board a good run. I’ll keep you posted and let you know once I’m able to have a proper go. By the way, Ben Severne just made me a custom kid’s version of the Code Red Camber-induced race sail. It is super powerful and extremely light. It was designed for my Carbon Art board and GPS speed sailing and the 2011 Slalom World Championship event.
Favourite place and conditions to sail so far?
I love sailing at Sanctuary Point on the NSW South coast because of consistent wind (Canberra is a very gusty place) but my favourite places are Naxos in Greece and Bonaire in the Caribbean.
Best food after an awesome windsurf session?
Something to warm me up (like Two-minute noodles) and some Vegemite toast.
If you’re not windsurfing you’re…
Dreaming about windsurfing, drawing pictures of windsurfers, making windsurfer models, writing about windsurfing, talking about windsurfing, watching windsurfing movies and practicing the forward loop on the trampoline. I also skateboard and ride my bike.
Thanks Alex, keep charging and best of luck for 2011!
