What’s your riding style? Is it cruising and distance paddling? Is it racing? Surfing? Whitewater? Windsurfing? Maybe yoga? Whatever it is, Red Paddle Co has an inflatable stand-up paddleboard (SUP) for you. And if you’re a committed volleyballer or a Frisbee tosser, a shell collector or a photographer, the family from out of town or the girl’s weekend sort of beachgoer you’re forgiven if you, until now, have been confusing SUPs with surfboards and windboards. You should know that there’s a big difference – literally. Stand- up paddleboards are, in the words of CNN’s Health & Wellness editorial director David Allan, “something of a hybrid between a surfboard and a Venetian gondola.” Ideally for the typically-statured 180 pound male rider, a surfboard should be approximately seven feet in length while a windboard should measure eight-and-a-half feet. The average SUP, on the other hand, is 10-and- a-half feet in length – and for those yoga and Pilates-style riders out there upwards of three-to-four feet wide. Red Paddle Co.’s SUPs vary – significantly so – in dimension and purpose. There’s the 22-foot four- person Dragon MSL for racers who thrive on team spirit. The 14-foot Ride L MSL for families or groups of friends who want to share an adventure. The 12-foot-six-inch Elite MSL for serious racers 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 – and of course the 10-foot-eight-inch Activ MSL for yoga, Pilates, and fitness fans. However, the most popular board by miles is the multi award winning 10’6” Ride, the all- round board, suitable for most types of water and for a variety of paddlers. “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 oin Business in early June. “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.”
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2018 120
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