Blog #20 – school’s out!

Amazingly, even the start of the school holidays doesn’t seem to have brought an end in sight to this incredible weather… And so the summer of SUP heats up even further!

SUP school went from strength to strength yesterday, with two more scorching BSUPA Ready to Ride lessons up at Paper Mill Lock. Eleven new paddlers attended our Learn to SUP sessions with some great paddling in beautiful conditions. El and Dunc are taking this coming weekend off school too, as we’re off to a music festival, but our Learn to SUP lessons are firmly back on Sunday 5th August, throughout August and into September. Check out our lesson calendar if you want to join us.

It seems a while ago now, but we enjoyed really warm waters last Wednesday evening too as SUP Club hit Thorpe Bay for a full-on splashabout! On the end of the tide and with a fair sea breeze kicked off by the day’s warmth, we couldn’t go any distance – but 35 of us had a huge amount of fun and a lot of laughs on an upwind / downwind circuit, swapping boards, and literally splashing about in the warm coastal waters. See some pictures on Facebook.

As for this coming Wednesday’s SUP Club, a 1m low tide at 6.20pm could be workable – so we’re hoping we may be able to head down the Ray from Two Tree Island again, sea breeze allowing of course! As always, look out for the heads-up tomorrow and full call by Wednesday lunchtime here via SUP Club #19 and @SUPsect on Facebook…

After SUP Club last week, Friday night was Race Club – and an evening high tide and light southerly wind sent us up to Hullbridge where we found ideal conditions. First we recapped stroke sequencing and introduced our new ‘disco hips’ drill to promote attachment after the catch, then we moved onto cadence work and swapping sides with the paddle in rhythm, before finishing with some one-on-one drafting. We’re not running a Race Club this week due to our trip away, but it will be back every Friday throughout August – keep an eye on our Facebook Forum and @SUPsect page for updates.

Meanwhile, hope to see you on the water soon!