Flying Fish/Boards windsurfing competition winner

Meet Natasha Wakefield

Tasha won the Flying Fish/Boards 2007 prize: a free place to train as a windsurf instructorwith Flying Fish Australia and Flying Fish Greece, followed by a guaranteed job with Club Vass.  Tasha writes:

My family are all sailors and I have always had a passion for the sea, sailing dinghies from an early age.  I did a degree in Fine Art at Norwich School of Art and Design graduating in 2002, but spent a lot of my time, whilst at uni, on the Norfolk Coast.   I have since been a sculptor in my spare time, creating some huge bronze and stone sculptures.

I took up windsurfing in 2006.  I did a day 'learn to windsurf' course with 2XS at West Wittering and by the end of it I was totally hooked. It wasn't long before I had joined the West Wittering Windsurf Club and was devoting every spare moment I had to being out on the water. I will never forget the first day I got planing. It was so exhilarating. I had decided by the end of 2006 that my ambition was to become a windsurf instructor and work overseas.

I saw the Flying Fish competition in Boards Magazine and thought that this was a chance to make my dream a reality. The day Amanda from Flying Fish telephoned me to say that I had won, was a day that I will remember forever. I just couldn't believe it.  I still haven’t managed to wipe the grin off my face!

It’s already changed my life and I haven’t even got to Sydney yet.  I can't wait to start my training in Sydney, windsurfing everyday in the hot sunshine. As for working at Club Vass for the rest of the summer, well that really is a dream come true.  And it’s all down to those amazing people at Flying Fish .....

Tasha kicks off with her Windsurf Instructor course with Flying Fish in Sydney on 16 March, followed by a Professional Instructor Development course with Flying Fish in Vassiliki.  She then goes straight into an instructor job at Club Vass. 

Use the links below to read Tasha's full story

Online diary - Final episode: a week in the life >>
Online diary - Starting work as a windsurf instructor >>
Online diary - Final week completing the course >>
Online diary - Week 8 Mastering the cowboy >>
Online diary - Week 7 Teaching at Club Vass >>
Online diary - Week 6 Tasha arrives in Greece >>
Online diary - Week 5 Saying goodbye to Sydney >>
Online diary - Week 4 Assessment as an instructor >>
Online diary - Week 3 Great wind in Sydney >>
Online diary - Week 2 Non-stop action >>
Windsurf competition winner goes down under >>
THIS PAGE - Meet the competition winner >>

How you too can become a windsurf instructor with Flying Fish >>