COVID-19 and impact on SUP

As we continue to navigate the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis we all need to stay positive and productive. First our hearts go out around the globe to anyone who has been impacted by contracting the virus or by having family or friends affected.

Impact on Health– Please follow the direction of the CDC, WHO local, state and federal guidelines. We are all in this together and never has the world been confronted with such a health and financial impact. COVID-19 has shown a tendency to strike immune compromised individuals at any age so it is imperative to boost your immune system and to practice social distancing to protect yourself and others.

We know everyone is feeling cooped up and missing paddling with friends, workout groups or attending events. If you choose to SUP please follow government guidance, as we are not in normal times. Do not paddle in large meet up groups as this will attract unwanted attention and potentially cause virus transmition through accidental contact. Never before has borrowing a fin, swapping paddles or drafting had health implications of this magnitude.

If you plan to paddle or paddle surf consider the potential impacts. If you are going surfing do not even consider stretching your ability and taking it to the next level. This is no time to stretch our public resources to help you. We think paddling is a great way to keep our mental health in check but with travel being discouraged consider the amount of time and distance you live from your paddle spot. We all get to paddle soon so be extra careful and weigh the risk reward.

Impact of Business– Almost the entire SUP Industry is considered small business and every manufacturer, retail shop and event is shut down with the rest of non- essential businesses. SUPIA has never been more important and we will seek solutions and information that will help weave a stronger industry as we recover from the outbreak. For US based companies the Small Business Association is making loans to small business.  Go to SBA.Gov/disaster but expect the website to crash often due to high volume but with 30 year amortizations at 3.75% so this is a very good option to keep your business afloat and rebuild on the other side of this.

This is also a good time build or update a new website, get your social media posts planned and scheduled for the month or for when we start working again, reach out to customers and vendors and ask them how they are doing.  We believe that SUP will come back stronger than ever and we want to see you on the other side of this.

If you want to reach out to us with questions ideas please use the info@supindustry.org. If you need to reach me directly use andrewm.radi8@gmail.com or @andrewmencinsky on IG

Be safe, be brave and we will all paddle again soon.

Andrew Mencinsky
President, Stand Up Paddle Industry Association