The Maldon family holiday that sparked an Olympic dream

Five years ago builder Dan Dixon decided to learn windsurfing with his sons Charlie and Rory during a holiday in Greece. Today, 18-year-old Charlie is a junior world champion with hopes of competing in the Paris Olympics next year.

Charlie Dixon had a nautical epiphany the first time he stepped on a windsurf board.

It was in 2017 and he was on a family sailing holiday on the Greek island of Lesbos.

"I was like, 'what is this?' and just would not get off it," he said. "I ruined my hands and my feet and everything because I would not stop windsurfing.

"I was like, 'this is it'. I was having so much fun. I was there waiting for them to open at up at 09:00. I windsurfed for five days straight."

This was no holiday romance for Charlie, from Maldon, in Essex. On his return to the UK, the family bought some boards and sails and continued to learn their new shared interest.

For Charlie, it was an obsession.

"I would finish at 15:10 at The Plume School and cycle as quickly as I could to the sailing club to get out on the evening tide - and was out as much as possible.

"I couldn't get enough of it."

Last year, he was crowned youth national IQFoil champion, the iQFoil youth European champion and was an iQFoil International Games gold medallist.

He was also both the iQFoil's world champion and World Sailing's youth world champion.

Charlie, who began sailing small boats as a young child, now hopes to be selected for the 2024 Paris Olympics team.

"The past two years could not have gone better," he added. "It has just got better and better and better."

Having just turned 18, he now faces a period of adjustment as he competes against adults.

This has included having to spend increasing amounts of time in the gym in a bid to add weight and getting used to the different equipment used in adult competition.

"I'm just getting used to it and learning how to sail it - we'll get there," he said.

"An Olympic gold medal is the dream."

Now in the British Sailing Squad, Charlie has entered the selection process for Paris 2024 but said with many windsurfing athletes still in their prime in their 30s, he hopes he has "plenty of time for it".

"I'm not writing Paris out of the equation, but it will be incredibly hard and if I did get selected it would not feel real," he said.

Charlie's father Dan said he was not just proud of his son, but had a huge amount of admiration for him too.

"He hasn't just shown how well he can handle pressure, he has shown great maturity as well," said Dan.

"He thinks about things as well, he doesn't just go as quickly as he can in a single direction - he gets his head out of the boat as it were and looks around and thinks about what the weather is doing, where the wind is going and which parts of the course are paying off.

"His achievements have been absolutely phenomenal.

"It has all happened in a really quite short space of time.

"Seeing him win brings a tear to my eye."

Charlie was recently named UK Windsurfing Association's Windsurfer of the Year and his success on the water has created a buzz amongst the 1,100 members of the Blackwater Sailing Club, in Heybridge Basin, where he trains.

Sheena Berney, vice commodore at the club, said: "Foiling is a spectacular sport and it's been brilliant to see Charlie out on the river progressing in the sport he clearly loves.

"He is dedicated to his training, regularly going out in windy and wet conditions throughout the year with his dad Dan and brother Rory.

"Charlie is a great ambassador for the sport, an inspiration to our cadets and adult members, and an example of what you can achieve with drive and determination."

Charlie, who is studying criminology at Colchester Institute, said he faces having to make some difficult decisions about his future.

"It is a big question - whether we throw all the eggs in one basket and we jump straight to windsurfing or focus and finish on my course and let 2024 slip and then maybe look to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028," he said.

"But when there's that huge opportunity in front of you it is a once in a lifetime thing. Is it right to stay at college and not be out in a country where it is warm and I can get some quality training in?

"It is a really big thing and I am still thinking about it today."

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