Floating a new business idea
Apr 14 2009 by Paul Loraine, The Journal
A WATERSPORTS craze with ancient roots is set to sweep the North East. Former recruitment boss Joe Thwaites is setting up a mobile business renting stand up paddle boards – a cross between canoeing and surfing.
The sport is an ancient form of surfing which can be traced back to the very early days of Polynesia.
Its most recent history dates back to the 1940s when surf instructors on Waikiki beach used to stand up and paddle out to the breaking waves using a one bladed paddle.
Mr Thwaites, of North Shields, and a colleague are set to start renting the boards from a van at Tynemouth’s Longsands beach this weekend.
They are looking to bring the burgeoning paddle boarding scene on the South coast further North.
He said: “I tried paddle boarding on holiday in Greece and I’d seen it on You Tube. No one has decided to pick it up and run with it up here.
“Hopefully local tourism will be booming this summer and it can become really popular.”
