Robert Stehlik

Robert Stehlik started his business, Blue Planet Surf Gear, in 1993 as a business college project while still a student at the University of Hawaii, Manoa with the mission is to help people have more fun on the water. Blue Planet was one of the first businesses to distribute SUP boards when the sport grew rapidly in the early 2000’s and Robert became heavily involved in not only sales and marketing but also in designing, manufacturing, training, competing, teaching, and coaching the sport. Two advisors encouraged Robert to brand himself as the “SUP expert”, which he took to heart, writing a blog, making instructional videos, recording interviews, podcasts, becoming a certified instructor trainer, attending tradeshows, and competing as an athlete around the world. The blueplanetsurf YouTube Channel has some of the most popular SUP instructional videos on the web with over 50,000 subscribers and over 16 million views (as of January 2025). Robert has competed in the Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard World Championship race since 2009 and finished first overall in the Men’s SUP Solo Stock division in 2024, while writing the book "Stand Up Paddleboarding for Dummies". Author’s Acknowledgments: Even though I never attempted to write a book, I jumped at the offer from Wiley Publishing to write “Stand Up Paddleboarding for Dummies” as an opportunity to share the joy of “walking on water” with a worldwide audience. I’ve always thought it would be cool to author a book but had no idea how to even get started. Although I was excited about the project, I must admit that I really struggled to sit down and focus on writing the chapters, I couldn’t have done it without the support I received. A big thank you to the “For Dummies” team, without the structure, feedback, and support they provided, it would have been impossible for me to write this book. Aloha, Robert Stehlik