Largs Sailing Club member Natalie McWilliams has made windsurfing history earlier this month, after coming back to the sport from serious injury.

Natalie became the first female windsurfer ever to take the title of Scottish Windsurfing Champion at St Mary’s Loch Sailing Club in the Scottish Borders.

In addition, the 21 year old gained the 1st Lady title, a trophy that she has won on three previous occasions, as well as taking first place in the RS:X category.

This achievement is even more remarkable due to the fact that in 2015 Natalie sustained a very serious knee injury during a sailing competition in Palma, which resulted in Spanish doctors telling her that she might never be able to windsurf again.

However, after a period of five months rest and supervised exercise, Natalie made a full recovery.

Natalie first became involved in windsurfing when at the age of 10 her Mother took her to a taster course at the James Hamilton Heritage Park in East Kilbride, and she instantly fell in love with her sport. Since then Natalie has in the past been a T15 Ambassador, a member of the Scotland Youth Squad, and even became the first Scot to become a member of the Windsurfing National Youth Squad.

2016 has been a good sailing season for Natalie with her taking part in windsurfing competitions in Palma, the Netherlands and Finland, as well as various competitions throughout the UK, including the World Cup in Weymouth where she took 7th place. In July Natalie was the winner of the UKWA RS:X Class Mixed Fleet Cup event at Weymouth.

Natalie, who is a fourth year Geography student at the University of Aberdeen, trains regularly at Largs SC, and can be seen out in all types of weather throughout the year.