It all started when I was about 8 Years old not knowing what I really wanted to do for a Hobby, one weekend my dad decided that we would try a new sport called sailboards,  one evening he came home with, what I called back then a flat piece of wood, some sort of material in a triangle shape, a long pole and an oval shape piece of aluminium that according to the fixtures all fitted together to make a sailboard.  As you can imagine at the age of 8 and just shook my head and said no way.

Dad dragged me out most weekends saying that I needed to get into something and Sail boarding was the new up and coming sport. The days were cold and to be honest I really hated it. Eventually my younger Brother David started taking part and the whole family got involved.  My Dad and a few other sailboarder’s got together and started a club at a local lake called “West Pennine Sailboard Club” We raced evening Thursday night and at this point I started to enjoy this new found sport of “Windsurfing” I was hooked as I started to become very competitive.

We then joined the “United Kingdom Windsurfing Association” which hosted events all around the UK and as the years passed I finally got my dream of becaming the UK National Raceboard Champion, and with ths success followed Sponsorship, Whilst sailing around the country I came across a place called Rutland Water this is where I found my true love Valerie. We got married a few years later in Aug 2001 In a lovely Church in Lancashire.

I have since gain many more championship titles, however becoming World Champion in 2002 at Largs in Scotland was just amazing, and soon after that I became a dad for the first time as Paige was born 21st Feb 2002 My life could not get any better. I started helping out the Royal Yachting Association as a coach helping teach windsurfing to the up and coming youngsters which included some of our Olympic Sailors today.

In 2007 I slowly came out of the competitive side of windsurfing just windsurfing for fun, this gave me the opportunity to take up other interests I had, such as poetry, I loved to write poems, which help me express myself, I then started to paint and before you knew it I could not put the brushes down.

Thank You to my Cousin Lesley Porter and a very close friend of the family Alan Hawkins, They both have amazing talents and it was both of them who inspired me to take my inspirations further.

Once I realised that I could paint, I needed new ideas my lovely Wife Valerie brought me my first Nikon D80 camera in the Christmas of 2006 and I soon got started, taking pictures my new passion “photography” I started taking photo’s at family venues, my daughter’s as she grow up along with friends Birthdays, Weddings,holidays and just walks out.

To this day I still Windsurf and I am slowly coming back to my competitive form wining the 2010 Inland and National Championships.

A Big Thank you to my sponsors Demon Sails & Starboard, With my Windsurfing, Painting, Creative Writing, Photography and of course my Family who I love and cherish I have a perfect Life Style I really cannot thank those enough who have inspired me in all that I do so as an appreciation I would like to share it with you and the rest of the world.

Thank You.