Historical Note

Whilst on holiday on the Greek Island of Crete during the summer of 1979, Terry Sculley, founder and Managing Director of Gwent Adventures, attempted, unsuccessfully to master the skills of what was then the exciting new sport of windsurfing.

On returning to his home in South Wales he purchased a board complete with rig and set about teaching himself to windsurf at the local reservoir. At that time, windsurfing schools were in their infancy and no proper teaching facilities existed in the area. Having never sailed, Terry had no idea of the principals involved in propelling a craft forward using a sail and the power of the wind. This lack of basic knowledge led to many hours of frustration and exhaustion, caused by falling into the water and climbing back onto the board, over and over again. Eventually, with perseverance and determination he mastered the skills necessary to sail a rectangular course and get back to shore, without the assistance of the Rescue Boat.

During the summer of 1980, Terry started to teach others how to windsurf but quickly realised that if he was going to be successful, he would need to be trained properly.

The following spring he enrolled on a 4 day Instructor course, administered by the 'International Windsurfing Schools' (I.W.S.). The course was held at Graftham Water. Having successfully completed the course he returned home and set up the 'Mr Terry Windsurfing School' at Llandegfedd Reservoir.

About that time the Royal Yachting Association became the governing body for windsurfing in the U.K. and the school became a fully recognised 'R.Y.A. Teaching Establishment' for windsurfing. A few years later, the school also became recognised as a Dinghy Sailing School.

As the school developed and became more diverse it became apparent that a more appropriate name should be found for the business. In 1984 the name of the business was changed to 'Gwent Adventures'.

During the mid 1990's Terry started to develop a programme of activities that were particularly appropriate for corporate entertainment and teambuilding events. The outcome of this development resulted in a new business being set up to deal with the corporate and social clients.The new business which works closely with Gwent Adventures was named Team-Build. Check out the Team-Build web site at www.team-build.co.uk.