Youthspiration

2016 and 2017 UK Youth Wavesailing Champion, Ruaraidh Somerville, is an up-and-coming young gun with ambitions to be a pro windsurfer. Based in Glasgow, his water time is limited but he has an interesting take on how to stay motivated. Read on as Ruaraidh gives us an insight into the world of an aspiring fifteen year old wavesailor.

- Ruaraidh Somerville

If last year’s PWA Wave World Tour proved anything, it’s that the future of wavesailing is bright! At Pozo, in one of the windiest years ever in the history of the competition, the level of junior wavesailing shot through the roof. To me, a 15 year old kid trying to wangle as much time on the water as possible, seeing such talent is heartening. I’m not at the same level as the top kids on tour, but I’m inspired to push myself so I can be. With the rise of social media, finding inspiration and kindred spirits in any medium has become massively easier. I open up Instagram or Facebook and I’m bombarded with videos of Philip Köster’s latest insane double, the super late hit that Brawzinho somehow survived, or of the ballsiest crash of the day from Balz Müller.

In the past, if you did something in windsurfing, you were lucky if somebody got a picture and mailed it to a magazine. I was struck by a story from Kai Lenny, surfer / windsurfer / paddleboarder wunderkind, who said that somebody asked him if he ever surfs alone, because he always has a new mind blowing picture or video. Kai had said that it’s almost like in this day and age, if it’s not on camera, it didn’t happen. And to an extent that’s true. And while it may seem a little sad, for the youth of windsurfing, it’s the opposite. When I’m sitting in Tiree, willing the wind to appear, I can open my iPhone and immediately see the latest thing in windsurfing. I may only get to windsurf every few weeks, but thanks to social media I never lose my inspiration. The mojo never disappears.

INSPIRED