It’s no surprise that paddleboarding is the fasts growing sport in the world.  Anyone, literally anyone, can buy or hire a paddleboard and paddle off in to the sunset.

Simply put there’s no better ‘toy’ to make use of days at the beach, lake or river. We hardly need say it but SUP’s the perfect activity for all the family. It’s also one of the easiest watery disciplines to begin and progress with.

But paddleboarding’s success is also its downfall.  Precisely because it is so easy, many new paddlers have zero watersports experience. Simple stand up paddle boarding safety considerations that experienced paddlers put into practice intuitively, don’t even register with newbies. This isn’t a criticism. It’s just a statement of fact.

Padleboarding’s meteoric rise into the mainstream since Lockdown 1 has been accompanied with a massive increase in the number of SUP rescues.  Over 70 paddleboarders lives have been saved by the RNLI after being blown offshore, and there have been at least 6 fatalities of paddleboarders at least partly due to the use of inappropriate safety equipment.

We think all of these cases could have been avoided with some simple safety advice.  So we’ve put together a compendium of what safety advice you need as a new paddler.  And also more advanced SUP advice that will accompany you on your paddle journey from newbie to experienced paddler.