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7 Nights, 8 Days at Sea: Brendon Prince embarks on an extreme educational SUP journey for a greater good

Brendon Prince, extreme adventurer, water safety & ‘blue mind’ crusader, World Record holder (8 WR to date!) and Blackfish Paddles Team Rider, is heading back to the sea! This time for 7 days and 8 nights of unsupported paddling and sharing educational content along the way to raise awareness for water safety. This World Record attempt is planned for the 25 July on the  World Drowning Prevention Day, and will start in Torquay Harbour, UK.

TotalSUP caught up with Brendon to find out more about the challenge and what’s needed to drive a real change to prevent accidental drownings across the globe.

Hi Brendon, welcome back to TotalSUP! We’re catching up ahead of your next unsupported challenge and a World Record attempt – 7 Nights x 8 Days at Sea. What’s the drive behind it?

Do you know what, this is a test or I suppose just to see what can be done on the type of board that I’ve got, which is the LIVE Watersports Expedition L4 double hull board with extra ability to carry weight. You know what, if you can spend seven nights and eight days on a board and set a record then there’s a potential of making some big crossings or doing some big paddles with that in mind. So there’s a motivation between testing myself and of course, it’s ignited lots of people’s imagination to a record attempt and all that I’m about which in the end gives greater publicity to water safety and more people will speak to me in interviews. So yeah, there’s a mixed bag of what’s behind the 7 Nights 8 Days at Sea challenge.

How does the 7 Nights 8 Days at Sea attempt work?

I’m leaving on the 25th of July, which is World Drowning Prevention Day, at noon from Torquay Harbour. And the idea is, unlike anything else I’ve ever done before, it’s all about the journey, not the destination. I’ve always had to get somewhere as fast as I could before and whereas this is all about that journey, so I’ll leave Torquay and who knows what direction I’ll be going, sometimes I’ll go with all the conditions, tide, winds, etc. Other times, I’ll put myself against it, to sort of demonstrate, and that’s a big thing of this whole time that I’ve got out there to demonstrate how best to paddle with conditions and against conditions, to show what it’s like with certain types of winds, certain types of currents, paddling around headlands, paddling in all different scenarios, where I’ll have the time for once to talk through it and show and demonstrate what I’m doing because I’d be videoing as much and sharing as much as possible on the water.

So the distance who knows, you know, wouldn’t it be great to get to the other city? Some of that but prevailing conditions might take me to Isle of Wight! You can go a long way in seven days but I’ve got to take everything with me so I can’t refuel anyway, so I’m going to take all the food, all the water, everything with me for the entire seven nights, eight days and and that’s all part of it -how much can you take with you. If there’s sunny conditions, I’ll be using four or five litres of water a day, so I’ll have enough for my seven nights, eight days. Wouldn’t it be great if going out and I can actually get back to Torbay within that time or I might be somewhere miles away. I could be in France, who knows?

Why the extreme? We’re always interested to know what motivates endurance paddlers to… endure the pain?

Why the extreme? Do you know what, one person’s extreme is another person’s day to day. I learned that with my paddling in my early years, with kayaking or climbing or mountaineering or different activities. I did what I thought was extreme but there was always somebody that just seemed to be there doing their day to day. And for me spending seven nights paddling is kind of a dream week. So as I say, one person’s extreme is another person’s kind of day to day so I’m not belittling it in any way. I’m just saying that. You know, for me to be able to paddle to be out there for that time and experience what a 24-hour cycle on the water is like repeatedly. You know, I’m really excited about how that will benefit my paddling, how that will benefit what I’m trying to teach and show others and show good example.

You’re setting of on the 25th July, World Drowning Prevention Day…Based on the UN report “Drowning is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide, accounting for 7% of all injury-related deaths.” You work tirelessly with your charity Above Water in your prevention efforts. What are the key factors that could drive real change?

Basically I put everything that I do into efforts to reduce accidental drowning in this country and on Planet Earth. So, when it comes to key factors that could drive real change, for me, it’s all about education. It’s trying to teach the children of today to be the wise, educated paddlers of tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the paddlers of today, were never taught water safety when they were children. So we are up against it to try convert and help the people that are today but the children tomorrow really are our future and we are all about in this country and around the world about promoting Blue Space. We want people to get out there, off their screens and enjoy our natural world, whether it be water or land, but we don’t give them necessarily the ammunition, understanding,  knowledge to do that safely. And water in certain conditions can be dangerous.

We should be teaching and helping children now to understand all those basics. A simple message, a message we teach through the Above Water Charity, which is we call it our Blue Cross Code, which is stop, look, listen, float, it’s about as easy as it gets. So whenever you get near water, you stop, take time to look around, to see what conditions are there, what dangers are there. Take time to stop, look and then listen to people that are either experienced or who are just coming off the water or lifeguards to know whether it’s safe to go out there. And if all goes horribly wrong, then understanding that floating to survive when you’re on the water is really beneficial to obviously stop things like cold water shock, to stop you panicking or making irrational decisions.

Let’s face it, most of the time the people who drown are on their own, make irrational decisions because they panic because they are as they believe in dire situation. So floating on your back is a great way of getting your body acclimatised, understanding the dangers you’re in to make sensible decisions to get out and make a safe exit.

‘8 million paddle strokes’ done during The Long Paddle with Blackfish Paddles Andaman – Is that again your paddle of choice?

I’m going to take two paddles, a two piece Andaman which is my spare paddle which I need as without a spare one that would be the end of it. So I will take two paddles with me, a two piece Andaman and then I’m either going to take a one piece too or I might go for the Salish – I have not fully decided yet. With the power that you need to propel the board that I’m using with over 200 kilogrammes of weight on (including me) I’m not quite sure whether I want the bigger blade, which obviously puts pressure on the shoulders, or the smaller blade that puts less pressure. So I’m still deciding but one of those two Blackfish  paddles for sure.

You have just launched a new website with some unique opportunities such as the SUPexperience and SUPadventure with you…

I’ve put out a new website for for lots of reasons of promotion and that does include the SUP experiences and SUP adventures with me, which is not about teaching. It’s about going on an experience or an adventure of which the people who are coming are all part of that adventure. And it’s learning through practical demonstration, learning through experiencing it, but because you’re with me I’ll make sure that you are within your own ability levels.

It’s a guided way of getting more people to understand, actually, how awesome it is to paddle around the corner, how awesome it is to have a real paddle experience or adventure, but understand how to do that safely. And most people don’t understand because they don’t know what they don’t know, how things can go completely wrong.

Going around a simple headland, for example. So by experiencing it and adventuring it with me, they are part of the experience, they are part of what we’re achieving and that’s a great medium to teach people, to show people, to demonstrate people because they’re part of it.

Having spent 25 years teaching children, you can tell a child what to do and some children will listen to that but  if you really show a child what to do, you can engage more. If you actually show the child with them involved with what’s being taught that hits 100%. That’s my way of doing things and I just want people who are thinking that they want to perhaps enjoy an adventure, an experience or progress they’re paddling to the next level, to come with me – we can test them and go through that experience safely because I’m there to manage that risk. So yeah, that’s what this is all about. I’m already getting some great feedback on the website – it’s a start of the journey in a direction of promoting stand-up paddleboarding for so much goodness, blue space and personal health and happiness.

SUP Twelve is back for 2024 – Could you share some more details?

Yes, it’s back for 2024. We’re just trying to confirm dates with everybody that’s involved and obviously tides. So yeah, super stoked for September 2024, we will have Team relays involved plus the traditional single person relays. But we’re really excited as we’ll also have junior races. So whilst the SUP Twelve is going on and everyone’s doing their thing, we can have some junior, little races, which might be 12 minutes to engage our youth in Torbay and anyone who wants to come down. It’s about getting them involved in a bit of racing because it’s so important to get them seeing what it’s all about, from an early age.

So who am I? How many laps are very small course. Can you do in 12 minutes, you know, that type of thing to engage our youth in Torbay and anyone who wants to come down to get them involved in a bit of racing because it’s so important to get them seeing what it’s all about, from an early age. So some junior races, categories for winners and just really, you know, after the success 2023, we’ve got a great platform to build on for 2024.

Thank you so much for your time Brendon and an inspiring chat. Good luck with the challenge and we’ll be tuning in to check on the progress!

Follow Brendon Prince on Instagram and Facebook 

To find out more about Above Water, visit abovewater.org 

To find out more about The Long Paddle, visit thelongpaddle.co.uk

To find out more about Blackfish Paddles and their progressive, refined, handcrafted designs, visit blackfishpaddles.com

Explore Blackfish new fin range here  

*Images courtesy of Brendon Prince 

About the Author

Anna Nadolna

Anna is the Founder of SUPer Whale, a Cambridge(UK!)-based emerging watersports brand and a stand-up paddleboarding community. She is a certified SUP Flat Water Instructor accredited by International Surfing Association (ISA). Anna is also a digital marketing, storytelling aficionado and a growth hacking enthusiast.

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