As water temperatures around the coast of Britain turn up a notch, adventurers will divert their attention from the white-stuff to the wet-stuff in search of the water-sports on offer.

For some water-sport enthusiasts however, this is an all-year-round vocation. We managed to catch up with professional wind-surfer Chris ‘Muzza’ Murray, who certainly doesn’t let a cold and wet day get in the way. Chris has been playing in the open water since he can remember, holding on to big sponsors in a time of uncertainty while going from event to event taking silverware home. This is what he had to say:

Chris – what first inspired you to brave the British weather and start windsurfing?

I love the weather in the UK it’s so varied and gives you a surprise every day, it’s great. The windier and crazier the weather – the better! I started windsurfing with my Dad for fun at the age of twelve. As I progressed I continually tried more tricks than my friends and it was at my first comp that this rivalry between friends turned out to be great – I ranked top three in the UK as a junior and kept going from there.

Were the prospects of becoming a pro ever realized as a young windsurfer?

I think as a youngster you never know where you’re going and I remember in school a career adviser asking me what do you want to do when you leave school, I told her I wanted to be a professional windsurfer and she thought I was joking. Instead she suggested I become a fire man, haha. That made me even more determined to prove her wrong – she really was clueless, haha.

What are your best achievements to date?

The best achievement of mine has to be making it as a professional windsurfer, with the opportunity to travel all round the world having fun, its epic, especially during a recession! Best result is UK vice champion in Waves 2010.

How do you spend you’re time when you’re not sailing?

I get quite a bit of down time when I’m in the UK not at comps and I use this time for loads of other sports like surfing, mountainbiking, and snowboarding. I also work on promoting my sponsors as well as finding different ways to make ends meet feels – it sometimes feels like I’m spinning loads of plates at a time, haha. More recently I’ve been making videos for Adventure 001, videoing all their adventures for them, so far I’ve had a flying lesson and I’ve got a helicopter lesson coming up too, it’s epic.

Tell me more about your up-and-coming windsurfing tour operation you’ve had in the pipeline.

Well I’ve been working on Adrenaline Adventure Holiday with a company called Ocean Source – I’m running a holiday to a place called Hood River its in Oregon, USA. This trip gives windsurfers of all standards a world class venue to practice, there’s also epic mountain biking trails and a summer glacier ski/snow board park. So there’s a lot on offer at Hood River and it really makes the perfect action holiday. There are also chances to go white water rafting, get on some really cool hikes and the socials in the evening are awesome, check out our promotional video.

 More information

• Chris is sponsored by Tushingham, Starboard, Spartan Wetsuits and Franklin & Marshall.
• Dates of the Adrenaline Adventure holiday are; June 22^nd – 29^th 2012.
• Book by emailing bookings@oceansource.net or calling +44 (0)1243 374615.