There has been a real surge in the popularity of stand up paddle boarding in the last few years. The sport has become more and more popular in Cornwall and perhaps nowhere more so than in Newquay.
With some talented local SUP-ers and shapers based in the town, the sport has gone from strength to strength. For some, this is a wonderful thing to see happening, but for others (including many shortboarders) it’s viewed with some cynicism.
As more and more people enter the line up to practice their new hobby on giant boards, can the shortboards and those on ‘big boards’ really live in harmony?
Image by Dave Young
Accused of wave hogging and being a potential danger to other surfers, stand up paddle boarding is not without its critics. But where have all the SUP-ers come from? Have people really traded in their longboards for something bigger…have windsurfers traded in their sails for a paddle…or is it just people ‘giving it a go’?
Whatever the reason, stand up paddle boarding is certainly on the up. So whether you love it or hate it, there’s plenty to talk about when it comes to SUP-ing…here are the NewquaySurfer arguments, for and against.
For Stand Up Paddle Boarding
1) Its harder than it looks
I’ve heard plenty of surfers moaning about stand up paddle boarding on the basis that its too easy to catch waves and therefore it’s a lesser sport than surfing. Having tried it a few times it’s not really that easy…it is genuinely harder than it looks.
2) Laird Hamilton says its cool… so it’s cool
Laird Hamilton on Maui
Big wave legend Laird Hamilton is a massive advocate of stand up paddle boarding. There are plenty of impressive videos of Laird charging heavy surf on SUPs posted on the web. But Laird doesn’t limit his SUP fun for the bigger days either – whether it’s 20ft Jaws or a flat Hawaiian lagoon, Laird will SUP it.
It’s not uncommon to see pictures of Laird with his wife and the kids all stand up paddle boarding to the shops on Maui.
So, if Laird thinks its cool…it’s cool!
3) Stand up paddle boarding is cutting-edge
SUP-ing is a new sport, so those taking part and spreading the word are early adopters. By definition this makes stand up paddle boarders quite cutting edge if you think about it.
4) Its healthy – SUP-ing keeps you fit and strong
Iron man Damon Hollick looks tiny next to this SUP
Carrying an SUP to the beach is a workout in itself – the boards are insanely heavy. If you’ve never tried paddling into a wave on an SUP, then just try carrying one!
Some of the models do have a carry handle that makes them a little easier to transport but its still no walk in the park. To make matters slightly worse, if your learning on an SUP you’ll probably need the biggest size.
If you’ve never thought about driving your car right onto the beach and mowing down a load of tourists so you can stop 5 metres from the waters edge…you will now.
5) It’s a lesser evil than kayaks, windsurfers or kite–surfers
Surfers stop whinging, its better than 10 kayakers in the line up. There are still relatively few people in the water who SUP and its closer to the art of surfing than a number of other sports that require less skill, effort and commitment. Anyway…is SUP-ing really that different from longboarding?
6) You can surf more often and have more fun
Image by Mike Baird: Paddle boarding the flats of Morro bay
SUP-ing allows people to surf waves in all conditions. It’s pretty undisputed that even on small days you can have fun on an SUP. When shortboarders are grovelling for waves and sinking into the sea, the SUP-er can leave their frustrations behind and tear up small waves like there’s no tomorrow.
7) You can carry on enjoying surfing, even when you are older
You won’t be in your twenties, surfing every day and sporting 6 pack abs forever. So for those who can’t get in the water as much, or for folks who are getting older (with their shortboarding days closing behind them) SUP-ing is a great way to carry on surfing and to enjoy the ocean.
Against Stand Up Paddle Boarding
1) Stand up paddle boarders have a tendency to wave hog
Lets face it, even very gifted shortboarders will struggle to get onto waves anywhere near as early as those on stand up paddle boards. There is a feeling amongst many shortboard surfers that stand up paddle boarders hog waves and often ignore surfing etiquette.
Image by NewquaySurfer: 'Don't get in my way...cos I've got a paddle'
2) Just because Laird Hamilton does it, doesn’t make it cool
Laird Hamilton may not be your role model anyway…and after all he hydrofoils too, and you don’t do that….though it sort of looks like fun.
3) Stand up paddle boarding is an old mans sport that won’t get you laid
Stand up paddle boarding tends to score low in the cool stakes and this is partly to do with its image as a middle-aged pastime. Lets face it, your never going to look that cool riding knee high waves with a small boat under your feet holding an oar. And collapsing on the way to the beach underneath a 15-stone SUP probably won’t wow many members of the opposite sex either.
4) SUP-ing is less skilful than shortboarding and longboarding
SUP-ers paddle with an oar, stand on top of a small boat of a board and most can’t turn or carve on a wave. Elegant and edgy SUP-ing is not!
Image by NewquaySurfer: Can all these boards really get along?
5) It’s an expensive hobby only for the well-off
A new SUP will cost roughly twice as much as a new shortboard. This tends to align the sport with other yuppy-elite past times such as windsurfing, golf and ascot. Added to the fact that you need something roughly the size of a bus to transport one around, it’s probably time to take that job in the city you’ve always avoided…yet another dagger into surfing’s hippy dream.
6) SUP-ers are hijacking surf spots
More than a handful of SUP-ers on a break and it ruins it for everyone else. If you travel a fair bit overseas, you will have probably seen certain breaks now totally dominated by stand up paddle boarders. The situation has got so bad in some spots that it is virtually impossible to surf a shortboard – even if conditions are hollow, barrelling and perfect for shortboarding.
7) Major health concerns: Get hit by an SUP and it might kill you!
Image by NewquaySurfer: Imagine if this was the last thing you ever saw.
This is a major objection by virtually everyone else stood in front of a SUP-er heading towards shore. Whilst the same could be said of a longboard or epoxy mal, stand up paddle boards are perhaps one of the most dangerous objects you could have coming right at you in the surf. This is made worse by the fact that some SUP-ers don’t wear ankle or knee leashes in the ocean.
When the surf goes overhead accidents can happen and the sight of stray SUPs smashing up people and their surfboards is sadly becoming more and more common.
Conclusion
So what do you think? Is stand up paddle boarding a great invention and a fun new form of surfing? Or is it the spawn of the devil and something you loathe to see in the water?
Let us know in the comments below!
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Windsurfers are not all “elite yuppies”. I can vouch for that.
Hi Gareth,
Nice post! Personally I think that Stand up Paddle boarding IS a great sport. However I come to it from a “great form of exercise on a calmer day/easier and more versatile than surfing” point of view, rather than a “charging down Jaws mowing down all who stand in my way” one, so have never been in a situation where I’m competing for waves with surfers.
Having been the victim of a rather painful surfboard to the head incident (my own!), I must admit that point 7 is a bit of a concern, especially if more and more beginners take to larger waves. However as this is a growing sport I am unsure of what measures can be put in place to prevent this?!?
What’s your conclusion, or are you staying on the fence with this one?
SUP has been around as long as surfing, longer than shortboarding in fact, know your surf history and you will know this.
In fact if you look closely all it is is longboarding with a paddle, check out a lot of the video online of a few years ago and most SUP is done on regular surfing longboards (check NSP’s 11′ sup vid) just with the addition of a paddle to add versatility and increase your enjoyment allowing you to surf on more waves on more days than you would if you were an ‘I only short board’ kinda guy.
SUP isn’t just another new way of annoying surfers it should be considered AS another discipline of surfing, ALL surfers should know the rules whether on a shortboard, mal, kyak windsurf or kite, it’s no different to a beginner on a longboard charging the shoulder out of control or a dozen stag-dooers on foamies clogging up the line up trying to live the Blue Juice dream!
SUP is just another great way we can expand the love for surfing.
Surely it’s not a question of what should we do about SUP but how can we educate EVERYONE who uses a device to catch waves on what the rules and etiquette are and how to do so safely for themselves and other water users. Sure its a great way for older, fatter people to hit the waves and they need the bigger boards but it isnt limited to them.
Try it before you discount it, it’s a great way to expand your surfing into small days and some of the models available (Naish) give a great shortboard style ride, search YouTube for KaiLenny, 16yo Hawaiian waterman and SUP world champion, and watch him shred on his 8′.
I can see the point of SUPs for lifeguarding due to the better vantage point, but otherwise isn’t it just a vanity thing?
Stand Up Posers!
I’m a shortboarder and was in a my local break about 1/2 mile away.
It only works a handful of days of the year and on this day was mobbed by about 20 odd SUPs being a point break ideal for them.
A longboarder turned around to me and said ‘it’d be alright in here if weren’t for all those f**king SUPs’ oh the irony !!!!
I’ve been riding an SUP for 3 years…I’ve been surfing 15 years tho…Lived in Hayle for 10 years.
My board is 9ft long and shorter than most longboards, but granted it is wider. I always wear a leash (a SUP specific leash which is stronger) and I’m aware of other riders. I’m also insured…are the majority of shortboarders insured? If I’m at a busy beach I’ll move about and not “hog” a spot. SUPs are good for that, it’s easy to see a quieter bank working further down the beach and get there quick.
Great article.. but I do have something to add…if poss add the sentence: ” if more and more beginners take to larger waves.”
I challenge any beginner to make it out back in larger waves on a beginners style SUP. I was at Perranporth the weekend of the recent longboard event and there were great waves, but a challenge to get out! Just cos we have a paddle doesn’t mean that the waves part as we head out. I did think years ago when SUP started that “there’s gonna be loads of these about…” but in reality it’s not that easy, so I don’t believe it will be that huge. I’m pretty sure the zillions spongers and people in surf schools on “regular” boards get in the way far more than the handful of SUPs out there on any given day. In decent surf of 2m+ they are great…and 3m+ they def have their place. Someone who has no idea of surfing just wouldn’t be there.
My wife is Brazillian and we are lucky enough to spend the winters in the south of Brazil. It’s a different vibe there. U have to have respect, and if u do then it doesn’t matter what you are riding. A shortboarder wouldn’t drop in on you JUST cos u are on a SUP/longboard… but sadly it’s happened to me loads here in the UK.
As SUPs get shorter, they will take off later and later. I’m already sat in with the longboards and hopefully we can all get along… Just chill and be respectful of others, whatever you’re riding…
Peace
Sean
I SUP, surf, windsurf and think SUPer’s really should show some consideration, seek out uncrowded breaks, use the paddle, explore, make the most of lesser spots that are great fun on a SUP but naff on a short board. SUPing on a 11ft board amongst crowds of short boarders is pretty selfish and irresponsible unless you really know your game.
Whether your young or old, shortboard, longboard, bodyboard, SUP or whatever we’re all there to enjoy the ocean, the fun ends quickly when we start slagging off one another’s others choice of toy and get agro with each other.
SUP has been around for over 3000 years (peru) and I’ve been surfing for over 25 years, and this is just another way to surf and exercise on the water when it’s flat.
SUP has revived the surfing industry in a time when many other industries are going under.
Anything that increases awareness of our oceans and waterways is a positive thing.
Try it before you discount it you may be pleasantly surprised. If you’re in Orlando, Daytona, New Smyrna or Cocoa Beach Florida and want to check it out visit http://www.MauiB.com for more info
Its not all about catching waves…although for the first time I have been able to…Stoked.
Anyway, Suping is really social, not about posing, works for all abilities and its a great way to navigate the nice cafes and pubs along our excellent IOW!
Re: The crowding of breaks etc.
Thats just about manners and that comes before you choose a tea tray or dining table to hit the water with.
Surely etiquette and dangerous behavior is in the hands of the rider,no matter what craft they are riding.
The mission is the same.
Etiquette is defo the main focus, if a sup board rider is out of line, and is blatantly not following the rules of the lineup, they should be educated or told to leave….its the only way.
I’ve just come back from Mauritius where due to a wind drought every Tom, Dick and Harry were trying their hand at SUP in waves of le mourne…some obviously had no surfing knowledge at all.
I humbled them with shouts at first…by the end of the session I spoke quite expressively to one russian dude, hence – he paddled in ….on his knees…
If an SUP rider is out of line…educate them .
I agree with much of what was said…Keep in mind that equipment can inhibit progression.
In all the photos used in the article, it appear that the guys are riding 11′ tankers. It’s hard to make a full rail carving turn on a board like that. Here locally in Hawaii, on days where there are real waves, the stand up paddlers definitely don’t have the biggest boards in the lineup and are often waiting on the inside section instead of looming on the horizon with a super tanker.
Can’t say enough about etiquette. Surf with respect my friends, regardless of the size of your stick.
Aloha.
Nothing against those who like them, but am I the only one who doesn’t seem attracted to these things? Stand up and paddle?
To me, getting wet is one reason to take on a water sport. SUPers just bake in the sun like in a boat.
At least guys who paddle gondola’s get paid. I get shortboards, I get longboards, I get fishes, etc. But not feeling any water kinda makes for a meh… experience.
Flat day = swimming for me.
great thread and great comments. Almost a shame there hasn’t been a shortboarders rant yet to get some balance to the comments.
As said, piling into a shortboard wave full of guys pumped up for their share IS uncool, there are lots of other breaks around more suited to the more chilled attitude of the SUPmeister.
A shortboard wave rarely works on a SUP anyway. too fast – too peaky – too steep. The shorter boards make it work but is it the point? I SUP cos i catch uncrowded waves away from the melee and cross stares. my 12 year old lad now SUPs and loves it on an 8’5″ and rips. bless he has no concept of the waterborne battles of the shortboard fraternity.
The points are right and well made. SUP is cool – try it. but respect and consideration is cool too. This works both ways.
I have had more waves on my SUP this summer than I would ever dream of on a shortboard, but when its gnarly the paddle stays at home!
I got hit by a SUP at bantham last summer. The PR!@k was to busy enjoying the view looking back on the wave instead of where he was going. It fractured my arm. He had the cheek to tell me to watch what i was doing. I have respect for the good ones (double over head Hossegor) but most are just chancers who dont have a clue
I’m sorry, but decribing windsurfing as a “yuppy-elite” past-time? What planet are you from? Sure, windsurfing kit is getting more and more expensive over time compared to surfboards, but most people I know sail on well-used kit that can be picked up on the second hand market for not a lot of money. It’s like saying that driving is for the yuppie-elite because sports cars are expensive.
Anyway, onto the topic. SUP. Being a long term windsurfer, body boarder and surfer (yes – it is possible to do all of them!) I have also recently invested in a SUP board.
The reason for this, is maximising the amount of time I can spend on the water. I don’t want to be one of those miserable sorts that you see on windsurfing beaches moaning that there isn’t enough wind, or surf beaches moaning that the surf isn’t big enough. A SUP now enables me to get on the water when everything is flat and calm. I can now explore coastline, surf on tiny little waves for fun, paddle rivers, canals and lakes inland when I can’t make it to the coast. I can even put a windsurfing sail on my SUP and do some wave sailing on light wind days when I would have been drinking tea from a thermos.
We spend too much time here labelling people – “I’m a shortboarder” or I’m a windsurfer” or “I’m a kitesurfer” and so on. Lets just enjoy the water. That’s what we love doing. That’s what we all have in common.
As long as we all have a little comon sense, we can all get along fine – there is plenty of beach to go around.
This is nothing new. In the 80s waveskiers were “Goatboats,” in the 90s body boarders were “gutsliders” or “shark biscuits” despite people like Mike Stewart charging 20 foot hollow northshore. Now its SUPs turn. I’ve spent the last 20 years surfing everything from surf ski, Mals, bodyboards and now SUPs. I’ve never been able to surf a shortboard and frankly…I dont give a f*ck. No-one owns the ocean and I don’t care what you ride. When the local 16 yo shortboarders laugh at the “Kooks” they need to remember when they were shit, but stoked.