Tracking and Training: Stand-up Paddling in Cornwall with Clair Connibeer

In the heart of Cornwall, Clair Connibeer has been a passionate stand-up paddler and instructor based in the United Kingdom. She is the founder of Paddle Cornwall SUP and is very excited to be heading into the 2024 season, especially with Paddle Logger at her fingertips!

Hi there Clair! Welcome to TotalSUP! How are you doing today?

Hi Maddi, thank you so much! The new year is starting well, lots of paddling and training in-between storms and loads of prep for the start of our commercial season on the water.

How did you get into stand up paddling and eventually SUP instruction?

I have always loved being on the water. I’ve been paddling in one form or another since I was a kid. I grew up on the Fowey Estuary in Cornwall and was lucky enough to have great access to the waterway there and the local beaches. One day I tried SUP, and everything clicked! There was just no going back! I worked hard to become a BSUPA L1 instructor in 2018. I created my Instagram Paddle Cornwall SUP page to document my hours and experiences and went into partnership with some friends to create our mobile SUP business in 2019.

After receiving some good feedback from our customers, we were inspired to purchase a kayak tour company in 2020 called Encounter Cornwall based in Golant and have merged the two together. Since then I’ve completed my BSUPA L2 senior instructor qualification, my British Canoeing L3 SUP Coach qualification as well as my BC Paddlesport Leader qual for my kayak and SUP tours. I literally spend nearly every moment I can on the water whether in work or play and I love it! To say it’s been an interesting paddle inspired few years is an understatement! Ha-ha!

How do you use Paddle Logger primarily? Is it to track your fitness? Track your routes? etc?

Well, Maddi I use Paddle Logger for both! Mainly to track my stats for my race training and my routes for my work. I cover a lot of on-water miles a season (roughly over 6 months), then head out at least 3 or 4 times a week in the off-season (storms allowing) to keep paddle fit and help with my performance. It is incredibly useful and can really help me plan what, where, when and how to train for my different disciplines.

What is the importance of training with a GPS tracking device for you?

There are so many answers I could give to this question Maddi! GPS gives me a lot of valuable information. It helps me to track my progress, distance, route and speed. It allows me to determine the performance benefits of different boards and craft in different situations and environments. It can also really help me to maintain and increase my performance goals, analyzing the results to see whether there are correlations (good or bad), and whether I need to tweak my training routine.

That’s amazing Clair! How do you recommend other paddlers to train with Paddle Logger?

To be honest Maddi, first I would encourage other paddlers to fully subscribe to unlock many of the features that will help them with self-analysis. If you subscribe you can unlock many of the features I’ve mentioned including your stats, like split time for distance. You can also crop your start and end time to give you realistic readings. Once you have access to that information you can get a much more accurate results for your day-to-day training.

We couldn’t agree with you more! Paddle Logger Pro definitely helps you retrieve more valuable information about your paddling statistics. What is your favourite feature to use with Paddle Logger and why?

I really like the stats graphs and the splits for times and distance. I find these incredibly helpful to make sure I’m staying on track with my training routine. However, I have to say that the safety features such as the emergency contact alert are absolutely brilliant too! Additionally for my work I do a lot of solo paddling so just activating the safety functions gives me such a peace of mind when I’m out on the water by myself.

What are your thoughts on the SUP scene in Cornwall? Is it growing?

Definitely! We’re really lucky in Cornwall to have fantastic access to many different bodies of water, mainly the stunning, challenging coast. We also have some outstanding paddlers, SUP advocates and clubs here; Alex and Hector Jessel, Ginnie Betts, Glenn Eldridge, Dom Moore, David Walker, and Little Wolf Pack SUP Club to name but a few.

I currently sit on The Port Users Group for our local Port Authority, the Fowey Harbour Commissioners (FHC), representing SUP on the Fowey estuary. We have started working closely with our local schools and youth groups. My main aim is that we will be able to incorporate SUP and other water-sports into their national curriculum on an annual basis.

If this is the case the children will be able to access SUP in an affordable way that they may not have been able to previously due to social and economic barriers. I truly believe that if we can inspire our local juniors, we will really help to grow the sport in Cornwall in a positive, progressive way for the next generation. They are the future!

That’s incredible Clair! We’d also like to know what does your training routine look like? Do you paddle with any groups in the UK?

I started an endurance training program with Samantha Rutt at the end of 2022. This is a mixture of heart zone rate training (three times a week), strength and conditioning (2 times a week) and distance paddling (once a week). Paddle Logger is essential for this keeping track of this. I’ve continued this training over the winter with some of our awesome Encounter Cornwall club members tagging along on some of my sessions. Eventually I’d love to be a specific SUP race-coach, so having a logbook to record these sessions and routine is really beneficial. I have two small kiddos so it can sometimes be challenging to travel far to train but I’m hoping to join some of the guys I mentioned above for some training this year!

What are some paddling goals you have for 2024? How does Paddle Logger help you keep track of those goals?

I’d like to increase my speed/endurance and experience more coastal and technical races in 2024. I feel that once I’ve experienced them personally, I’ll be able to coach them in a more effective way. The logbook on Paddle Logger is fantastic for helping me to look back over my paddles to see if I’ve made any progress or where I may have struggled. You can separate each session into folders and add notes like coastal, weather conditions, time of the tide and more, which helps to see if there are any areas for improvement.

Anything else you would like to share about your paddling journey with Paddle Logger?

Everything seemed to make sense when I found SUP Maddi. From the community, the fitness and the wellbeing. I’m incredibly lucky that my career is also my passion, one that I am constantly trying to improve at, and that I absolutely love sharing it with people. Paddle Logger helps me to do this, not only as a training/safety tool but as an effective way to link up with other people, with a passion for the sport. It is definitely an app I would recommend for every single kind of paddler out there!

Clair’s unwavering passion for stand-up paddling shines through her commitment to growth and community involvement. Her reliance on Paddle Logger not only exemplifies her dedication to training but also underscores its role as a vital tool in her paddling journey. As she strives to inspire the next generation, her enthusiasm for the sport remains palpable.

Thank you Clair for joining us on TotalSUP! We wish you nothing but a happy and healthy new year filled with lots of paddling!

To find out more about Paddle Logger visit www.paddlelogger.com
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