Becoming a professional sportsman is a goal a lot of us consider in our idle hours, dreaming of scoring a try at Twickenham, a goal at Wembley or even hitting a six at Lords.

Few people ever take these products of a boring meeting at work or a slow train journey seriously; they are idle fantasies, our paeans to a life less ordinary.

Other people show commitment, dedication and perseverance to achieve their goals.

Ben Howey, a 23-year-old from South Milton, is clearly one of the latter, and he freely admits it is a lofty ambition. Especially lofty given, as he freely admits: 'There's not a lot of money in longboarding so it will be a difficult task, but it is still a reachable goal!'

This laid back demeanour contrasts with the quiet resolve he has to make his dream come true.

Starting young is normally a help in sport, and Ben says he joined a Surf Lifesaving Club at Bantham at the age of nine.

Having two older brothers who also longboard gave him an easy way in to the surfing lifestyle, and living in South Milton the opportunity for easy access to Bantham beach.

Ben started competing properly aged 17, and when I ask how he knew he was good enough, he displays some more of his engaging candour: 'I had no idea if I was good enough, but I thought I would give it a try anyway'. He remembers his first event being the British Schools Championship at Woolacombe, but follows this up with 'and I don't think I did very well'!

At the moment, Ben is in his final year of a mechanical engineering degree at Plymouth University.

Not only is this one of the more difficult degrees around, it also demands a huge amount of time. Given he has just come back from Vieux Boucaux in south west France, where he managed to place fourth in the European Tour of Longboard event, I asked Ben if it was a problem to fit in his competing around his studies.

It is easy to see how the large amount of travelling he does could interfere with the academic side of things.

'Initially I was worried that going to university would mean giving up my dream of being a professional surfer', Ben said. 'In fact, it has turned out the opposite. I get a scholarship each year to help me travel to competitions and I am on a flexible learning programme so I can negotiate my deadlines.'

The European Tour of Longboard, in which Ben is competing for only his second year, consists of four events a year all over Europe, from which your best three results count.

Despite the scholarship from the University, and the money he gets from his sponsors, he says it is still difficult to make ends meet, and therefore will only travel to three of the events this year.

Luckily for Ben, the next event is at Watergate Bay in Cornwall, certainly cheaper for a Devon lad to get to than south west France. Ben is feeling optimistic about Watergate, mainly due to his excellent placing in the first event of the year at Vieux Boucau.

Ben is hoping that a better performance this year on the tour will lead to some desperately needed sponsorship, and invites any local businesses to get in touch if they would be interested in helping out.

The Watergate Bay event will also give him the chance to renew his rivalry with one of his surfing heroes, the Newquay longboarder Ben Skinner, who he describes as 'one of the hardest competitors I know'.

So with the two Bens going head to head once more, the scene is set for a showdown at Watergate Bay later this month.

Before I let Ben go back down to the beach, I ask him one last question.

Favourite break in the whole world? 'Well, basically anywhere I do well I tend to say is my favourite break! Canguu in Indonesia and Gas Chambers in Hawaii are both awesome, but, really, there is no place like home'.

Good to know the South Hams is still number one...