SUP Club Focus – Active360

SB / How much does your location lead the type of paddling that members do?

PH / We obviously don’t have a surf focus although there are opportunities for surfing on some of the trips we run – like San Pietro Sardina where we work with a local business called SUP Adventures. Diana and Mario who run SA are keen surfers. We have also helped out at the India Surf festival in Odisha for a few years teaching SUP there. We tend to stay on afterwards for a few weeks and try out the local breaks and explore Chilika Lake – the World’s second biggest brackish water lagoon.

Our main focus is on getting people started and established in the sport and encouraging them to try out the many opportunities and types of SUP out there. We also like long treks exploring places where little or no SUP has taken place like east Greenland and Iceland.

We have tried whitewater SUP a few times and think this has great potential. I’ve regularly used most of the Thames weirs for play boating for some years and have found that the learning curve for whitewater SUP is faster as I don’t need to teach people to Eskimo roll before they get started. Also there is no fear of entrapment in a boat which holds up learning for many people.

SB / What are the aims of the school over the next 12 – 18 months?

PH / We’ll be developing our trips and holidays to Sardinia, the Hebrides on the tall ship Lady of Avenel., Odisha India and beyond. Also we are planning the first Thames Source to Sea SUP Relay in September. We also plan to extend our canal and river clean up work to include The Big London Spring Clean in April. We have the new base to launch at Islington and will be starting regular trips downstream to Chelsea Bridge soon. We have developed a training scheme for Thames SUP paddlers with the Port of London Authority (called Thames Skills and Knowledge) We have trained about 40 people to Level 1 and will launch Level 2 in Spring. Once people have been trained to Level 2 they will be permitted by the PLA to paddle down to Tower Bridge.

We will also continue to be involved in helping the PLA to develop their “Vision for the Thames” a 20 year plan to get best use out of the river.

We will be developing the new base at Islington in partnership with Islington Boat Club and also working with Peak SUP (based in the Peak District) to develop a fun racing programme.

We managed to double participation and turnover in 2015 – still modest but we have at last hit six figures and hope to achieve the same growth in 2016.

SB / Is there anyone in the club that SUPboarder should keep an eye on over the next season or two?

PH / A few of our paddlers are getting into racing so we will see how this develops over the year. I think Sam (my older son) who has raced kayaks at top club level will enter some races next year and should do well.

SB / Do you paddle with anyone who particularly inspires other paddlers?

PH / I think the most inspiring people are people who have overcome injuries and illness to take up the sport – like Mo Beshir who paddled our Thames Marathon raising thousands to fight colon cancer while still in recovery from the disease himself. Also people like Mel and Michelle who paddled the whole length of the Thames not long after taking up the sport. They are now leading on the development of a source to sea relay which you will hear a lot more about soon.

SB / What age range does the club span, youngest paddler and oldest paddler?

PH / At our sessions on Osterley Lake last summer we had children of 5-6 yrs and adults over 70 taking part together. Our main demographic is people in their 30s – with 65% female.

SB / How would you describe yourself and role in the club?

PH / I’m a coordinator – and a networker. I’m always trying to bring in new people to get involved in developing the sport. Also I try to encourage them to use SUP to do good things – like raising funds for good causes and raising awareness of important environmental issues. Sport can be so much more than the some of its parts. It can bring people together to do and experience great things.

We have a wide and growing network of good partner organizations including Crewroom, The Port of London Authority, Canal and Rivers Trust, Thames Estuary Partnership, Merchant Square, 40tude and the National Trust. I’m always looking to see how we can develop existing partnerships and also to widen the network in mutually beneficial ways.

SB / What got you into SUP?

PH / I was attracted by its simplicity and versatility. I had been involved in kayaking on and off since being a student at 19 in Portsmouth. My favourite thing was kayak surfing and I could see how SUP worked on waves but is also fun on any type of water.

SB / Do you have any affiliations to a particular brand, what kit do you use?

PH / We are always looking for the best kit and this keeps changing every year as technology evolves. We really like NRS safety kit PFDs, waist leases, throwlines etc and their paddling shoes. This year we will gradually replace all our safety gear to NRS. We have a wide range of boards and paddles and there’s a lot of good kit out there so we try to just buy the best available at the time.

SB / Is there club kit available for new paddlers to try?

PH / Yes of course – we have around 70 – 80 boards across the different locations. These are a mix of air boards, softboards and fiberglass and carbon touring boards. We also have plenty of carbon paddles including our own design which we will be developing more in 2016. We also plan to bring out an expedition SUP in collaboration with a very well known person who paddles with us.

SB / Do club members have any other sporting aims, for example triathlon or SUPBikeRun?

PH / Some of our regulars have taken part in races including SUP/Bike/ Run and we have organised the SUP part of several triathlon events with Threshold Sports – an events management company. This is something we plan to develop over the next few years.

SB / If you had to describe the club as a food item what would it be and why?

PH / Ha – that’s tough. Perhaps dark chocolate my favourite food – Something that I can take anywhere and lifts my spirits and energy levels!

Paddling through the heart of one of the world’s largest cities might not be the most obvious choice for your next SUP adventure but with the choice of locations that Active360 have developed for their SUP schools Greater London should make it onto your SUP list.  

If you would like your local club to feature in SUPboarders ‘Club Focus’ series then please get in contact with us here via our contact us form or email Chris Jones at chris@supboardermag.com.