Reductionist Theory

Red Paddle Co has announced a new paddle board that could start a revolution. The Compact 96 is a full-sized SUP that folds down to half the size of a regular inflatable paddle board without compromising on paddling performance, while the smaller packed size of the Compact gives paddlers the convenience of being able to easily carry it around town, jump onto public transport or store in the boot of your car, with space to spare. The ultra-compact nature of the package also allows for long term storage within small cars, smaller apartments on-board boats and in your van.

It’s been 10 years in the making with a range of new manufacturing techniques utilised and international patent pending features. SUP International caught up with Red Paddle Co CEO and co-founder John Hibbard and Head of Design Phil Hawthorne for an exclusive interview to get to the heart of what makes the 9’6” Compact so special and how the new board came about.

Hibbard begins with the inspiration behind the board and the key advantages over an existing inflatable board; “For me having a board that you can pack down smaller has opened up so many more chances to paddle – it was the driving force behind the brand from day one. The major requirement was that having an inflatable board shouldn’t mean you have to compromise on performance. It should deliver an authentic experience. That’s the driving force behind everything we do.”

Hibbard continues; “About two years ago when we launched our MSL [monocoque structural laminate] material I realised that we now had a very in-depth knowledge of the process of making drop stitch material. We’d spent hundreds of hours testing materials and experimenting with manufacturing techniques. Through all this learning, I thought we must be able to push the concept of inflatable boards a little further.”

Phil Hawthorne and his design team took this starting point and saw it as a challenge “Even though our boards packed down small already I could just see that there were so many opportunities where a smaller packed size would be beneficial – whether it was to aid travel or to make storage easier. That was enough of a thought process to get us cracking on trying to push the boundaries of what was possible in terms of packed size while not compromising on the paddling performance.”