51
DOWN
‘THE PARK’
WITH SIMON PETTIFER
WORDS: SIMON PETTIFER
PICS: ANDY STALLMAN, KEVIN GREENSLADE
SIMON PETTIFER IS A LONG TIME UK SLALOM COMPETITOR WHO’S AS PASSIONATE
AS EVER ABOUT WINDSURFING. WITH LONG LOCKS FLOWING IN THE BREEZE,
SIMON EPITOMISES THE ‘REAL WORLD RACER’ THAT MANY CAN ASSOCIATE WITH.
HOLDING DOWN A DAY JOB, YET STILL MANAGING TO SQUEEZE IN VALUED TRAINING
TIME, AND PUSH FOR PODIUM FINISHES, WE CAUGHT UP WITH SI P TO FIND OUT
MORE ABOUT WHAT GOES ON ‘DOWN THE PARK’.
I was super lucky with my windsurf beginnings. Dad was in the army so when we
moved to Cyprus windsurfing began around aged ten. Pretty much every day after
school was how things went (which finished at 1pm – awesome!). So, down to the
Dhekelia Watersports Club, sail all day every day – rinse and repeat for three
years. By the time we left Cyprus I was fairly competent. We then moved to
Gibraltar and even though I had to go to boarding school in the holidays I got
plenty of high wind action across the Straits in Tarifa.
uk
WIND
SURFING