Girls Rock. 

Pure and simple. Chicks are amazing. Fact. 

Three years ago (to the day, almost) we officially launched the FLOW site and set about encouraging more women into windsurfing. Today, whilst my regularity of posting on the site may have slowed, I can confidently say that women are on a roll! So please, indulge me for 5 minutes as I say thank you to some awesome chicks and generally big up the ladies. 

FLOW started with windsurfing, and although we have now expanded and are involved with various watersports, windsurfing stays at the heart. I have just returned from BWA (British Wavesailing Association) event in Ireland which saw 7 women compete for glory. The best thing all week? To see the girls ripping and the amazed looks on guys faces as a strong fleet of women showed exactly what they’re capable of. On the BWA we have seen an incredible rise in numbers, from 2-3 a few years ago to around 15 at some events, with the level of sailing increasing too. All of the women taking part are amazing, but special shout outs to: Debbie Kennedy, one of the most dedicated windsurfers I have the pleasure of knowing, Katie McAnena, for being not only one of the most ballsy windsurfers around but also one of the sweetest, kindest and loyal chicks around, and finally, Sam Bittner. Legend. This lady has single handedly started up and now successfully runs the American Windsurfing Tour, plus she came over to Ireland and showed the guys a thing or two. 

I repeat. Girls rock. 

Ready, set, SUP at Lagoon Watesports!

Girls just want to have fun, damn straight!

But it’s not all about windsurfing, thanks to Sarah Kingdom and Lex Balladon of Wide A Wake I have been tempted to learn to wakeboard (which is awesome by the way!). Both exceptional boarders, true women’s ambassadors and amazingly positive all the time, they have both done an incredible amount for women’s wakeboarding and for this I say thank you! There are so many women, across various watersports that I have met through FLOW that, to me, epitomise what women can be. Unfortunately there’s not enough time or space to list them all, but I do have a couple more that I would like to mention: 

I first met Kirsty Clark a few years ago, when she came along to a FLOW day at Lagoon Watersports with a friend to learn to SUP, wakeboard and windsurf. A natural SUPer, Kirsty is still loving the sport and is a qualified SUP instructor, passing on her wisdom and getting more people on the water. 

Lucy McCormick, the SUP Fitness guru. Based at Lagoon Watersports, Lucy runs sessions in SUPfit, SUP, windsurfing, wakeboarding and more, and is one of the most enthusiastic women on the water.

Tatiana Howard, the Hawaiian beauty. After years of emails I finally had the absolute pleasure of meeting Tati last year, and what a lady! Running the Butterfly Effect, windsurfing and surfing at Ho’okipa or shaking her thang at Samba, Tati does it all in style. 

Louise and Danielle of Sportsister.com, although we have never met, what these two have done with Sportsister is exceptional; thank you for your support of FLOW and women’s sport in general. 

Lisa from Nalu Beads, who make the most beautiful surf beads inspired by well known beaches and breaks. Nalu Beads have been another incredible support to FLOW and all the ladies, making sure we look gorgeous and can take a little bit of our favourite beach with us where ever we go. 

Love a bit of Yoga with Caroline Radway before hitting the water!

Thank you to every woman that is into watersports, sport, or just being active and getting outdoors. I don’t know about you, but I would rather be surrounded by strong, fit, fun loving, up for any adventure girl friends, than sit at home, eat a lettuce leaf, then shop til you drop women. Strong is the new skinny seems to be the ‘in thing’ at the moment, which although a little cheesy seems a damn good message to me.

A recent CrossFit convert, I have met a whole new group of kick ass chicks that are strong, determined and gorgeous to boot. The top CrossFit girls are insane (the good type of insance, just check out YouTube) and whilst I might not quite get to their level I’m definitely going to have a lot of fun hanging out and working hard with the girls (and guys!) at the box. 

Whatever sport you do, however you keep fit, active and healthy, enjoy it. Find something you love and stick with it; you will meet incredible people and achieve more than you thought possible. All the women I have met in the past three years are proof of this, so one last time, thank you all for being awesome. 

See you at the beach! Amy x