Roll Call: Doesn't "get" paddleboarding

And if he has the right to post a thread
on the wrong forum, why do I not have the right to call him on it?



Actually, there have been far fewer inappropriate threads on the Advice forum recently, but I take no credit for it. Apparently, people have half a braincell.

large and unweildy?
I like the comments about these large, unwieldy boards - coming from kayakers. Most boards are 12’6" or under (yes, some go to 14 for a particular race class, and sometimes even longer, but I don’t see as many of those). Most of my kayaks are longer than this. And these unwieldy boards are half the weight of any of my kayaks.



I lead kayak tours and also instruct. I have seen many new kayakers who control their kayaks at the same level as the description of boardies blocking the channel. I don’t think it is the vessel, just them being new and untrained.

So - you don’t get it.
That’s because you haven’t been paying close attention.



I doubted the SUP thing at first, but I’ve seen enough of them in use now to understand the potential advantages for some people.



Around here, they’re taking them down class 3 rivers now and surfing the standing waves on the way. When they fall off, they don’t have to worry about swamping their boat. They seem to have little trouble getting back on, with practice. They don’t have to learn to roll. They don’t need any special vehicle or heavier racks to carry them.



All in all - they’re a pretty low-maintenance and low-stress toy. Pretty appealing to the masses, and some paddlers are getting really good with them. And they are wearing pfd’s here.



What was the question?

Excellent response, Spadefish.

well…
I don’t have one and have never paddled one, but I can see it to some extent. I am an avid sea kayaker, whitewater kayaker and canoeist.



Paddling a SUP is kind of like a cross between paddling a canoe, a whitwater kayak and a surf board. I watched a video on it and there is more to it if you chose to be serious about it.



One might say the same things about rec kayaks lacking sophistication, etc.



The SUP apparently responds quite a bit to trim and moving backwards and forwards on the board to turn and in the surf zone, and you can spin it by sinking the stern a bit kind of like a whitewater kayak pivot turn.



Plus they look like a blast to surf.



One of the best sea kayakers I know has gotten pretty heavily into SUPs for surfing.



Matt

Yes
There’s no doubt about it, some of these folks are very very good at what they do and I’ve no doubt its a good activity for many. I’ve no doubt its great exercise. I’ve no doubt that some folks can get them moving darned fast. I think its an especially attractive sport where there are big waves. I don’t really mean to be disparaging, only that I think there are forms of paddle sport better suited to our location, and most others as well.



I also have a feeling - and that’s all it is, a feeling - that there’s something just a little cynical about such intensive promotion, strictly for profit, of a sport that will probably turn out to be a passing fad to many that are now buying into it. All the major TV stations announced the SUP fest and seemed to give it almost as much air time as the paramilitary security team from Arizona tracking the activities of campers and hikers near the proposed site of an iron mine up north. There will, no doubt, be thousands spent on SUP outfits that will probably end up hanging unused in the garage and then be sold at a significant loss. That’s thousands that might have been spent on forms of paddlesport that might be of more lasting interest to the participants. I wonder if that’s good for paddle sports in general. But on the other hand, I can go out on our local lakes on most any warm day and see sail boards scooting about and their users having a blast. It may turn out to be a fad but there will be some who find deep and abiding satisfaction in it. Good on 'em.



And it sure doesn’t matter whether I, or anyone else, “gets it” or not. I’m sure there are those who would find some of the paddling activities I enjoy tedious, toilsome, dull, whatever. (Its pretty hard to make the portaging many of us do seem like an enjoyable activity, for that matter.) That’s OK, they don’t have to “get it”. (But I sure did enjoy seeing the Milky Way last weekend with no light pollution and not a man made sound… the early dawn mists rising off the river, the call of cranes and the squeak of sand underfoot . If someone doesn’t “get” that then I am most grateful that they weren’t out there taking up good camping sites.)There’s no good and bad here, just what we enjoy and have access to.



The whole kayak surfing thing looks like a hoot, and develops skills that aren’t required for other aspects of paddle sport. I have nothing but respect for those who do that. Same with the big water expedition kayakers and their off shore navigation in foggy tidal currents or the big water open canoe whitewater folks. My hats off to guys who make long portages across the tundra and deal with grizzlies in order to see muskoxen. I “get” that just as I “get” surfing, though I’m not in a position to do any of these things often enough to get good enough at them to claim expertise in them.

(And I’d hope that there might be enough others here who share interests in paddling fields they can’t actively participate in that the rather aggressive “who cares if you don’t get it” attitude doesn’t dominate. We all share a love of paddling and our shared interests hopefully outweigh our relatively minor differences. Good chance we all can enjoy and learn something from others here at least occasionally.)



Same with mountaineering. I “get” it and respect those who do it. I respect AT through hikers and bicycle tourers also. I would have a hard time though, “getting” large scale promotional efforts to encourage unicycle touring, off-road unicycling, AT trail unicycling, a south col unicycle race, etc. It would take skill, no doubt, and I’d have a certain admiration for those dedicated enough to do it, but I can’t say I’d exactly “get” it. Would that really be a better way to do these things, or would it look to you, as it would to me, like a cynical attempt to dupe people into buying unicycles?



See what I mean?

paddleboarding for kayer article
California Kayaker Magazine had an article on paddleboarding for kayakers. It was the musing from a person who became a convert to paddleboarding after many years of kayaking (and as a kayaking instructor). Can be read online for free at http://www.calkayakermag.com/magazine.html - issue #9.



The magazine has been renamed with the newest issue to California Paddler Magazine, and it will have SUP content in each issue. Started with then most recent issue covering the basics of SUPs (types, sizes, etc.). can be read at the same link.

For apt. dwellers, or
for use in small recreation areas, I get it. Other than that, not so much. As above, I have noted that wimmin on paddle boards are always fit, and worthy of a double-take.

funny
"""“I have just been un able to find one single person who “stuck” with paddleboarding, and I know a LOT of folks into watersports here on the Gulf.”"""""



Funny, I know dozens in Pinellas County, several sponsored by major brands like Quickblade Paddles and YOLO Board. A bunch were over here on Saturday racing at the East Coast Paddleboard Championship.



Attendance at races is 5:1 SUP to kayak/surfski/oc-1 these days. Last race I went to I was like one of five surfskis and there were 50 or more SUP. Out of those SUP there were a lot of nubes but the top 20 or so were all good watermen and women.

I don’t get it, but only because it’s
not for me.



Why stand up to paddle when you can sit? Plus it seems kind of slow moving. On the other hand, you can get a better all over tan than you can kayaking.



As far as its longevity, I guess that depends on how many adherents it has. Windsurfing is not exactly a good comparison, since there are still a fair number of windsurfers out there.



Now, kiteboarding looks sort of exciting.

That’s why windsurfing is a fair
Comparison, because when the faddiness of SUP dies down, there still will be a decent number of SUPers out there. It’s here to stay, it just won’t be as high profile as it is now, just as windsurfing isn’t as high profile as it was in the 1980s. And just like windsurfing, the dabblers will sell their boards in garage sales once the buzz dies down, but the true enthusiasts will remain.

Games
Canoeing is a “better” game than kayaking because it requires more skill. SUPing is a better game than canoeing because it requires more skill. Maybe astro-physics is the best game of all. ??

Aaah but canoeing does not teach
many about sea sense.



In a kayak on the ocean I am always learning about that… The only bad type of paddling is spanking.



Some paddling is easy to learn and hard to master. It’s all good.

and if you have the right to call him on

– Last Updated: Jul-16-13 11:12 AM EST –

it, we have the right to call you the self-appointed forum cop.

Carry it with pride, it's quite obvious that it's beyond your ability to control.

I do have to ask why you'd spend so much time in forums you don't care for and conversing with people you think so little of.

you’re missing the point

– Last Updated: Jul-16-13 11:16 AM EST –

The OP wasn't that it didn't take ability. It's not a macho insult. The OP was that people didn't get the draw. I guess I don't see why that's a problem.

I watch F1 racing on TV. It's televised at odd hours on network affiliates because the appeal isn't enough to justify more. Sure they're great athletes. Does that mean everyone has to like it?

I don't get golf, but I'm sure the pros are athletes also.

good comparison

its all good and amusing!
my 18 year old daughter is dating a SUPer. We ran the upper new (Glade to the Sandbar in wv) a few weeks ago. My daughter and I kayaked and the boyfriend had an inflatable SUP. I got the speil at the put in about the great fitness benefits, vision advantages, and general wonderfulness of SUPs along with the myth that there is great whitewater in the middle of Summersville lake (but that’s a different topic).



I rather enjoyed seeing the young man getting worked in “grassy shoals.” It seems the leash was yanking him around pretty good as he swam through the standing waves which comprise the rapid.



In the flats he wasn’t real fast so it made for a nice float. I could talk to my daughter while he paddled to keep up.



The rest of the rapids involved a lot of swimming with the SUP. He seemed to have the most success kneeling.



I gave it a go at the take out. He advised me not to standup when getting on- it was quite rocky and he didn’t want to see me actually bleed. So I paddled out on my knees. I ferried a little bit but never even tried standing up. SUPs aren’t made for fat, over the hill guys, with bad knees. Its all I can do to climb out of bed in the morning with them knees so you think I’m gonna actually try standing up on board floatin’ out in the middle of the new river? It ain’t happenin’.



I’ve seen some very talented SUPers that I admire shredding playspots but these individuals are “park and players” as opposed to river runners.



Its all good. As long as it ain’t me tryin’ to do it.

If the “boyfriend” gets spanked a little bit bein’ hip that’s ok too. Bein’ cool has always had its price.



As a spectator, I believe I could learn to embrace the sport. Just as I embrace women’s beach volleyball purely for the athletic prowess these ladies possess.



As far as my own daughter, she would be allowed to compete. In a berkini- a berka with a bikini underneath. SUPs??? they beat the piercings, tats, dreads, texting, and some of the other stuff my daughter is into. Her boyfriend seems nice enough, so its all good. That bein’ said, seein’ a good beat down

was kinda nice …especially when it involves my daughters boyfriend.

i get it
I was just addressing the issues in the op and that others raised as to why they don’t get it.



In not sure I get it either, but its still cool, and not because of any of the reasons most people here have listed.



I don’t get mini coopers.



Ryan L.

ok that was a good read
Thanks.

Yep
Again, let me clarify that I am not “mocking” SUPPERS or the experience of paddleboarding. I just find it odd that I don’t understand the appeal, and yet SO MANY seem so enthusiastic about it



Kiteboarding - looks fun, not my thing

Golf - nice walk outdoors hitting a ball

Sailing - fun!

Windsurfing - looks like a blast

Innertubing - what’s not to like?

Swimming - water, goggles, fun!

Canoeing - love it

Kayaking - full bore addict



Then we come to SUPPING…standing on a large flat board with no cargo space and tripping around. It just has zero appeal to me, and I can find the appeal in most any watersport activity.



Also, the four people in my circle of friends who bought boards and “stopped liking it” almost immediately tends to cement my opinion that it is a fad.



When I questioned a couple of them on more detail they said:



“kindof a hassle to transport”

“more of a workout than a leisure activity”

“kayaking is more fun”

“felt kindof like a douche on the thing”



If SUPPING is yer thing, it’s cool…any time on the water is time well spent. I was just trying to get my head around what drives the SUP crowd.