Summer 2019 saw TEAM THOMPSON embrace a new sport right on our doorstep in Bangor; Stand Up Paddleboarding… though there’s usually more falling in than standing up!
I was delighted It started with a birthday present voucher for a course of five Stand Up Paddleboarding lessons (SUP) for me and finished with all five of us having fallen in love with the sport and a small fortune spent on wetsuits and an inflatable board (iSUP). The summer sunshine seems like a distant memory now but we’re still out there at the weekends, paddling away, falling in and having hours of family fun! The man responsible for getting Team T well and truly hooked is Iain McCarthy of SUPHub NI… Curious to know why the SUP explosion is currently happening across the UK and what he thinks the appeal is for all ages, I caught up with Iain back on land to hear his thoughts…
Q: Iain… Can you tell us why you launched the SUPHub NI school in Bangor this year and why did now feel like the right time?
SUP Hub NI has been brewing in my mind for around 4 years. There are a number of factors that came together to make this be the right time and place to start.
1. Location, location, location. As much as I love the north coast, it always amused me that people would head up North for a long weekend/holiday and undertake a series of activities that they could access locally. All the ‘raw ingredients’ are here in Bangor and the wider Borough of North Down and Ards. The area has so much going on (it just lacked a SUP School).
2. ‘Midlife correction’. I was looking around my former workplace, looking for role models, pathways, asking what I wanted to be/look like in years to come. I kept finding greater inspiration in our local community instead, i.e. Scott Riley of Causeway Living, Rachel and the team at the Guillemot, Chris and Jenny of Cairn Bay Lodge, Kim of the Kitchen Academy, Graham and Gayle Keenan of Live Love Yoga. All these people and more are adding real value to our community and I was very drawn to that kind of ‘return on investment’.
3. Safety. I’d been shocked by how many people I saw out in offshore winds, holding paddles the wrong way round or using their new SUP toy without a fin and wondering why they weren’t going anywhere. It reminded me of when I first started and picked up loads of terrible habits until I went to my first SUP event in 2007 and the paddlers were all giving each other advise on technique and kit. It changed my paddling entirely and I wish there had been more schools around back then that I could have gone to for that sort of advice.
4. I just love SUP and have done for over 12 years. I really couldn’t understand why more people didn’t do it? It’s so easy, accessible and genuinely fun for all.
Q: Why is SUP proving to be so popular and does SUP work as a ‘family’ sport?
Anyone who has spoken to me about SUP will know that I often liken myself to Bubba from Forrest Gump. The scene where he lists all the different types of shrimp you can have, that is me with SUP; there’s Social SUP, Race SUP, Surf SUP, Yoga SUP, Family SUP, Sunrise/set SUP, Moonlit SUP, Expedition SUP, Fishing SUP, SUPeoke (Karaoke on a Paddleboard)… the list is endless. I think the Family SUP has proven a great success at our school, giving the whole family time to safely enjoy the water together. Whether it’s just drifting around taking in the scenery and wildlife, or rocking over the waves pretending to be a Pirate, it’s a sport the whole family can enjoy and take something from (and lets face it, for the kids it’s really all about making their parents fall off the board!).
Q: I imagine you’ve taught a pretty wide range of ages… What would be your oldest and youngest SUPers?
We’ve had kids as young as three on the boards with their family, all the way up to one of our regular paddlers who is a sprightly 74! Age is no barrier in this sport, all we say is “plan, prepare, be safe and have fun”.
Q: You offer single lessons, five week courses, family sessions and even a children’s summer school. What was the reasoning behind the summer school this year?
Yes, I actually cried when we wrapped up the summer scheme in August. It is probably the thing I am most proud of this year. Quite honestly, I have three children of my own and I’ve witnessed the positive effect that Paddleboarding has had on their confidence in/on the water. I then thought how do we get this to more young people? The summer scheme was our first major step in delivering on this objective. A lot of thought went in to how we deliver on all points of the curriculum for the kids; we built an awesome team of experienced child care/education professionals and experienced paddlers. We were blessed with the weather that week, the whole experience was just wonderful, and inviting the children’s families to come along and join in rounded up the scheme perfectly.
Q: You did an epic challenge recently, SUPing to Scotland to raise money for the RNLI. You seem to have a strong set of values that you’re keen to pass on to your fellow SUPers regarding respect for the water and the marine life… Where do those come from?
I feel very strongly about the RNLI, I think it is an institution we can and should all be proud of. SUPHub NI has worked very closely with the RNLI as we both share the same focus on water safety. People forget that it is a Charity reliant exclusively on donations rather than government subsidies. I’m delighted we managed to raise just shy of £5K for them this year by doing a sponsored paddle from Donaghadee to Portpatrick in Scotland.
In terms of our eco values, we are constantly looking at ways to reduce our impact, working with our equipment providers on this too. We have also worked alongside local beach clean initiatives and generally promote the idea of ‘only leave your wake on the water’ much like you ‘only leave footprints on the beach’. The other value that we both promote and rely on in equal measure is community – a local community connected to the sea. There are both physical and mental health benefits of Paddleboarding, and we believe that the more a community can access that, the happier and healthier they will be.
Q: Any exciting plans for Year two for SUPHub NI to get more families out on the water?
We have a few tricks up our sleeve to showcase the many facets of SUP. There’ll be more of our core lessons and courses to help people get up and paddling. More expeditions, more kids camps, some race events and we’ll have some new toys for our members and guests to play with. Yes, you can travel the world and SUP in some spectacular locations, but SUPing in NI can be just as exhilarating with views to die for and family time on the water is priceless.
