Jamie Drummond is one of the UK’s top freestyle sailors and has started to compete on the PWA world tour. Whilst out in Vassiliki this summer we caught up with Jamie to find out a little bit more about him.
1. Name? Jamie Drummond
2. Age? 25
3. Tushingham, Starboard, Mystic, K4 Fins, Ocean Elements
4. Nomad/Fixed abode? A Londoner living abroad since leaving college.
5. Years windsurfing? 6
6. How did you first get into the sport? I originally worked as a wake board instructor in Greece and Turkey. I learnt to windsurf on my second season and quickly realised I’d found my sport and never looked back!
7. Favourite discipline? Freestyle
8. Competition discipline? Freestyle
9. Competition results? 1st Place Dahab Festival 2012, 15th EFPT 2011 Overall, 5th UKWA 2011
10. Favourite UK location? West Wittering – super flat water and waves all at one location.
11. Favourite International destination? Jericoacoara, Brazil
12. Plans for the next year? I’m going to be spending the winter training in Malta. It’s a pretty unheard of location but gets great wind over the winter and is warm too! Then next year it’ll be back to the PWA and European tours and working in Vassiliki for Ocean Elements.
13. What are your ultimate ambitions you want to achieve in windsurfing? A top 20 PWA ranking.
14. Best kit set up? 101 Flare and 4.7 Edge
15. Favourite move? One Handed Burner or Kono
16. Best windsurfing moment? Not the most extreme session ever but windsurfing with about 20 dolphins this summer in Greece was an unforgettable moment.
17. What gives you the biggest buzz in windsurfing? Strong wind, sailing with my friends and learning new moves.
18. Have you ever thought about giving up? Whenever I get injured I get quite de-motivated if I can’t go on the water or if I have to hold back, but as soon as I can give 100% then the love comes back!
19. How do you prepare before you go out on the water? Recently it has involved wrapping my feet up in a lot of tape and donning various knee and wrist braces, touch wood that’s over for a while! I’m always super keen to get on the water but I’m now trying to make sure I stretch before each session, it really pays off and cuts down on the chances of an injury.
20. Favourite food? Spaghetti Carbonara, err yea…for the carbo-loading?!
21. Drink of choice? Coffee or a good whisky.
22. Hardest move to crack? For me it was the Shaka, it took me about a year to commit myself to the rotation and I had a lot of horrific crashes on the way! But it was all worth it in the end.
23. Three top tips you can give to someone starting out? Get on the water whenever you can, even if it’s only 3 knots, get out there and work on some light wind skills. If you can’t do it when it’s light, you sure won’t be able to do it when it’s howling!
24. Other hobbies interests? I love skiing but it’s had take a back seat for the last couple of years as I try and spend the winters training. I’m a massive bookworm and a Blackadder and Fawlty Towers fan.
25. Three things people might not know about you? I’m training to be a journalist, I once shot Brian May from Queen with a paint ball gun and I’m a pretty nifty chef.
26. Describe your ideal session. Full power 4.2 weather, flat water with a few stunt ramps rolling in and sailing with the boys!
27. Finally if you had never got into windsurfing what do you think you would be doing now? Probably would be involved in some hugely inferior watersport!
