But they can. Thanks in part to their Tech Air manufacturing processes and MSL board construction – an industry-leading process that is overseen at the company’s private facility – Red Paddle Co is the SUP brand to beat. The benefits of the “MSL Fusion process,” Meakin explained, are numerous. “We’re the only company in the world making inflatable SUPs this way. Our process gives you a lighter but stable SUP, greater stiffness at lower pressures which means less pumping and more paddling, enhanced durability, and a superb, second-to- non cosmetic finish – our boards look cleaner and smoother than anything you’ll find out there.” “We’re always asking how we can bring customers into the brand, into the sport.” As the torchbearer for what’s become a globally- embraced competitive and leisure sport, the Red Paddle Co business model continues to set high industry standards. “We’re always asking how we can bring customers into the brand, into the sport,” Meakin explained. “That means, by extension, that our customer service is really important to us. If a prospective stand-up paddleboarder or an established stand- up paddleboarder reads about us, reads about the sport in a magazine or sees the sport on TV or the internet, we need to be ready to take that call, to answer their questions, and bring them through.
in the 12’6” Class. The eight-foot-ten-inch Whip MSL for surfers who want to take their ride all over the world. The 10-foot-seven-inch Windsurf MSL for windsurfing beginners looking for the perfect way into the sport. In total they have 25 different ones to help you get out on the water and explore the world. “We always tell customers that inflatable is unbeatable when it comes to stand-up paddle boards.” “We always tell customers that inflatable is unbeatable when it comes to stand-up paddle boards,” the GM of the Red Paddle Co, Andrew Meakin, said when he spoke with Spotlight on Business. “The most important thing for us is really the customer’s experience with their boards. We want them to know that our inflatable SUPs are the stiffest, the most durable, and more importantly the most reliable out there – plus, they deflate, roll-up and they’re easy to transport even by hand or on your back to remote locations. I think that we are looking at the paddle boarding world differently than anyone else out there. We want to be able to connect people to the water in whatever way they envision.” Red Paddle Co first hit the water in 2008 in the UK as “a bit of an idea,” Meakin said a chuckle from his Vancouver office. “The sport was new when our co-founder John Hibbard brought the idea of an inflatable SUP to a fledgling market and a lot of people thought it was a silly idea. No one dreamed that a board that required an air pump and can be carried in a suitcase-size travel bag would be able to withstand lakes and rivers – let alone the ocean.”
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • AUGUST 2019
89 AUGUST 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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