Mandy West is a photographer, musician and lover of ocean water sports; a past professional windsurfer and now converted Stand Up Paddler. She attended Hayling Island (UK Secondary School and met husband Steve in April 1980 when learning to Windsurf at Northney Marina, where Steve was the Senior Instructor.
A talented professional Saxophonist, Mandy has played in BB King's Blues Bar in Memphis Tennessee, played with Earl Gibson of the Sensational Inkspots at Hammerstone's Missouri, played at the Oyster Bar Missouri, jammed with Arthur Lee Williams and Chuck Berry's key board player, played at the 100th Anniversary of the Harley Davidson Motorbike in Memphis and played for Budweiser Beer in Arkansas. She also played in the opening line up for the Gloucester Blues Festival and more besides.
She has competed in gruelling outrigger canoe racing events in both Australia and Fiji and loves to be on or near the water as much as possible. As a sponsored Windsurfer during the 1980s, she raced for Elvstrom and has been a UK National Champion runner up.
Mandy was recruited as a UK Starboard Race Team Member for 2010 (Stand Up Paddle Boarding). During 2010 she competed in a variety of SUP events in the UK and won several events including the Dart River 9 mile event beating the UK National Champion by over a mile. In 2011 she was appointed the Academy of Surfing Instructors Secretary and Enrollment Manager UK and continues to take an active role in encouraging women into the sport of SUP, in addition, Mandy handles all of our on-line book orders and inquiries. Then in 2014 became a founding Director of the Water Skills Academy. Today she oversees the Management of the Kanu Culture Publications.
