Sarah Jackson is in constant evolution. Going from hockey fanatic, to full-time student, to windsurf athlete, she’s an inspiration for anyone out there who is wanting to make a change and needs a reason to make the jump.

We talked with Sarah about going for what you really want, how she wants to develop more women-focused equipment, female body diversity in windsurfing compared to the men, and the connected cycle of increasing prize money and visibility for female athletes with encouraging more women to windsurf. So let’s get into it!

Hey Sarah! Thank you for joining us. So, you are a pro windsurfer, who is now living in her van and travelling from spot to spot. Could you tell us about how you got here?

Well, most places I get to these days are on 4 wheels! But yes, when you say it like that I have to pinch myself – it sounds pretty cool doesn’t it?! I guess it’s hard to believe that I started out living 1.5 hours from water but I guess this is what makes me so driven to make this lifestyle work out. It’s not always straightforward and some months are tougher than others but I wouldn’t swap my life for anything right now.

You started windsurfing at 7 years old in Minorca, is that right?

Yes, so most pro windsurfers come from a family of windsurfers or grew up near a beach or lake – I guess my story is a bit different! I was 7 years old, stood on a beach in Minorca and saw someone windsurfing and thought it looked like good fun. My parents were trying to make me learn to sail in a small boat, but I just wanted to windsurf. I loved it from Day 1 and as they say, the rest is history.

I joined the British Junior Windsurfing programme when I was 10 years old and competed for the British Junior Team until I was 14. Unfortunately, growing up nowhere near the sea has its downsides and the commitment to the Youth Olympic programme was just too much when I was also trying to do my GCSE and A-Level exams. I still windsurfed for fun, but I stopped competing completely for 3 years.

What made you decide to dedicate your life to windsurfing?

I think it’s the greatest sport on earth – it is my job, of course, but also my greatest passion. It was actually a series of chance circumstances that I ended up where I am today.

The first was meeting the undoubted Queen of Windsurfing – Sarah-Quita Offringa in Turkey in 2011, this was a catalyst in my discovering the world of PWA.

Fast forward to 2015 and I was doing my instructor training in Vassiliki when UK windsurfing legend, Dave White, saw me blasting around and told me I’d make a good slalom racer. It was a nice concept, but where to start?! He invited me to come along to one of the British slalom competitions, lent me some equipment and I won the event! I was 17 years old, with 9 hard months of school ahead but I had found what I loved and it turned out I was pretty good at it. At the time I was also playing hockey for England, but I found I was skipping trials and training to be able to squeeze in slalom sessions, even in the middle of winter. Slalom was my calling and as soon as school was finished with, I made it my life!

You also graduated with a top grade degree in 2021. What did you study and how did you balance it all?

Going to University was a non-negotiable with my parents. They both had professional sport taken away from them, and the world of professional sport is cruel. One minute you’re on top of the world but the next it can all come crashing down on you with an injury or life just getting in the way. There is so much we can’t control, so having a backup plan has always been something my parents insisted on. What I studied though was up to me!

If it was up to my teachers at school, I’d have been doing Economics at a Top 5 university, but I followed my heart and chose the subject that I enjoyed the most – sport. When I was trying to choose someone said to me: “Just because you are capable, doesn’t mean you have to do it.” That resonated with me, and I have come back to it many times since – it’s my life and I will live it how it makes me happy, not everyone else. Once I’d left school, how many teachers actually cared whether I went to Oxbridge or if I became a beach bum – it’s purely a numbers game, but if you make the choice that makes you happy, you know it’s the right choice.

Studying Performance Sport was something I loved and whilst there were certainly tough times – being stuck in the UK in the middle of winter, 2 hours from the sea when my friends were training abroad was definitely a low – I thrived in the university environment and it also gave me an outlet of friends away from windsurfing, who are still some of my closest friends now. I loved studying and learning about my sport, even if I didn’t quite realise it until the final semester of my final year! I was surrounded by elite athletes from a huge range of sports, and as a sports scholar I was treated like a professional athlete (which is actually not so common as a windsurfer, as so many people do it as a hobby). I had access to the leading sports scientists, psychologists, performance lifestyle coaches and some of the best facilities in the country. Whilst I wasn’t able to be on the water, I learnt how to be an athlete, and the science behind it too, which is something I truly value today.

What advice would you give the younger you?

Work hard, work smart, believe in the process and be patient. It’s a philosophy I live by and I truly believe in it. I’ve had my fair share of setbacks, curve balls and tough times, but yet here I am, living the life that 13-year-old Sarah dreamed about. I believe if you want something bad enough you will make it work, no matter the circumstances.

So my advice to my younger self: follow your dreams, they will come true one day!

What qualities do you think make a great (female) windsurfer?

You have to be resilient, that’s for sure! The sport in itself is hard, any windsurfer will tell you that, but as a woman I would say it’s harder. The equipment is made by men, for men – sure it’s getting better, lighter and easier to use, but it’s largely designed and tested by 90kg, 190cm tall men! What they need and what the average woman needs is completely different. Now that I am working in the industry, this is something I am passionate to change. I am getting more involved in development and posing questions to the design team that they previously haven’t considered which is really rewarding.

Equally, the industry doesn’t treat us the same as the men – it’s something I’m tirelessly working to change, but the reality is, it’s not there yet and we have a very long way to go. So you have to be resilient to put up with all the rubbish that they throw at us – “we don’t train as hard, we aren’t worth as much, women’s windsurfing is boring to watch” are all phrases I hear like a broken record… yet I am putting in as many hours as the boys, and working a real job on top to be able to afford to live; I put more effort in to social media, writing magazine articles, organising clinics – but I’m still not worth as much as a guy who does none of that; they say women’s windsurfing is boring to watch – check out the most viewed videos of 2021 and 2022 on the Duotone channel… its girls slalom!! It’s incredibly frustrating but trying to change the opinions of the guys who have been in the industry for so long is hard, but just because they say no, doesn’t mean I stop pushing.

I think something else I’ve noticed with female windsurfers is there is no “one size fits all”. If you look at the mens racing fleet, they are all over 180cm, 90kg and stacked. The women aren’t. We have everything from tiny girls weighing 45kgs, all the way up to 80kg. Same with height and build, yet everyone is competitive. Why? To me its two fold – women can’t brute force their way through the sport so they have to learn technique, which actually makes them better windsurfers (don’t tell the boys that!), but also the one thing that unifies all windsurf girls is they love windsurfing and that’s why windsurf girls are so amazing!

Women are often not given the primary media coverage during events/competitions, and don’t get as much visibility. What are your thoughts on this?

I guess building on my point from above – it’s a really hard one. Its chicken and egg in my opinion. The standard of the women isn’t as high as the men, but how many women can survive purely off what they get paid by the industry just for their results (I know of 1), vs. how many men are paid well by the brands just to compete? So of course, the level of the women is never going to be as high, if we are all having to work alongside our training to be able to put food on the table. Whether it’s a desk job, coaching or modelling and social media influencing – the girls are working incredibly hard off the water just to make a living.

I’m incredibly lucky that I miss very few sessions because of my job and they are very flexible with me, but it also means I don’t work the most hours and I live completely paycheck to paycheck and some months it can be pretty tough. Of course, no one, men or women, is being paid like they were in the 80s and 90s, but the disparity between the men and women is atrocious.

How are we expected to perform as well as the men when we are also having to split our focus on so many other tasks? If the industry believed more in the women, I strongly believe the standard would improve – just look at women’s slalom, the level is increasing non-stop currently as more women are pushing hard to professionalise the discipline and committing to training full time. If there were more female role models, would it encourage more women into the sport? It’s hard to know, but is it not worth a shot, especially as the industry is struggling so much currently.

What do you hope to see in the next 10 years in windsurfing, and for women athletes?

In the next 10 years, I want to see as many women windsurfing as men. That’s a dream, but I want to see more women involved and I think we are at the minute. Every time I go to a spot, I’m seeing more and more women out and the level is high, often as high as the men recreationally! Of course it’s a hard sport, but that doesn’t mean women can’t do it. I think the equipment is lighter than ever now, so even for smaller women it’s much easier than it was 5-10 years ago, which I think is really important. We are an incredible community and I think that’s very powerful.

In terms of technology, everything is getting lighter and I know at Duotone we have some amazing things coming out in the new year – the innovation is endless and I’m really excited for the direction we are going in terms of trying to make windsurfing as easy as possible.

As for on a professional level, I want to see the next generation treated equal to the men. Maybe it won’t happen in my generation, but I am determined that the generation coming up behind me will be treated better than we are.

Finally, what activities do you have coming up in 2022-23 – any projects we should follow?

The 2022 season is coming to a close this week – I’m writing this on the plane to Japan for the PWA World Cup, which is my final event for 2022. After Japan it’s time for a break – the life on tour is incredibly intense as I’m always on the go, and also trying to hold down a job too. I have picked up some injuries towards the end of the season – there’s not much of my body that doesn’t hurt, so some time at home to recover is needed!

Whilst my life sounds pretty dreamy, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes and it’s a lot to cope with so I’m looking forward to having a holiday, seeing my friends at home as I have been home for a total of 3 weeks since January, and coming back stronger in 2023.

For 2023 I have some really exciting plans – I can’t quite share them yet, but keep an eye on my social channels as hopefully I’ll be announcing them over the winter break.

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