SHARK SUPs confirmed as sponsor of Great Big Paddle Parade 2023

The one-day event is open to everyone from those reasonably new in the sport to experienced stand up paddle boarders and has already seen hundreds of people sign up in the last few weeks alone.

SHARK SUPs confirmed as one of the main sponsors of the 2023 Great Big Paddle Parade on September 2nd, as part of a brand new relationship with Soak Lifestyle Ltd in the world heritage, UNESCO Global Geopark coastline of the English Riviera.

SHARK SUPs, a global iSUP brand, is proud to announce its sponsorship of The Great Big Paddle Parade 2023. Now in its second year, it is the world’s largest guided SUP coastal tour. 

As part of a newly launched brand partnership with one of the world’s leading inflatable paddle boarding brands, Soak Lifestyle will once again be hosting the epic World Record Breaking attempt as a charity fundraiser on September 2nd 2023, in partnership with the RNLI as part of their National Water Safety Campaign.

Head of Marketing at SHARK SUPs, Gemma Glover, commented, “SHARK SUPs is thrilled to sponsor what we hope will be the world’s largest stand up paddling coastal tour to raise funds and awareness of SUP safety. We are incredibly excited about working with Soak Lifestyle on this event and some really exciting projects in the year to come. The last Great Big Paddle Parade saw 544 people participate – and this is well on track to sign up a record-breaking 1000 people. Soak Ltd is an incredibly ambitious and exciting brand, and SHARK SUPs’ Constant Forward Motion ethos made us a natural fit to represent this exciting event. We see the sponsorship as an opportunity to continue supporting the growth of environmentally-conscious stand up paddle boarding on a global scale while simultaneously expanding our reach and messaging to paddle boarders worldwide.”

Sean White, owner and founder of Soak Lifestyle, said, “Our ambition when we launched this event was to have 1000 paddle boarders taking part in the largest guided coastal tour in the world to raise critical awareness of SUP safety, to raise vital funds for the RNLI Lifeboat and to inspire a generation of people to connect to their coastal environment safely. Connecting with a brand like SHARKS SUPs has been an exciting step for our business and the event. They are a brand that does as much as it can minimise its impact on the environment; they partner with The Shark Trust and their commitment to sustaining the ecosystems we enjoy paddling by ‘delivering high-quality, durable paddle boarding products, with sensitivity to waste at manufacture, and utilising recycled materials where possible,’ creating the most environmentally friendly paddle boarding products, fits perfectly with ours.”

The one-day event is open to everyone from those reasonably new in the sport to experienced stand up paddle boarders and has already seen hundreds of people sign up in the last few weeks alone. 

There are three designated distances of between 6km to 20km, leaving from organised positions around the world heritage coastline of The English Riviera. Tickets are just £15, and 100% of profits will be donated to RNLI. Led by Soak’s senior SUP instructors, each rider will pick up the groups at each location until all 1000 paddle boarders join in Fishcombe Cove for the official adjudication and one epic aerial photo! 

Sean added, “This event is designed to raise critical awareness on drowning prevention on behalf of The RNLI and all of us in the SUP sports community. If we are to protect the reputation of our sport and create a clear message that could ultimately save the life of someone we love, we must all club together and get behind the ocean’s guardians at The RNLI.”