Session 1b

TRAFALGAR SESSION 1B

Wesup; Modernising, Monitising & Innovating Maritime Culture

SEAN WHITE

Founder of Wesup HQ

BIOGRAPHY

Sean founded Wesup HQ back in 2010 and became the first dedicated stand up paddleboard (SUP) center in the UK. The mission was to connect like minded people to the unknown sport for the first time and the sublime sheltered waters of Falmouth Bay was Wesup’s greatest facilitator. Sean pioneered adventure SUP in the UK and paved the way for the expansion of peoples ideas on the full scope of the sport. He set a number of world firsts that include becoming the first person to SUP the entire 242 miles of rugged Cornish coastline, unsupported and in just 7 days. He was the first to Wild SUP the entire width of Scotland through the 142 mile Caledonian Canal and he was the first to paddle the entire remote wilderness of Sognefjord which is Norway’s longest, deepest and narrowest fjord system. He also established the first SUP retreat in Montenegro and has spent a decade guiding paddlers in some of the most stunning environments on the planet. He also established the Wesup Sanctuary Foundation whiched uses SUP to promote positive mental health and the Wesup Academy to train the generation of quality, center ready SUP instructors.

As SUP began to rise in popularity by 2016, Sean built an innovative shipping container conversion that became the most stylish, modern watersport center in the country and its success was revolutionary for the business and the sport. That shipping container module became ‘Wesup HQ’ - an out of the box activity center that could be fully developed off site and delivered anywhere in the world, plugged in and played out at any worthy waterside spot. Now spanning 3 South Coast counties and operating one of the fastest growing leisure, lifestyle & hospitality business in the UK, Sean is now helping the maritime industry and associated businesses to capitalise on the opportunity of SUP as the fastest growing and most accessible water sport of all time.