Non POV pics: James Jagger, Oli Lane Pierce

I started surfing at a young age – around age 5. Not exactly what you’d expect for someone from land locked Staffordshire! It was my parents who introduced my bro and I to the ocean via plenty of Cornwall and Spanish hols (my folks had a gaff in Espania that we used to spend school holidays at which was a second home for love ten years).

It was in Spain that I really got hooked on surfing (and bodyboarding which was perfect for riding summer wind swells that break on super shallow, gnarly reefs).

During my teens, where I was a typical confused angry yoof, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do. Music was (and still is) a big part of my life along with art. But it wasn’t quite enough. By way of an ex, who pointed me towards watersports instructor training, I ended up working overseas and, in fact, doing 8 years teaching and coaching all manner of watersports in the sun (not a bad life). It was during this time that windsurfing really took a hold.

Having met my now wife, who was also a watersports instructor, we decided to head back to Blighty and set up camp on the south coast. Whilst I still loved surfing it was definitely more about the windy end of the spectrum in terms of our UK location choice.

There followed another restless period of doing jobs I didn’t much like (unfortunately prospective employers only saw ‘beach bum’ when they looked at my CV, rather than the diverse amount of skills being a windsurf coach gives you). I knew I didn’t want to be stuck in a sales job and did everything I could to get back into the watersports industry.

Around 2010 I was gifted the opportunity to manage and edit a website for a then emerging new discipline called SUP. I’d already been paddling stand up paddle boards for a few years – in fact, I was one of the first three in my neighbourhood to do so, along with my wife and a mate. Editing the website, owned by ex pro windsurfer and Red Paddle Co founder John Hibbard, threw open doors for further involvement in watersports media which I pretty much ran with.

After a few years I spotted an opportunity for a bona fide, UK focused, stand up paddle boarding magazine which I set up with my now colleagues Anne Egan and Pete Tranter who I continue to work with to this day.

At this point I was also working on an international windsurfing mag as editor. This involved commissioning features and being involved in equipment testing. Flying to overseas destinations such as Dahab, Egypt, with 40 odd boards and sails in transit was super fun times. Being paid to windsurf every day is still seen as an idyllic ‘job’.

Following a few years on this publication, I parted ways to focus more on SUP Mag UK and developing my already improving digital skills. Honing these via SUP Mag UK’s website equipment testing for stand up also increased. At point of writing I’ve tested over 1700 SUP products and am rapidly following suit with windsurf kit and hydrofoil set ups. I have that much gear on the go at any one time it’s ludicrous! But I count myself as fortunate to have this opportunity. I’m pretty sure there’s nobody else who’s had experience of so much product as me.

In 2015 we added a windsurf magazine to our portfolio of publications and I continue to edit both SUP Mag UK and Windsurfing UK.

Because of testing so much watersports gear year round I need decent rubberised protection that’ll stand up to continuous use and UK seasons. Mark at NCW has been a supporter for few years and still is. Even though I also test/review accessories, such as wetsuits from other brands, I need a staple pile of neoprene for those hardware sessions, which is why I depend on NCW wetties. Thanks to Mark for all his support on this front over the years – I couldn’t do it without!