Is short the future ? Will stand up paddle surfing go the same way as longboarding did when the short surf board revolution took the sport by storm at the end of the 1960’s ?
Who knows for sure, but the footage below will get people thinking.
Thanks to Ivan van Thanks to Ivan Van Vuuren from Extreme Sports Movies for bringing this to our attention. The action takes place on a 7 foot kids Starboard windsurf board in a 2 foot swell on Maui. Have a look and draw your own conclusions.
This morning seven South Coast stand up paddle board riders got together at West Wittering beach to try out the latest offerings from Starboard, Jimmy Lewis, Surf Tech and Mistral. We also tried out a lot of different paddles, C4, Quick Blade, Starboard and Mistral. Pete Shiplee, Tim Matthews, Matt Argyle, Andy Cooper, Simon Basset joined Boards Magazine writer Emile Kott and editor Bill Dawes to test out the Jimmy Lewis 11ft and 10ft, the Starboard SUP, the Mistral Pacifico and the Surf Tech Laird Hamilton. I think we all reached a general consensus about what to spend your money on, it was more a case of one particular board standing out because it was so bad as the rest were pretty good !
All in all a very interesting morning. Thanks to Simon Basset from 2XS for use of the lovely club house at West Wittering beach.
You need to buy the next issue of Boards Magazine to read what our findings were, but here are some pictures to whet your appetite.
Ivan from Extreme Sports Movies got in touch about a new SUP movie coming out in September this year. I watched the trailer (below) and it looks really good, its more of a how to than a surf movie, but covers surf, paddle races, tips and techniques.
I think that this movie is going to do really well in the UK, no word on UK release and pricing, as soon as we hear we will let you know.
Klaus Buchmann had a revelation a few years ago - tired of his boards falling over and getting wax on both sides of them, he decided enough was enough and went about developing a device that would hang his surfboards off the ground using the board’s removable fin system. From Klaus’s handy work was born the Hang Up System. It is without doubt the biggest revolution in the merchandising of surfboards ever.
The storage and presentation of surfboards at the retail level is a challenge to say the least. With the Hang Up System the boards hang tip down this design allows for the boards to take up the most minimal space available. The hangers work on any hanging rail system, so surfboards can be merchandised in any part of the store, not just the board room.
Currently Hang Ups have been developed for the FCS and Futures fin systems with a Longboard Box hanger in development right now.
To allow the Hang Up System to be fully developed Klaus has entered into an arrangement with Global Surf Industries to manufacture and sell the product worldwide. “ I am super stoked to see my little invention being offered around the world. The feedback from everyone I have spoken to since I have developed the product has been fantastic. The deal with GSI is the icing on the cake for me, they have the infrastructure to make it happen quicker than I ever dreamed possible”, Klaus Buchmann.
GSI’s President and Managing Director, Mark Kelly said about the deal “ The merchandising of surfboards has been a real problem up until now. Many of the racking systems are expensive and cumbersome and they take up huge amounts of expensive retailing floor space. The Hang Up System finally allows retailers to have some flexibility. The retailers who are already using it love it and can’t imagine going back to the old rack type arrangement”.
It looks like a really interesting product for surfshops and for people who have alot of surf boards and a space problem ! I would like to see the longboard hanger, but you would need alot of headroom to store longboards and SUP boards on this system.
Here are some name you will recognise from the surfing and stand up paddle surfing : Gerry Lopez, Joel Tudor and Darrick Doerner. All of them watermen and legends. You many not have heard of Olaus McLeod but you will. In April 2007 Olas paddled from Lands End to the Isles of Scilly and just to make it extra special he ran the Tresco Marathon while he was over there, then he tried to paddle back but the fickle weather defeated him. This week Olaus joined the surfing legends in New York.
If you were sitting in your office in NYC looking out of the window on Monday 13th August you would have seen a strange sight - a whole host of Stand Up Paddle Surfers, including the legends above, paddling in a race for 28 miles to raise awareness and money for Autism Speaks, Surfers Healing, NJCOSAC (which are all autism related charities and organisations) and Surfers Environmental Alliance.
Organized by the Surfers’ Environmental Alliance (SEA), the paddle around the island of Manhattan was an invitation-only, 28-mile paddle that included between 30-40 participants. Participants stood-up paddleboards and traditional surfboards, paddling the route either individually or as relay teams.
The overall winner was Joel Tudor, but when it is all for charity, who cares who wins.
We have just found out about possibly the first SUP only competition in the UK. Its being held on the 29th September in Watergate Bay, just outside Newquay.
Here are the details from John Hibbard :
Hello all,
It’s true the first ever UK Stand Up Paddle Surfing Championships has a date: 29th September, a venue: Watergate Bay, Newquay, Cornwall, UK, and Sponsors: Starboard, Errant Surf Travel, Extreme Academy, www.standuppaddlesurf.co.uk
As well as support from:
Fat Face, Go Fast Sports, Grass Hopper, Reef and Pro Sport Sunscreen.
It’s open to everybody, with competition in Surf and Distance events. It’s free to pre enter, or £10 on the day. There are limited entry places so get your entry request in to info@supsurfing.co.uk ASAP if you want to enter.
If you just want to come down and check it out then please feel free. There will be demo boards available from Starboard.
Sounds like fun, we are definitely going to go down.
Josh from Preston got in touch with us to say how happy he was with Dave and the staff at Spot On Water, in Mudeford, Dorset (close to Christchurch and Bournemouth). Josh got himself a Jimmy Lewis 11ft board and a hybrid C4 Pohaku Carbon blade and wooden shaft paddle, which the Spot On Water guys arranged to have sent up to Preston for Josh.
Here is an extract from his email :
Hi,
Just wanted to let you know that I bought my SUP from “Spot on Water” in
Bournemouth.
Please add them to your list because these guys were really helpful in
getting my board up to the North.
Regards,
*Josh*
We got in touch with Dave at Spot On Water to see what SUP equipment they have in stock right now and they have the Mistral Pacifico, but they are waiting (like most of the UK) for a restock of Jimmy Lewis, Mistral, Naish and C4 Paddles.
You can get hold of the shop via the Spot On Water website or you can call them on 01425 272509.
Good customer service is so important when buying things like this - so share your recommendations thoughts with us by getting in touch with us via the SUPUK email address : info@supuk.org
More proof, if any was needed that Stand Up Paddle boarding is going to be huge. This piece of news has just been bought to our attention - Fat Face are running a competition to win a Starboard Stand Up Paddle Board (lets hope its the sexy looking red one with the wood veneer finish). These boards are really interesting as you can put a windsurf rig onto the board to turn it into a low wind freestyle type board. We at supuk.org hope to get out on one of these to do a write up soon - watch this space !
Go to the Fat Face SUP competition web page, fill in your details and thats all there is too it. The competition closes on 30th September 2007.
Not exactly the home of SUP having no coast line, but it did’nt stop the inventive Swiss from getting a dose of stand up paddle action.
The footage was recorded at Lac de Bienne, one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. The lake is 15 km long and up to 4.1 km wide. I wonder whether this surfer went the whole length ? Check out how fast he is going….
Looking to buy some Stand Up Paddle Board Equipment ?
Welcome to the first retail round up. As you probably know demand is high for SUP equipment and supply is low. So here is the round up of whats in stock and who is stocking it. Hopefully it will make your shopping easier.
Now that is as much as I can find right now, and I know that the boards fly out the doors of these shops. If you are a shop with SUP gear in stock and want to be included then please get in touch.
