JC: How would you describe your job?
AA: My job? I am a professional windsurfer. I train and travel around the world to beautiful places. I try to improve to make myself happy and my sponsors happy. I’d like to be recognized as a wave sailor but I don’t mind being the pretty girl in the pictures if that is what it takes. I think shots of girls in bikinis help the sport and help the girls survive. We have an aesthetic appeal to the media that is different from the men. I don’t know if I will ever be an icon for future generations of women but maybe I can show some beautiful images that might make girls want to take up windsurfing.Obviously the most important thing to prove yourself is results and then when everybody recognizes you then you can play with your image more. It is tough to survive from windsurfing so girls have to use their assets to gain more coverage and exposure.
JC: Where is your home spot and describe a perfect day there?
AA: My home spot is in the north of France at a beach called Wissant very close to Calais. I was born in Lille which is inland in France about two hours from the sea but my parents moved to the coast because of water sports. My dad taught myself and my brothers to windsurf and I fell in love with the sport straight away. It is the same spot that French PWA sailor Jules Denel sails at. It can be side shore with nice waves but it can be a little bit cold that is why I spend a lot of time in Maui now but I still really love windsurfing at my home beach especially in the Autumn. I am lucky I learned to sail with my brother Arthur, we both windsurf and SUP together and the ocean runs in our blood. We share the same passion and are very close and take care of each other while we are travelling. A perfect day would be sick wave riding conditions, a decent windsurfing session with my brother, my dad and all my friends and finish the day with a BBQ and a beautiful sunset!
JC: Do you smile nicely at the guys so they let you have a wave at Hookipa?
AA: Of course! I try and do it sometimes! But a lot of guys in Hawaii are really nice and they let me have waves anyway; Levi Siver, Keith Taboul and a few of the other guys let me take waves which is really cool. The guys from Maui have a lot of time at their home spot so I guess they don’t mind sharing a few of them. Of course windsurfing is a male dominated sport as are a lot of extreme sports so the girls have to push their own limits and can’t be afraid of taking risks or hurting themselves.
