BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT
First off, we want to say bravo to some of the characters and unsung heroes on the UK windsurfing scene.While many key figures are on the front line, several of these guys are down in the trenches behind the scenes quietly going about their business and genuinely being involved and promoting the sport for all the right reasons.
DUNCAN COOMBS
Some say he was born in the ice age and invented the first windsurfer out of a dug out log, a bamboo boom and cow hide as a sail. Some say he invented baked beans and that he can out run a race horse over a hundred metres. Some say he was raised by wolves and lived in a cave in Brandon Bay for three whole winters. We all know him as Duncan Coombs one of the pioneers of British windsurfing and now the most respected wave and freestyle judge on the planet. Duncan learned to windsurf on Highcliff Beach back in 1981, was one of the early winners of Tiree and was one of the first Brits to compete on the World tour. Claims to fame include teaching Barbara Windsor how to windsurf, meeting Jenna De Rosnay as well as messing up the prize giving in Tiree one year after one too many drams before he hit the stage. A wry old character, like an old fisherman Coombs knows the weather, the tides and the storms and still rips it up in Cornwall when the conditions are firing.