How long have you been involved in the
watersports business?
From the age of five to early teens, my family spent most Sundays
at Seasalter in Kent, I was playing in the sea all day and learning
some respect for it. If it was raining my dad would put up a
tarpaulin. If it was cold, we had a bonfire and had soup warmed up
on a brass paraffin primus stove – we were there in all weathers.
When I was 17, I was the best diver (out of all of my mates) off of
the upstream Desborough Island bridge into the Thames. (Yes, I
was once one of those stupid kids).
In 1969 I became a canoe instructor teaching kayaking at a local
youth activities centre. At the centre we not only taught the kids
to paddle, they also had to build their own glass fibre canoes
(under our instruction). In teams of three, each of the team took
turns in being team leader to build their own canoe and so on, no
canoe could leave the workshop until all three had been
completed. In this way they looked after their boat and were
responsible for its upkeep, loading and unloading it on the trailer
for our paddling outings which were often to Desborough Island
on the Thames, Marlow Weir and Cuckmere Haven.
I also started repairing kayaks and surfboards, which progressed
over the years to include windsurfing boards, sails, etc.
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In 1974 I became a Voluntary leader and driver for the London
Union of Youth Clubs four-week ‘Sahara ’74' expedition to the
high Atlas Mountains and the Sahara in Morocco.
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In 1976 I joined the British Sub Aqua Club and soon became a
club instructor and also qualified in BSAC water rescue with
‘in-the-water’ EAR (Expired Air Resuscitation).
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In 1979 I started windsurfing and soon qualified as an instructor.
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In 1980 I started the Blue Chip Windsurfing School and
retail centre.
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The RYA adopted windsurfing into their fold in 1983 and with
my printing background I helped produce their first
windsurfing instructor training programme (my company also
printed their first instructor manual). I also became one of
their first advanced open sea windsurfing instructors. Later
that year I opened the new HQ for Blue Chip in North Cheam
which became the Blue Chip Surf Store.
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In 1996 I gained my CAA paragliding licence.
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In 2003, I first tried SUP on a windsurfing holiday in Tobago
but it wasn’t called SUP then, it was just something to do
when there was no wind.
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In 2007, Blue Chip was the first UK store to stock Starboard
SUP boards and I started to teach SUP on the Thames at
Hampton Court, Molesey and Walton on Thames. As there was
no authority on SUP instructor training or teaching
programmes at that time, I wrote my own SUP school syllabus
and successfully trained hundreds of clients to SUP through
the Blue Chip SUP School programme and syllabus.
In 2009 I formed the Blue Chip SUPer Club. I soon affiliated
the club to the BCU as I am a firm believer that SUP is a
paddle sport.
The Club soon acquired 445 email subscribers for our
adventure and social paddle trips to all the places I had
previously canoed in and around Surrey, Sussex and London
and then some.
I started to post the Blue Chip SUPer Club adventure blogs on
a SUP blog site and before long we had received over 40,000
viewings. Shortly after the site closed down due to too much
traffic (nothing to do with me)!
I have taken the club paddling to Devon, Wales, the New
Forest, Portugal, the Netherlands and France.
The club paddles twice a week throughout the year on rivers
and streams such as the Thames, Wey, Mole, Ember and Arun,
all around Surrey and Sussex and in the winter we venture out
to take on the white water in Devon and Monmouth.
In 2009 we were the first club to paddle down the Thames to
Tower Bridge, logging our passage itinerary with the PLA and
the River Police in Wapping. On our London trips, we not only
use quick release waist belt leashes, we also have buoyancy
aids, throw lines and VHF radios. The tidal Thames is no place
for ill equipped paddlers or beginners.
In 2011 Blue Chip held the first ever flat water paddle race on
the River Thames, which has evolved into an iconic annual
event and grown into one of the largest flat water SUP
competition events in the UK with 204 entries this year.
2011 - the world recognised Australian based ‘Academy of
Surfing Instructors’ (ASI) decided to include SUP instructor
training in their portfolio and came to the UK. I took part in
their first instructor training programme and became the first
ASI fully qualified instructor in Europe and my Surbiton-based
Blue Chip SUP School became the first ASI accredited SUP
school in Europe.