A PROFESSIONAL windsurfing coach was on hand to provide expertise to competitors at a recent winter camp.

Mark Hosegood, a World Tour judge led the slalom camp giving top tips and advice to the participants.

The weekend was run by the National Watersports Festival and the Official Test Centre (OTC) and it took place at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy.

Much to the delight of the windsurfers, the temperature reached double figures and the wind strength was about 40 knots.

The camp attracted more than 20 participants who were split into smaller groups to make sure that everyone benefited from the tuition available. The groups worked on mark roundings, race starts and survival techniques.

Tris Best, director of the OTC, said: “We had a professional coach and World Tour judge with us, Mark Hosegood, who remarked that he was mightily impressed with the local windsurfing talent we have here in Portland Harbour. Stars in the making, I think were his exact words.”

Talking about the aims of the camps, Best added: “The purpose of the Winter Windsurfing Camp is to simply provide a good excuse for like-minded people to meet and windsurf together, sharing in the pain and discomfort of losing feeling in hands and toes and laughing at each other’s expressions as the blood returns, once back ashore.”

The final camp is scheduled to take place on March 12-13 and is open to all windsurfers looking to improve their slalom ability and learn about race tactics.

For more details, call the OTC on 07817 717904 or email info@otc-windsurf.com