By CHRISTINA RITCHIE ROGERS
CorneliusNews.net

Mooresville resident Rob Bennett this year traded his business suit for a bathing suit and his rolling desk chair for a stand-up paddle board. The owner of My Aloha Paddle Sports and Fitness, he left a lucrative IT job to start his own water sports company, bringing Lake Norman residents a new way to get fit and have fun doing it.

Bennett

“Lake Norman is ideal for paddle boarding,” Mr. Bennett said, because of its numerous coves and no-wake zones. The sport should be more popular here than it is, he said. And after just two months in business, already he’s seeing it catch on.

Mr. Bennett, 44, first tried stand-up paddle boarding about five years ago while on a business trip to Hawaii and fell in love with it. More of an “average Joe” than a “gym guy,” paddle boarding is a full-body workout that is actually fun for him, he said.

“It’s the perfect thing – you get to be on the water, you get exercise, and it’s fun,” he said, “and there’s a serenity about it. What else can you do that can give you all these different benefits?” he said.

Often, people are hesitant to try stand-up paddle boarding because they think it’s too hard, Mr. Bennett said, but he fits the profile of an average customer, he said, and is proof that anyone can do it. And for those that want to try, My Aloha offers lessons as well as rentals. Mr. Bennet also plans to expand his offerings to include paddle-board group fitness and yoga classes on the lake.

Stand-up paddle board instructor Rob Muhlestein takes two of his children out for some fun on the paddle board. (My Aloha photo)

When he opened the business in May, Mr. Bennett planned to offer just lessons and rentals the first year, and then to expand into retail next year. But the demand for boards is high, he said. He estimates more than 100 people regularly go out to paddle board on the lake, and as soon as he gets a new supply of boards, he has buyers who want them, he said.

In response to the demand for boards, last week he partnered with Wher-rena Boatland, at 18919 W. Catawba Ave. The boat store offered him retail space, and he has started selling boards and paddles out of the store.

This year, Mr. Bennett is focused more on promoting the business and working to generate interest in the sport than he is on making a profit, he said. But with such success in the short-term, he is making big plans for the future, including partnerships with local aquatic centers and nonprofits, and charity races to raise funds for different causes.

“The business has shown enough potential this season that we’re going to be all over it next season,” he said.