2022 APP World Tour: British SUP Champ Blue Ewer joins the London SUP Open pro division

“If there was one thing different to anything I had experienced in surfing, it’s this competitive rivalry pushing stroke for stroke with the guy next to you, which I love,” claims four-time British SUP racing Champion Blue Ewer, as he prepares for London SUP Open, the 2nd stop of the APP World Tour on the 14-18 September in Canary Wharf.  Amidst the peak SUP racing season TotalSUP caught up with this super talented and equally busy (!), Devon-based rider, to talk about the upcoming event and kick-starting his SUP racing clinics across the UK and beyond.

Photo credit: APP World Tour

Hi Blue, welcome to TotalSUP and congratulations on your great results to date! How did you get into the sport of stand-up paddleboarding?

I am based in Devon in the southwest of the UK I live in a small village a 5 minute drive from the river and 10 minutes from my nearest beach, based about 20 minutes away from the city of Plymouth. I got into paddling through my family – My parents run a Reactive Watersports shop at home and have been into water sports their whole lives mainly as windsurfers and surfers before paddleboarding came around. But as soon as it did they jumped straight onto it and I was put on my first paddleboard when I was about five, six years old.

When I was younger I spent a lot more time windsurfing and surfing however as I got a bit older I realised I could get much more waves by SUP surfing and spent as much time as I could doing that. It wasn’t until I was fifteen, sixteen until I started SUP racing and even then I didn’t do any training or spend much time on a race board but found that all the SUP surfing I was doing meant I didn’t do too bad.

It wasn’t until I was seventeen and signed for JP Australia till I really fell In love with SUP racing. I found myself much more competitive than I was before and found myself being able to push some of the top British paddlers who I had seen miles ahead of me in the past, now side by side with me. And this competitive rivalry pushing stroke for stroke with the guy next to you was different to anything I had experienced in surfing and I loved it!

 

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Since then SUP racing has taken over for me and has been my favourite thing to do on the water! When I have some spare time from my training I do still enjoy foiling in the waves and on the wing as well as surfing with my mates as I feel I go crazy without the water for a few days.

The APP World Tour London stop – Could you tell us more about your participation in this event and your expectations?

So I have been lucky enough to get a spot on the APP world tour for the London stop this year which I am looking forward to as this was my first international event back in 2019 when I was 17.

At the moment I have no idea how I will do in London but I am very excited to see how I do as I have gotten much faster since the last time I raced here but also know the level of racing worldwide has gone up as a few years ago.

Photo credit: APP World Tour

I feel the top 10/15 of any international event were pretty predictable whereas now there are 30+ paddlers who on their day I feel could be in that top 10 so it’s exciting to see where I lay amongst the worlds best and I expect this will give me plenty of motivation for the Winter regardless of the result. I’m also exited to race against a lot of the younger paddlers similar in age to me as the new generation of paddlers across Europe in particular is now starting to emerge.

Photo credit: APP World Tour

Juggling work and training… How much time do you get to spend on water and train?

So my schedule is currently pretty hectic as I work full time 5 days a week at my family watersports shop. Although it can be hard balancing work and training working for my parents makes it much easier for me to get time off to go to events and compete something I will be doing a lot of outside of the UK next year. So before the 2022 season my training was pretty disorganised and inconsistent especially in the Winter months however I am now coached by Chris Bland an ex canoe racer who has now taken up SUP and he has been great, having a structured training plan has made me a lot stricter with my training and made me much faster at this time of the year I am paddling almost every day as well as a few runs and a few gym sessions every week.

 

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You’re running training programmes across the UK… Could you tell us more about it and your current SUP racing and training offering?

Pre 2022 race season, I ran SUP race clinics all over the UK as well as venturing up to Northern Ireland. My clinics covered most areas of SUP racing in both technical and tactical aspects, having clinics last about half a day this allowed me to spend time with everyone one to one as well as a group and it was great for me to share my knowledge with lots of paddlers around the country.

As you are probably aware the UK is not the most competitive country for SUP racing but it has a huge community across the country with plenty of SUP clubs and racers so I hope people like myself offering coaching and some guidance will inspire more people to get into SUP racing and hopefully one day racing in the UK will be more like it is in Spain or France with big names at every event and prize money up for grabs. I will be continuing SUP clinics after the season has finished and I have some more time to get on the road and visit some new spots.

How do you think the sport of stand-up paddleboarding will evolve?

I hope the sport will grow to a level where it is an Olympic sport and where it will be easier for athletes to sustain a career as a professional paddler. However before this can happen I feel different organisations need to come together and work together rather than compete against one another.

What’s your board set up?

At the moment I have a few set ups for different conditions, I ride a 22” JP Australia Allwater which I will be taking with me to the ICF World Champs in Poland at the end of the month as this is my board for ocean or choppy water paddling which has been great for me so far this year.

I also have a 21.5” JP flatwater for those flatter days which I will be racing in London as it’s a rocket on the flats. I will also be working with JP Australia in the next year on some new race shapes to hopefully make their boards quicker than ever which I am exited about.

Photo credit: APP World Tour

I also ride for Blackproject and since working with Chris he has been so supportive and I feel very lucky to be able to use the best kit on the water. I tend to use my medium Hydro Flow-X paddle for most paddling but use my Hydro Sprint-X for sprinting and some down winding too. With regards to fins I tend to switch it up between the Condor, Sonic and Tiger depending on the conditions I am paddling in but am lucky to have such a variety of options.

What makes a great SUP racer?

A great SUP racer is someone who is having a great time and leaves every ounce of energy on the water weather they are racing or just training, always giving it their all.

Photo credit: APP World Tour

Good luck with the race and the rest of the season. See you in London!

To find out more about 2022 APP World Tour, visit appworldtour.com or check out the full schedule here

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Follow Blue Ewer on Instagram 

*Photos courtesy of APP World Tour