Page 24 - 2022-08-01 Paddling Magazine

PADDLEBOARDING BY THE NUMBERS

PROFILE $
The Longest Paddle 27,000 USD

Raised for water safety
Inside Brendon Prince’s record-smashing circumnavigation of Great Britain
by jessica wynne lockhart

FOR MANY ADVENTURERS, speak with me, and I can share the a day alone on his board. “The mind 14
the idea for major expeditions water safety message with more can be a dangerous thing,” he says.
starts from a tiny seed. From platforms,” he says. Then, 141 days after departing,
there, it grows into reality through After training for four months— he arrived back at Torquay, where
training, sponsorship, and finally, where he paddled for up to 300 ki- his legs started to wobble. Number of times Prince fell in
choosing a cause to align with your lometers at a time—Prince departed “I’ve bottled up the moment
mission. But Brendon Prince’s sto- in April 2021, heading clockwise. my foot touched the sand, and I’ll
ry is unusual because it was the Each night, he spent hours plan- open the bottle for a dose every now
message—not the mission—that ning his following day, although and then,” says the father-of-three. 78 KM 1.5 KM
came first. some things couldn’t be predicted. While Guinness World Records is Longest day Shortest day
A self-proclaimed “water safety Scotland’s mountains create their still confirming, Prince is expected
crusader,” the 48-year-old standup own weather and on one occasion, to have broken two records and set
paddleboarder has been campaign- he spent six hours just trying to hold two more. In addition to being the
ing for greater water safety in Brit- his position. A surprise encounter first person to paddleboard around
ain for 30 years. His message took with orcas caused him to fall off his Britain, he had also completed the 10.25 HRS
on new gravity in 2014 when he board. But, he says, it was the human longest journey by SUP, as recog-
tried to rescue a group of swim- elements that were most difficult nized by Guinness.
mers as an off-duty lifeguard. Three to contend with: Huge tankers and Others have attempted the feat Average time on the water daily
drowned. The event prompted him shipping lanes; harbor walls run- before Prince. He says it wasn’t his
to leave his job as an outdoor edu- ning three kilometers out into the physical strength or stamina that
cation teacher and found a charity, sea; and military zones, where artil- allowed him to complete the trip—it
Above Water, to develop a gamified lery would hit the water in front of was that his message always took 525 119
water safety app for schools. Raising him or submarines would come up priority over breaking any records.
the money to do so would require from below—despite Prince receiv- “With every paddle stroke, I Number of Days spent
something attention-grabbing— ing prior clearances. thought, ‘If I can stop a family from “French Francies” paddling
something like becoming the first “Whenever you’re doing some- going through the catastrophe of sponge cakes
person to circumnavigate Great thing that hasn’t been done be- their loved ones dying, that’s my consumed
Britain on a SUP. fore, there’s no road map for it,” motivation,’” he says. “If I’ve helped
“I thought, if I paddle around says Prince. His biggest challenge, a child make the right choice near
Britain, more people will want to though, was spending up to 16 hours water, then it’s a success.”
4000 KMS

Total distance paddled
TWO

records broken: records set:
Longest SUP First person to
journey and paddleboard
fastest paddle around Britain,
CIRCUMNAVIGATION, A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT around Wales and first person
BRENDON PRINCE'S EXPEDITION, WAS RELEASED to paddleboard
IN MARCH 2022. from Land’s End
PHOTO: WILL REDDAWAY | WR PHOTOGRAPHY
to John O’Groats
by the coast

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