Jessica Crisp

Jessica is one of Australia's most consistent performers in the sport of sail boarding. She started sailing at the age of ten in a Sabot and was heavily influenced by her father who was part owner of the yacht Impetuous which won the Admiral's Cup in 1979. She was destined to sail - it runs in the family.

When asked why she chose windsurfing she replied “Windsurfing was what everyone was doing, it is just so much fun!” The turning point was at age 14 when Jessica competed in the windsurfing demonstration event at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. It was here that the burning desire to windsurf was set alight. From this point on you could not get her off the water.

The minute school finished she was out on Sydney Harbor learning new tricks.  By the age 15 she had won the ISAF Youth Worlds and the Windsurfer Worlds giving her the Australian Junior Female Athlete of the Year award. She became ISAF Women’s World Champion at 16, Mistral World Champion as well as adding another ISAF Youth World title to her name at 17, before she embarked on her professional windsurfing career.

In the early to mid 1990s, Jessica was one of the most famous women in the world of windsurfing. Twice, in 1993 and 1994, she won the Professional Windsurfing Association's world title. On one occasion she achieved this feat despite the pain of a broken ankle which she sustained towards the end of the season.

At the time she was acknowledged as the best all round female windsurfer in the world. But after breaking fibula and tibia, doing a forward loop at the indoor event in Paris, her professional career was cut short. Unable to jump and therefore compete in wave sailing competitions Jessica decided to try the less impact side of the sport Olympic sailing.

Now she is back for her third try to get the only title that has eluded her so far, an Olympic medal. A 5th place in Sydney 2000 and a 6th place in Athens 2004 is what she has managed so far, but something major has now changed. The Mistral windsurfer has been replaced with the RSX.

"The RSX is not like any other windsurfer I have ever sailed. I was a beginner again after windsurfing for 22 years". To make it even more exciting the racing is so different from the Mistral class, it is like starting a whole new sport. “Looking back on the World Championship I am quite impressed with how I went there. Everyone had been on this board for over a year and a half at that point, I had just learnt how to tack it properly a week before the worlds started!” So with only a month and a half on the board and no race experience Jessica shocked all her competitors by coming 7^th at the World Championships.

She is now setting herself up to improve on that performance to get selected and add the Olympic Medal to her collection. “My main motivation and inspiration comes from all the people who have helped me get where I am today. I compete in an individual sport but the truth is it is a team including friends and family who get you there in the end and I thank every one of you.”

To keep Jessica on her toes and balance her life she has currently moved from New York to Kuala Lumpur and is working as an event manager.

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