With a Mechanical mind Simon approaches his sports with an enjoyment of setting up his gear to a crazy high level of use-ability. With a mindset of wanting to know how something works and how to make it better, whether it be windsurf, mountain biking or the fantastic kitesurfing, Simon is continually developing kiteboards to perform for every level of kitesurfer. Testimonial to that aim is Nomad continuing to be the number 1 kitesurf custom board company in the world for the last 24 years...
The Heart of Nomad
Personal
Simon saw the light of day and grew up in Lancaster, England, far away from the warm winds and beach life, but while that keeps him from slapping a “Born & Raised” on his bumper, he sure comes pretty close to the definition of Surf lifestyle. Let us explain why by having Simon give us the low down.
At last after finishing my engineering studies at British Aerospace i moved to Tarifa to pursue a passion for windsurfing and surfing. Having started windsurfing at a young age and all ready building my own boards Tarifa was a playground in Paradise . Today 32 years later with 22 years of kiting under my belt i am between the factory in Germany and testing in Tarifa my second home. I never miss the opportunity for time on the water and a good blast on a twintip 9m style. Here's a quick look at my daily routinue in Germany.
7 AM Wakey Wakey. Time to step out of bed and prepare for a day in kitesurfing. Since paradise comes at a price, I’ll usually get right to the computer and do emails, along with breakfast and some coffee, till about 8 AM.
8:30 AM At the office and the shaping room till about 12:30 (a coffee or two and good music - Jimi Hendrix). Maybe some bullshitting with different friends passing by… skateboarders… the team… random customers. Then I’m in for a small kind of lunch.
1 PM At the Lake either windsurfing, paddleboarding, skateboarding and of course kiting… obviously testing new bits and pieces-shapes… .
5 PM Back in the factory preparing the laminations for the day, epoxy resin and carbon fibre for a couple of hours.
7:30 PM At home. Shower. Dinner with friends or my girly!!! Later towards the night I might be designing some more on the computer. Final emails.
10:30 PM Lights out. Dreaming of travel. Clean barrels, clean waves and warm water. Do it all over again.
Confidence inspiring performance
The Combination
Professional
What makes Simon so unique is the combination of talents and assets he carries under his belt. He has progressed from a threat on the water in both windsurfing and kitesurfing to a dominating force in the shaping room. Of course, what we’re getting at is that he is THE OUTSTANDING SHAPER of today, but let’s dig a little deeper and dissect just why that is.
TESTING A vital factor in being not just good but excellent in what you create is your ability and frequency of using or performing your creation yourself and DEVELOP A BLIND UNDERSTANDING for the smallest details in shape and flex. You can sit and simulate something all day long, but if you don’t find out whether it works in the real world or not, all the most eleborated therory isn’t going to do you or your customers any good. Simon has an incredible passion for kiting , dedicated to massive jumps on rolling swell and high speed board control. He calls it research and development, and we’ll just leave it at that.
LOCATION Simon has lived 26 years in the European center of kitesurfing -TARIFA- There is no substitute for that when it comes to developing anything water-sport. Some of the BEST CONDITIONS ON THE PLANET can be found right there all year long. Today producing test boards in Germany and regular trips back to Tarifa guarantee Nomad has its eye very much on the ball.
CNC Access to computerized reproduction machines is just as priceless as it is MANDATORY IN TODAY’S WORLD. How else can you produce board after board with 0.01mm of precision. Every Nomad rider has his or hers 3D shaping file, with rider feedback these files give Nomad an enormous database of what works.
YEARS As with everything, the longer you do it the better you get at it. Simon has been shaping since the early Nineties starting with windsurfing and then creating Nomad on DAY 1 of kitesurfing. The first builder to use the now industry standard of "snowboard construction" and the first to apply flex in kiteboards. The first list goes on forever, check your history books and the word Nomad is painted red.
