Mayo Wynne Baxter sponsors the “Paddle Something Unusual” event at Paddle Round the Pier Beach Festival this July 4th and 5th.
The Paddle Round The Pier Beach Festival began in Brighton in 1996 with a handful of surfers paddling their surfboards around a pier for charity – from humble beginnings comes an event which is now said to be the world’s biggest free charity beach festival.
With visitor numbers of over 50,000 based around a 60,000m² “Paddle Village” the event features the best water sports and beach lifestyle brands along with exhibitions/retail, restaurants & bars.
Entertainment is spread across the site with the popular Main Music Stage, A Ukulele stage and a specific Children’s Stage as well as displays of extreme sports to watch or take-part in.
“Paddle” as the event is affectionately known, is in reality an umbrella title for lots of paddle sport and sea sporting events. The timetable for the serious racing sees competitors come from across the globe as the platform & support Paddle offers its partners is second to none.
Even to this day the event is still run by volunteers with all profits going straight to charity – which makes it a unique and treasured experience to get involved in. The event has raised over £250,000 for charity in recent years.
This year’s charity beneficiaries are: The RNLI, Brighton Surf Life Saving Club & Rockinghorse (the local children’s hospital charity)
As one of the most popular events of the weekend, The “Paddle Something Unusual” draws the largest crowds on the beach and foreshore. The Mayo Wynne Baxter “Paddle Something Unusual” (PSU) is the team event where creativity reins rather than your practical boat building skills!
The idea is to float and then paddle the most unusual thing you can think of around the remains of the old West Pier in Brighton.
In previous years the PSU has seen everything from aeroplanes to cranes, from a bed to a shed – the only guidelines are to make it as ridiculous (but safe) as possible, raise plenty of money – and have a spectacularly good time doing it.
Remember this is not a race – it’s the most fun and unusual entry that wins!
The rules are simple – the contraption must be paddled manually with absolutely no propellers or engines of any kind, it must have a minimum crew of two but there’s no upper limit. It will need a tow-loop somewhere on it as the safety boats will probably end up helping participants at some stage and all members of the teams will need to be able to swim 100m in the sea.
Paddle Round the Pier is such a celebrated event on the Sussex calendar and one which Mayo Wynne Baxter is extremely proud to support.
For further details on Brighton’s favourite weekend by the sea and for more details on the Mayo Wynne Baxter “Paddle Something Unusual” see www.paddleroundthepier.com
