Live Love SUP

Live Love SUP made its way to Montreux Switzerland for its second European event and boy, what a stunning backdrop we had to a great family event. Right on a beach of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva to us foreigners) and overlooking the tall mountains of Switzerland and France, the Montreux beach was an idyllic place to host another SUPer SUNday FUNday. It was a great event introducing families, children and lots of first-timers to our wonderful sport.

Montreux Surf n SUP Club were our hosts for the day and  together with our Live Love SUP Brand Ambassador Susanne Lier, they showed us a great time. Boards were donated by Hobie so thanks to them, we had several inflatable SUPs to teach people on. We started out with a lot of SUP introductory lessons to feed the hungry masses and Jen also demonstrated Paddlefit with some willing paddlers.

We also raised some decent coin for charity: water. Direct donations were made to join the fun and Live Love SUP donated 10% of sales of all our tanks, t-shirts, and hats that were sold on the day. Of course, as always, 50% of the sales of the wristbands went to charity: water as is the case whenever it is sold.

The highlight of the day was seeing and hearing so many people come off the water and talk about getting a board or joining the Montreux Surf n SUP Club as members to SUP more often. The bright smiles on faces from kids to adults was evident for all to see. We felt privileged to be able to share their first time with them and I know for all of them that it won’t be their last.

Thanks to Susanne and Enzo at the Montreux Surf n SUP Club for helping us out. Gracious hosts so when you want to paddle on a lake paradise, see them. They’ll sort you out.

Our first UK event happened last weekend with two stellar events that introduced people paddling and the Live Love SUP way of paddling: socializing and fundraising. Together we raised 99 pounds for charity: water. It was all arranged by Laura Scully our Live Love SUP Brand Ambassador in conjunction with the Central SUP Club of Tamworth and Nottingham and the Birmingham Inland SUP Club. Not only is she awesome in name but a fantastic example of the Live Love SUP lifestyle: an active and generous paddler with a positive outlook for life.

The first paddle was with the Central SUP Club of Nottingham and we would like to thank Stacey Smithson-Grey for dedication to the events on both days. She shipped around the boards that we were on and her dedication was appreciated!

A great group of paddlers spent some time either on the small lake learning or the more experienced  river being battered by wind and current before finally rain hit and we all abandoned the river for the lake. It was great being on the river and seeing and hearing a football game in progress. C’mon the Reds of Nottingham Forrest! Later in the afternoon we had a small relay race with all of the first timers willing to participate and have a go. Many of them surprised themselves and did really well!

The next day we were with Keith and the Inland SUP crew in Birmingham. What a great bloke and we thank him for helping with the organization on the day. His cakes were a hit and all cake donations were donated directly to charity: water. Good on ya Keith.

There’s a small reservoir sitting behind the city and despite the inclement weather, there were a handful of sailors and rowers out but certainly our group of Stand Up Paddlers out numbered them all. Afterwards, most of the paddlers went on a Birmingham canal paddle and was the highlight for us. We got into the city quickly and were paddling around the heart of the downtown for 1 hour seeing the city from a viewpoint that many have not.

Throughout both days, we heard so many stories of how people started paddling, why they continue to find passion in our sport and how they’re going to progress in the future. We shared the Live Love SUP story and lifestyle with them and were excited to have many new supporters!