MEET THE TEAM

I was born and raised in Cornwall and loved the water for as long as I can remember. The beach was my playground. I started bodyboarding as a kid and joined a local surf life-saving club. I just loved being in the water; no matter how cold it was or what the waves were doing. As long as I got in the water, I was happy and I became totally addicted!

I started out dunking wetsuits at a surf school from the age of 16. I then continued to work within the surf industry; from being an activity instructor, centre management, surf shops to surf travel which allowed me to surf all over the world. In 2017, I combined my passion and knowledge and launched Women + Waves.

I started Women + Waves to unite all water-loving women together in a surf club environment. It didn’t matter how good they were, or if they just wanted to dip their toes in. It was just about getting in the water, washing the day away and having fun in a comfortable, non-pressure environment. A lot of my other friends and other local females wanted to join in too. They wanted all-female surf lessons, surf weekends + holidays, hints and tips, an extra confidence boost and a chance to meet like-minded women.

That’s when the Women + Waves ‘surf society’ really blossomed. We’ve created a welcoming women’s surf community where we all fully support each other.

The vibe’s contagious and I love seeing how stoked everyone looks after a surf session with us. Plus knowing that surfing may have just changed their lives forever!

My obsession with the ocean began aged 9 during summers on the beach where I learned to bodysurf, and then ride a polystyrene belly board. Aged 11 I bought a second hand bodyboard, which had half the rail missing as it had been eaten by a dog!

From there it’s been an amazing rollercoaster ride that I will always be grateful to the ocean for. I focused all my efforts on bodyboarding and surfing. Bodyboarding was where I made the fastest improvements and I was determined to turn pro. After finishing 1996 as the highest ranked European in the world after a strong performance at the world championships at Pipeline, Hawaii, I turned pro. I was being paid by my sponsors to travel around the world competing, training and working on photo and video shoots. In my best year I won 11 UK events including the biggest UK national tour to date. By my mid twenties I finished a degree in Business and Finance and started work for Carve Surfing Magazine and ThreeSixty Bodyboard Magazine. The surf industry was booming and I was paid to choose locations to organise photo trips for the magazine. This is where my love of travel and creating dream surf trips began. At the same time I transferred my love of competing to focus on coaching. After years of representing the English and British teams I landed the job of British team surf coach and after taking the team to events in Ecuador, South Africa, Portugal, France and Brazil the highlight was coaching the team to their best ever result of 8^th place at the World Championships in California.

Little did I know that organising the magazine trips and taking the British team around the world would furnish me with a unique set of skills that would equip me to create incredible surfing holidays in the future.

The late 2000’s was a busy time as I took the opportunity to launch two businesses off the back of my results and experience. Newquay Activity Centre (NAC) and Bodyboard-Holidays were born. NAC was recently awarded gold in the South West Tourism Awards and Bodyboard-Holidays now offer 40+ international coaching holidays around the world.

Rachel and I joined forces to make Women + Waves the best company of its kind in the world and that is my new focus. These days I spend as much time as I can with my young children Mila and Parker, with my partner Claire, in the water or working on the businesses. I love the vibrant energy and ever increasing participation in ladies surfing. Creating and delivering events around the world is a dream job that I’m very grateful for and passionate about.

Experience:

I’m born and bred in Cornwall, spending my childhood in the sea. I had my first surf lesson at an after school club when I was 13 in Polzeath. Over the next 5 years I surfed on and off, sharing my time with other sports, until I became addicted. After graduating from University I completed my surf instructor qualification and worked on Harlyn beach for 2 years – with a 4-month trip around South East Asia in between to get my surf and travel fix. From here I interned with a surf travel company in their head office, followed by instructing on their 13-week surf adventure in South Africa and Mozambique and at their school in Perranporth. I have worked for Women and Waves over 2 summers and I absolutely love it!

Qualifications:

Level 1 Surf Instructor

Surf Coach Safety & Rescue award

Business and Management BSc degree from Sussex University with Year Abroad

Home Break: 

Harlyn / Boobys Bay / Constantine Bay 

Fave Breaks:

Home is best! It’s hard to beat surfing fun waves with your girl gang; mine also includes my two sisters, which makes it even more special. However, Mozambique does have some pretty epic right hand point breaks (my favourite!) and the far North of New Zealand has some insane isolated spots – which are only accessible in a 4×4, but who doesn’t love a challenge and a secret spot?

Other passions:

Football, camping in my van that I converted myself. Also travelling (but if a country doesn’t have a surf-able coastline I probably won’t be going there!).

Experience: I remember clicking away on a big surf day in St. Agnes back in 2006 with my first camera, a ‘point and squirt’ Fuji FinePix. People came up to me asking to look at shots I’d taken … and it started from there really. I surfed as a young child but, thanks to my dad, I’d always had a fascination for photographs and photography. I guess, over time, I swapped my surfboard for the camera, as I couldn’t stop thinking about all the shots I was missing! I’ve ‘developed’ my skills over the past fourteen years… and the equipment I use!

Published Including

• Forthcoming, National Geographic
• Stand Up Paddle Magazine, front cover
• Carve
• Cornish World
• Pit Pilot
• The Real Surf Magazine
• Most national newspapers
• Local newspapers

Favourite shot: Mmm… I’m sure I’m not the only photographer who finds this is a difficult one! I do have a photo on my lounge wall that I took in 2007 at Triggs Point in Western Australia. This surfer just stood out for me among about 50 surfers on the peak… he was ripping and I watched him for ages.

Why do you love taking photos of surfing?  Well… my ninety-year-old dad has just bought a SUP so I guess you could say it’s been in my blood since I can remember. When I’m on the beach with my camera I’m in my element, especially when I’m photographing the Groms and witnessing their progression. Living in St. Agnes, I’m also on hand to capture RNLI rescue scenes, which are used to assist in training sessions. Other areas of photography experience include fashion shoots and weddings.

Experience:  I have been surfing since 2018 – such a newbie! I had my first ever surf lesson at Muizenberg Bay in South Africa and fell in love. I have always been a lover of the sea, growing up in Poole, Dorset I was a keen windsurfer in my teens along with kayaking and swimming. After moving to Cornwall in 2018, I soon became obsessed with surfing. I am now the proud owner of a gorgeous 8ft single fin, which is a dream to ride.

Qualifications: ISA Surf instructor Level 1.

Home Break: Whipsiderry Beach.

Fave Breaks: I have definitely fallen in love with Crantock recently! Yet to get abroad for some warmer weather surfs!

Other passions: Keen photographer with my own wedding photography business, lover of yoga and keen to combine the world of autism and surf therapy together in the future!

Experience:
I have loved photography for as long as I can remember. When I was about 5 years old I got my first film camera (It was a matching set with binoculars and sunglasses!) I took it on a trip around Nova Scotia in Canada and took pictures of the beaches we visited and of the dolphins and wales on our boat trip. I have stacks of photo albums in my parents house! I guess it wasn’t until I purchased my first DSLR in 2010 that I really started getting interested in surf photography. I could be seen most days on top of a cliff shooting local surfers, nature and sunsets. I recently purchased a water case for my camera so I can shoot right in the water, and its best feeling in the world!

What inspires me?
I love the sea, arts, colours and nature. There is something special about the change of seasons. The perfect day for me starts with a cold sea swim, followed by an outdoors adventure with the camera (walk in a field, mountain, woodland or seaside) and ends with an evening watching the sunset. Maybe throw in a couple of animals and then it’s paradise!

Favourite shot
That’s a very difficult question to answer for an artist! I think I have many I like when I first took them but I’m always chasing the next opportunity to take a cooler image! I guess the dream would probably be to live in a place like Hawaii where the water is warm, the sea is clear blue, some perfect waves, amazing sunset skies and some dolphins thrown in 🙂

Passions
Travelling, seeing the worlds, languages, human connections (family, friends…), the arts (especially dance, painting, music), protecting the Earth (especially from plastic/pollution), animal rights (veganism, rescues), swimming in the sea and of course photography! 🙂