WindsurfingUK issue 5 October 2017 | Page 31

WORDS: STEPHEN GIBSON PICS: AS CREDITED STEPHEN GIBSON IS A LONG TIME WINDSURFER WHO MOVED TO SUNNIER CLIMES BACK IN THE 90S. NOW A PERMANENT FIXTURE OF FUERTEVENTURA’S WINDSURFING SCENE GIBBO STILL RIPS AND ENJOYS THE SPORT AS MUCH AS EVER. WE TAPPED MR G UP FOR A NATTER TO SEE HOW THINGS ARE THESE DAYS. GIBSON'S WORLD I started windsurfing back in 1981 on a semi-frozen diminutive lake in the north of England, and since that very first moment when I saw those little ripples appear at the nose of the board I have always been hooked. I guess windsurfing is a sport which is incredibly addictive due to the fact that it’s always changing, always a challenge and one can never achieve perfection. I love the fact that it’s so difficult. My permanent move to Fuerteventura was a bit of an accident really. I left England in ‘95 to come to the Canaries to train for six months to prepare myself for the British Wavesailing Championships in Tiree and when those six months had run their course I simply never went back. Why would I? I was living the dream. 24 years old, every day on the beach, wandering around in boardies and no shoes and windsurfing every day. Why would I want to come back to England? Twenty-two years on and it’s still a dream. Before I left the UK I used to love our annual jaunts to Tiree and to me Fuerteventura is the same - windy, with a beach for every wind direction and super laid-back. But without winter jackets. I’ve ended up in tropical Tiree, haha. 29