3 x Kitesurfing World Wave Champion
Nationality – Welsh
Age - 30
Sponsors – Animal, North, ION.

Welsh Born Water women Kirsty Jones from the Carmarthenshire countryside was drawn to the sea as soon as she could walk.

Kirsty started sailing dinghies with her Dad from the age of three whilst on holiday on the Pembrokeshire coast and then at the age of 16 she discovered windsurfing and surfing and became hooked on the energy of the wind and waves.

Kirsty knew straight away she wanted to follow her passion and had a far off ambition to become a professional windsurfer and travel the world.

Kirsty started working at a water sports centre in West Wales during her school holidays so she could be close to the sea and began to train as a windsurfing, sailing and surf instructor.

After school she began teaching straight away at the water sports centre in west Wales to gain experience, then went on to run a water sports centre on the west coast of Ireland. During the colder winter months Kirsty would travel to warmer waters around the world in search of wind and waves, hoping to fulfill her dream to become a professional windsurfer.

Since then Kirsty has turned her far off dream into reality and competed in the World Windsurfing Championships, surfed for the Welsh team in the Europeans and achieved much success at both sports on a national level.

Her passion for windsurfing and surfing led her to try kitesurfing in 2001 whilst out in Hawaii training to do the windsurf world tour.

In her first few months of kitesurfing she began competing on the British circuit and at the end of her first year became Ladies British Kitesurfing Champion and set up a successful kitesurfing school in West Wales with fellow Professional Kitesurfer Ben Hanbury.

In September 2002 Kirsty inspired a new trend in kitesurfing and became the first person ever to Kitesurf from Ireland to Wales, a journey of 85miles. She did this solo, non-stop, and rose over £5000 for A Children’s hospice called Ty-Hafan.

In Kirsty’s first ever kitesurf world cup event she achieved 2nd place in the freestyle and then went on to win the PKRA Kitesurfing World Wave Championships in Brazil. She holds three British Champion Titles and won the Red Bull Master of the Ocean title in Dominican Republic where she competed against the men in surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing.
In November 2008 Kirsty won every stage of the KPWT Wave Masters World tour and became Kitesurf World Wave Champion, which she recently went on to claim again in 2009.

On May 13th 2006 Kirsty pushed the limits of kitesurfing to a new level and completed a world first epic kitesurf crossing of 140 miles from the Canaries to the Western Sahara, Morocco, land to land, Solo. It took nine hour’s, non -stop and she raised money and equipment for a disabled Charity in the Sahara. Kirsty also set up a small windsurfing and surfing club for the local people in this remote Saharan village, by donating equipment and teaching them to windsurf, surf and introducing them to kite flying and kitesurfing.

Kirsty is sponsored by Animal, North and ION and in between her commitments and adventures as a full time professional kitesurfer, chasing the wind and waves around the world, Kirsty comes home to her roots in Wales where she can be seen driving her Animal VW van down the beach.