Hannah Gray finds out more.

NEXT time you walk along the banks of the lake at Ferry Meadows, or settle down to a picnic on the shore, take a close look at the many sailors and windsurfers making use of the facilities – you never know which of those could be a future star.

Because just over two decades ago, a youngster named Nick Dempsey was on that very lake learning a sport which would take him all over the world, and earn him a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics and, hopefully, another medal in Beijing.

Dempsey currently sits in second place in the men's R:SX windsurfing, just three points off the leader.

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Nick is inspiring by his fiancée and fellow Olympian Sarah Ayton, who won gold at the weekend in the Yngling sailing.
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According to Nick's brother, Paul, who lives in Orton Southgate, Peterborough, the boys' father, Mike, first brought a windsurfing board for a family holiday to the South of France.

Paul (33), Nick (28) and their elder brother, Mark (34), all had a go, but it was Nick who showed the natural flair.

Paul said: "From an early age he just jumped on a board and was off. With his racing career, it was pretty much the same as well. He was good at reading the weather conditions, he's a natural sailor."

Barry Easom, who is the proprietor of the waters sports centre at Ferry Meadows, can remember a young Nick spending hours on the lake in the mid '90s.

He said: "He was very good. At that time there were three or four local lads who went to compete in European competitions, of which Nick was the youngest."

Former Orton Longueville pupil Nick had boundless enthusiasm to match his growing talent.

"Definitely wind surfing was his one passion," Barry said. "He'd be down every time the wind blew and he wasn't at school."

But while he was definitely a natural on the windsurfing board, it wasn't always plain sailing for Nick.

In 2004, just before he headed off to the Olympic games in Athens, he spoke to The ET about his early years, and revealed that he capsized several times and the rescue boat had to be called out to save him.

He said: "I think the men in the rescue boat used to get fed up having to keep coming out and dragging me back in.

"They would tell me the conditions weren't safe for me and that I should stay on land, but as soon as they had turned their backs I would be straight back out on the water."

As well as being talented, Barry Easom remembers Nick as being quiet, and a "nice lad" and it seems that has not changed, even after his Olympic glory in 2004.

Barry said: "We've seen him once since the last Olympics. He was level-headed, still a nice guy."

Just because they've managed to produce one windsurfing star, the chaps at Ferry Meadows are not resting on their laurels.

The watersports centre runs a junior windsurfing club for the next generation of Nick Dempseys, called Team 15, and two-day courses for both adults and children, as well as an adults improvers' club.

Barry said: "We've probably got 10 or 15 kids that are regularly turning up to race and we're looking to expand that next season.

There's some kids there that are of a quite a high standard.

"The more they have a go, the more we've got a chance of finding someone."

The lake at Ferry Meadows is 75 acres in area and five metres at the deepest point.

Barry said it is ideal for learning to windsurf.

"It's not big and intimidating. We can keep an eye on people," he said.

After Nick's triumph at the Athens games, there was a flood of interest in windsurfing at Ferry Meadows, and Barry said he is anticipating this will happen again if Nick is a winner in Beijing.

Meanwhile, his already stellar career is proving to be an inspiration for young Peterborough windsurfers.

"The kids pick up on the magazines and who's in them and these guys are their heroes," Barry said.