The women’s side of Basssup: In conversation with Małgorzata Majda, steering the brand’s iSUP division

Basssup, the premium Polish watersport brand launched in 2016 as an inflatable SUP board company, has become a cornerstone of the Polish SUP scene, nearly synonymous with the sport’s growth in the country.

Over the years, it has evolved well beyond its roots, with founder Jędrzej Klafkowski dedicating significant time in the studio shaping race, SUP surf, and foil boards, and developing high-performance paddles.

Behind much of Basssup’s success stands Małgosia Majda, Co-Founder and the driving force behind the brand’s inflatable SUP (iSUP) division. Affectionately dubbed “The Mother of the Dragons”—a nod to Basssup’s dynamic Dragon board line – Małgosia has championed accessibility and inclusivity in the sport. Under her leadership, Basssup secured a strategic partnership with Decathlon Poland, launching the B Light by Bass line – a collection of affordable yet high-quality boards that has made SUP more accessible to beginners, families and casual paddlers across the country. Her focus on lightweight, user-friendly designs — particularly those tailored to women – has helped break down barriers to entry and expand the sport’s reach.

Małgosia with young athletes from the RTW Raciborz Club – Polish junior SUP powerhouse – at Spring SUP Race 2025

Hi Małgosia, welcome to TotalSUP! How has the market changed since you started, and what does it take to remain a leading brand in the country?

When we started, back in 2016, the SUP board market in Poland practically didn’t exist, and stand-up paddleboarding was virtually unknown. Due to low demand, the equipment was hard to find and the selection was very limited.

Globally, SUP may not have been as popular as it is today, but it was already known and practiced, both at the competitive and recreational levels. The rise in popularity of stand-up paddleboarding in Poland dates back to the launch of the Basssup brand on the Polish market.

The first years of the brand’s existence were a time of intense work on promoting this activity. We organised hundreds of events and competitions, not only at our home base, SUP Bass Spot, but across the country with the goal of popularising stand-up paddling.

We worked in two directions, showcasing the broad possibilities of stand-up paddleboarding: on the one hand, the competitive side (e.g., the Razor Marathon on the Warta River, covering 43 km / 21 km), and on the other, and above all, the recreational side (e.g., the Bass League, a series of competitions held in several locations in Poland, culminating in a final in Poznań).

Today, many of these locations are home to sports clubs that carry on our mission and bring together hundreds of SUP enthusiasts.

Currently, awareness of SUP in Poland is very high. Practically everyone wants to paddle and own their own SUP board. Naturally, with the rise in interest, the SUP board market has grown significantly, offering a wide variety of equipment at very different price points and of very different quality. I believe that, unfortunately for the sport of stand-up paddleboarding, much of the available equipment is of very poor quality, which can negatively affect both the experience and safety, often leading to early discouragement from paddling.

Our response to the influx of low-quality SUP boards was to create more affordable sets – the B Light by Bass – built using technology typically reserved for higher-end boards (welded construction – Welded Technology Double Wall). These boards are designed for beginners. They are widely accessible to Polish customers, as they can be purchased at any brick-and-mortar Decathlon store, the most well-established sporting goods chain in Poland.

For those who are already paddling – often beginners but with more specific needs, looking for a long-term board – we offer a broad selection of boards from the Bass Collection.

What is needed to remain a leading brand in the country?

To remain a leading brand:

• Diversification of the equipment range: By price and according to skill level and needs
• Designing interesting board shapes that are unattainable through mass production – boards that stand out on the market due to their functional and quality properties. Creating and implementing our own innovative solutions, such as the inflatable racing board Dragon or the Twin SR (surf-race)
• Using the best available manufacturing technologies
• Perhaps most importantly, passion – a motivator to produce at a level at least matching world SUP leaders but at a much more competitive price
• Continuing our mission of developing SUP in Poland :).

Could you tell us about your role at Basssup?

Ha, ha 😉 Jędrzej (Jędrzej Klafkowski, Co-Founder and shaper) calls me the brain behind Basssup 🙂 Our friends and owners of the Wydry z Przylesia SUP club – call me the Mother of Dragons.

But seriously, besides managing the company, I am responsible for the inflatable boards division, which I am an absolute fan of. That’s why our boards are unique: they deliver excellent performance, are of top quality, and our inflatable equipment offer is not random but carefully thought out, so that everyone, regardless of skill level, needs, or budget, can find their dream SUP board.

In our range, besides classic all-around, touring, and race boards, you’ll find standout gear like the Twin SR 12’2” (designed for surf and race), the Dragon 12’6-14” built for winning, and the Wind & Wing 10’9”.

An invaluable role is played by Jędrzej, who designs the shapes of the boards to achieve the intended functional properties.

Inflatable boards engage me from the initial design all the way to the final product realisation, including how you see it in our store and the price you can buy it for 🙂

Lifestyle campaigns are one of your main areas of focus. What inspires you most about this side of stand-up paddling, and what role does lifestyle play in building the SUP community?

SUP BASS LIFE STYLE is not just a campaign. It’s our true way of life that gives us real freedom and happiness, and that’s why we share it with the world 🙂

A small, essentially one-time investment – the purchase of a SUP board – opens up unlimited opportunities for spending free time, whether daily, year-round, or just on vacation. SUP gives us a chance to discover and make use of nature’s resources, often those closest to home, which can seem unattractive when explored alone.

SUP River: Enthusiasts of river paddling, through the groups they form, develop their passion and increasingly boldly choose river waters with higher levels of difficulty, such as SUP Kultura Kraków or SUPPORT Lepsza Strona Wody.

A clearly visible community is forming around SUP Freestyle, which is understood not only as spectacular tricks but as a style of paddling that enables conscious and full use of the SUP equipment’s potential. It enhances our overall skills and provides the opportunity to paddle safely even on more challenging waters, such as flowing rivers or choppy conditions. And Yehor Tarasko is the trailblazer.

Małgosia and Yehor Tarasko (from left)

Travelling with your board: More and more people are traveling to distant, exotic destinations with their SUP boards. Instead of being passive tourists on the beach, from the deck of their SUP, like Robinson Crusoe, they discover hidden secrets of new places that are invisible from the shore.

When producing Bass boards, we place great importance on lightness and reliability, so that as many people as possible – even those travelling by plane – can take their SUP boards with them on vacation. Supernova, for example, takes at least two such long-distance trips with a board each year. This way, wherever they are, they can actively spend their holiday doing what they love.

Because the board can be checked as standard luggage, and the remaining free space in a wheeled bag can be filled with other items, traveling with a board does not increase vacation costs. It is definitely cheaper and more convenient than renting equipment from a random rental shop.

It’s impossible not to mention the smallest communities – whole families – who have chosen this way to spend their free time. It’s truly a wonderful way to build relationships and bonds between parents and children.

SUP family enthusiasts: I would like to mention the six-member @bigrodzinka family, who promote the model of active, shared time spent in nature instead of with a smartphone in hand. Also, SUPPORT, Lepsza Strona Wody, gathers many such families and organizes SUP vacations for whole families in the summer.

The list could go on endlessly. I’d call them all SUP Lovers – lovers of the SUP lifestyle.

Does SUP have its own unique feminine dimension?

Yes – absolutely! Both in the professional, competitive side of stand-up paddleboarding and in the purely recreational, amateur side – and in the latter, this uniqueness is most visible.

Modern women need comfort. They often have to “steal” time for relaxation, and frequently want or have to combine that relaxation with family responsibilities. Modern women deserve a product that guarantees the highest comfort and safety in use.

When designing our boards and paddles, we place great emphasis on the right shape and dimensions but above all on the lightness and reliability of our equipment, so that every woman receives only the best – the quality that each of us deserves.

In 2024, we went a step further and created a women’s SUP board, the Mimosa 11’1”. This board is not only beautifully designed with a feminine, floral pattern but also features a distinctive 5” thickness and reduced volume, making it easier for most women to control the board even in challenging, windy conditions. It is the most compact touring board in the Bass collection, weighing only 8 kg! It weighs as much as an all-around board but, thanks to its longboard-style shape, it behaves like a short touring board – much easier to handle and use due to its smaller dimensions.

We also remember the needs of women who race. For them, we created the Dragon 14’ x 25” x 5”.

Boards for professionals are hand-made and specially personalised for each rider, including the design of the board, which is especially important for women and can be fully customised according to their wishes.

Personally, as a woman, I have very high standards for the ideal SUP board. I believe women shouldn’t have to prove they “can handle it” by paddling on heavy, poorly dimensioned boards with unsuitable shapes – they deserve a product tailor-made just for them. And that is our mission 🙂

Could you tell us what strategy led you to collaborate with Decathlon – and which boards are included in this joint line?

When we were looking for our answer to the flood of cheap SUP boards that overwhelmed the Polish market, we knew we wanted to make an affordable SUP board. But unlike all the cheap ones, ours had to be of very good quality. It seemed unrealistic to achieve. We feared that a cheaper board might damage the reputation of the Bass brand as a premium product, offering the highest quality in manufacturing and usage.

That’s where Decathlon came in, opening up the possibility to realize our dream. Supported by such a powerful partner, we applied the rule of “not dreaming, but turnover,” which resulted in the B Light by Bass line. Last season, these boards shook up the competition, selling at a similar price to other budget boards but offering much more in terms of technology, build quality, and user experience.

Can I reveal the strategy that led us to work with such a strong partner? I think I can share how it looked from our perspective. We were simply noticed and appreciated as a Polish producer of high-quality SUP boards. We are also very lucky that our years of effort were recognized and used to produce boards tailored for the Polish market.

• B Light by Bass is now 4 years old. This year’s B Light by Bass line includes three models: the short touring B Light 11’1” perfect for women, the family touring 11’9”, and the sporty touring B Light 12’2” for those with a sporting spirit

• B Light by Bass boards are for people just starting their SUP adventure, unsure if they will like it and not wanting to invest too much money, as well as for lighter individuals who don’t necessarily want the first board but a more final SUP board
• B Light by Bass boards are based on our proven shapes but are made using welded technology, less specialized than the hot fusion woven drop stitch technology used in the flagship Bass BASS collection. For example, the B Light 11’1” is the equivalent of the female Mimosa but in a unisex design suitable also for men. The 12’2” is the younger sibling of the Race 12’6” board. The 11’9” model is inspired by the multifunctional X’games 11’3” board.

Basssup B Light 11’1”

We’d like to take a closer look at the Be Light series from Basssup – what makes it so popular?

• It’s a Polish brand
• Great value for money. Welded boards at the price of mass-market boards. People want to pay as little as possible but expect super quality for a low price. And we did it, probably the only ones in the world 😉
• Quality of workmanship and use
• Adaptation to market needs – the creation of new models. SUP is simple, people quickly acquire skills, often buying their first board after already paddling, for example, on rented equipment. Often the first choice is no longer a short all-around board. Hence, three Touring models in this year’s B Light by Bass line
• Board weights – solid, durable constructions with super low weight: 11’1” – 7.6 kg, 11’9” – huge two-person board weighing 9.4 kg, and 12’2” at 8.3 kg. Market need – lightweight boards, more and more women paddling. People expect comfort. B Light meets those expectations.I think the timing was perfect, as many people are just starting to paddle and these are beginner or skill-building boards
• Presence in every Decathlon physical store in Poland – meaning easy access to the product
• A trusted seller, as Decathlon is perceived.

Basssup B Light 11’1”

Which B Light model from Basssup is your bestseller, and what makes it so popular?

Last year, B Light by Bass boards in sizes 10’6” and 12’ dominated the market. But as SUP develops, customer expectations are changing. More and more people consciously choose touring boards to paddle lighter and faster. That’s why in this year’s collection, we offer three models – all touring boards.

• 11’1” for lighter people, women, those looking for maximum comfort and paddling ease, also suitable for paddling on choppy waters. The most compact touring board on the market with stability similar to all-around but the paddling characteristics of a short touring
• 11’9” is a family touring board, 1+1, friendly also for larger users, for those primarily seeking stability and comfort, for fans of seated paddling
• 12’2” – a dynamic touring board for ambitious beginners.

We ourselves are curious which model will become the most popular. It’s still too early to say. All models enjoy great popularity because each has a potentially different owner 🙂

What do you have planned for this season and where can people test Be Light boards?

This season features 6 models from Bass’s flagship collection, made with the best, most advanced Hot Fusion Woven Drop Stitch Double Wall technology. Among them are the women’s Mimosa 11’, the Twins Twin and Twin Surf Race, the Morning Star 13’3” — a dynamic, sporty touring board with a race edge, Dragons in versions for Juniors 12’6”, women and lighter riders 14’ x 25” x 5”, and the versatile 14’ x 25” x 6”. There is great interest in the unique market model SUP Wind&Wing 10’9”. We continue to offer two versions of sets with carbon paddles, 3-piece and 2-piece.

We are preparing – or rather already carrying out – the Bass Demo Tour 2025 project: 8 locations where Bass equipment tests will take place, at the most important competitions in Poland and top lifestyle events.

We have started a series of SUP Freestyle Basic training sessions with Yehor. Besides full trainings, at two events we will offer a free shortened training version for participants: at King of the Bay in Rewa, June 19–22, and during Masy Krytycznej, an event on the number of buoys on the water, organized at the beautiful Żywiec Lake by Sport District.

Małgosia with Natalia Bartosiewicz of Supernowa

As certified instructors, together with Natalia Bartosiewicz, ASI SUP Coach and Founder of Supernowa, we continue SUP trainings for beginners.

Thanks to RTW Racibórz, we have a new stationary test location for Bass: SUPAZA in Racibórz. A magical place created by exceptional people like Mariusz Miczek and physiotherapist and RTW club member Hania Motyka. There you can test all Bass and B Light by Bass boards. On Sunday, 6 July, we invite you to the official opening of the base, with group paddling, tests, and many surprises.

Amazing, thank you so much Małgosia for your time! Looking forward to seeing you and testing your boards at Planet Baltic in August!

To find out more about Basssup, visit basssup.com

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Follow Małgosia on Instagram

*Photos by Bartosz Śrama and courtesy of Basssup