'A Paddler's Guide to
Stand Up Paddleboarding'
Extracts of Native Wisdom from the above publication due out during 2010
'In short, the sport needs to be promoted as skilled, not easy - a lifestyle, not a workout, to have any chance of surviving the test of time.'
'For surfers to be attracted to the sport, while this gene pool is also deep and widely spread within and away from the Hawaiian Islands, the sport does provide for them a juxtaposition, that slaps in the face of purity, being that the surfer is essentially a minimalist creature, where less is more and therefore the addition of a paddle one has to ask, must surely add an element of in purity and a pox on a sport which has been written about since the 60s with divine reverence and spiritual undertones ad infinitum, praised for its minimalistic virtues?'
'If evolution is important, or rather, ownership, we need be careful attributing any one culture with this label. Native Hawaiians did not for example 'invent' surfing, yet the hype suggests they did. It could be argued anglo-Hawaiians (or Californians for that matter) contributed towards perfecting it or at least commercialised it to a point of mass appeal. It would be pure folly and optimism to suppose that native Hawaiians, such as the Waikiki Beach Boys invented the concept of SUP, besides the entire meaning of 'invention' per se is really not what happened here, more accurately a functionally novel innovation.'
SUB designer Dave Parmenter comments, ‘Properly designed SUBs are not over-size long boards, nor are they blown-up short boards. They are stand-up surfboards - a wholly new, rapidly-evolving class of surf craft, one that borrows design components from all the existing types of surf riding craft and combines them in a finely-tuned matrix that allows the progressive SUP surfer to lean on the paddle and push the board into places and angles no big board has ever been.’
'What can and will be applied to surfing SUBs will come from all that is known of surfing and herein lies the synergy. In contrast, all that is known of prone paddle boarding in open ocean conditions will no doubt provide much of the ooze from which open ocean race SUB designers will feed and flat water race board designs may well look to kayak and canoe designs.'
'As is turns out, this has been a huge windfall for existing manufacturers already tooled up and involved in sports such as windsurfing, surfing, paddle boarding or the manufacture of outrigger canoe paddles. The synergy is so tightly interwoven, that there is less than six degrees of separation to the point that in one fell swoop, the possible tedium of head scratching for new ideas within their core business has been revived by something which has fallen from the sky almost by divine intervention, along the same evolutionary tree.'
'First timers have ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ and if not met, won't necessarily be converted to a commitment to the sport. For every person who fails to have a satisfactory experience the damage can have a multiplicity affect via word of mouth. Consequently this ironic juxtaposition seems to have created a situation whereby SUP seems to be loitering somewhere between a paddle and a surf sport. Surfers would argue it’s a surf sport, seeing the paddle as a mere optional extra. Paddlers (outrigger canoeists, river canoeists, kayakers, surf ski paddlers etc) would argue it’s a paddle sport regardless of what you are stood on. The paddle is what makes for the definitive point of difference.'
'While SUP schools exist and have proliferated, many of these continue to portray SUP, especially the importance of paddle skills as something of only secondary consideration, 'Hold the paddle like this, place it into the water and pull back, take it out and repeat.' is about as much as many students get and in truth, not much more than the coach knows.'
'Wherever you see 'Free paddle with every board', you can rest assured, here's a retailer or indeed a manufacturer, who perceives the paddle as a secondary consideration, an optional extra, an accessory, a necessary evil, which because of its cost, may hinder the end-user in buying the most expensive board which can be sold to them - and you can bet your rotator-cuff that this 'free' paddle will possess all the subtle refinements of a meat-axe, reinforcing the sellers conviction, or simple lack of consideration, that the paddle is in fact the most important item (not the board) and that SUP is indeed a paddle sport.'
'You can surf, without a paddle. You can potter around on flat water with minimal fitness levels or ocean skills. But to take on the might of wind and water, paddling great distances downwind between two islands separated by deepwater channels or from one land point to another, travelling at great speeds, this is to take the sport to a place which truly reflects its zenith.'
'An entire generation of surfers will debate issues of purity, maintaining a vigilant stand that surfing (without paddle) is the essence and soul of surfing and the inclusion of such is akin to adding preservatives to organic food. Biff is already occurring in the line up as the usual territorial issues overshadowing wave selection begin to bubble to the surface as SUP numbers increase. Not everyone is stoked about SUP, even the US Coastguard has been quick to address the concerns they have of the sport, it's impact on other water users and the risks posed to the paddler.'