In 2021, out of cash and and heading out of the sport, the naval architect had one last chance in rural Switzerland …

Half a decade since he quit the UK for forward-thinking Scandinavia on a mission to reduce the nautical world’s carbon footprint, and 18 months after dwindling money reserves prompted him to move the entire contents of his life into the back of his van, Sam Sills found himself shivering by a lake in rural Switzerland.

At an altitude close to 2,000m above sea level, Silvaplana is a popular tourist destination for skiers throughout much of the winter. Even during the peak summer months, temperatures barely trouble the mercury with nights ranging on a scale from chilly to glacial. For participants at the 2021 iQFoil World Championships – the headline event for a new windsurfing discipline that had been confirmed for inclusion at the Paris 2024 Olympics – not even the picturesque backdrop could generate much desire to hang around any longer than competition demanded.