You are not the target market
A local paddling shop is thinking of going big into SUPs and asked me to assess the market for them. My research revealed that current paddlers aren’t the primary market. They don’t expect to convert a significant portion of paddlers who embrace the virtues of kayaks and canoes.
Their primary target is people who want to exercise for fitness and think it would be cool to do it with “surfer” motif. A secondary segment would be those who live in warmer climates with clear waters and stuff to see under the water, which would include paddlers in those areas. Paddlers get some of the marketing budget but the makers who go about this methodically are looking more mainstream for the volume.
I tried it and was not bowled over. Of course, when the murk clears around here, the view is old washing machines and engine blocks.
I though it was just me
Glad I’m not the only one that doesn’t get the attraction to stand up and paddling. My wife thinks it’s the greatest thing going. I just think it’s a dumb idea.
Very popular 'round here
Both for flat water and for whitewater. I got an inflatable that I take on trips - tons of fun for the kids and I get a workout too.
I’d rather SUP than canoe. But paddle boarding (not SUP, just paddle boarding) - this I don’t get either…
The OP is wrong on most points though, except probably about his fiends selling their boards… The SUP is a lot more maneuverable than a kayak (but one needs to know how to turn it), is fun, is different. Not perfect, but does things we can’t do in kayaks.
What figures are you looking at?
The assertion seemed highly unlikely considering the wind resistance and obstacles to getting full body drive into an SUP stroke. So, I checked results for some of the bigger pro SUP races for unlimited boards, including some billed as world in scope, and the winning speeds ranged from 5.6 to 6.0 mph. We regularly exceed that in our amateur kayak races and the distances are even longer. And the pros (comparing to the pro sup results) are frequently at least a mph faster than us.
i did the same thing.
I thought for sure I could out pace a SUP of any length. If I was in a ski or a fsk I would probably would, but in an average 17 ft sea kayak, there are plenty of high level sup guys easily capable of beating me. The race I am specifically referencing was a 30 mile race. Some of the SUPs shot out in front of me, and I thought surely that full body stroke would tire them out and they would come back. It never happened. I finished averaging just north of 5 mph.
Now of course, it takes some of the better racers to do this, but it is certainly possible. The assumption that SUPs are slow and cumbersome is an uneducated one.
Ryan L.
It’s better because its harder
I had 10 years of advanced sea kayaking behind me when I discovered SUP 3 years ago. I don’t kayak anymore. (Got a Valley Nordkapp lv for sale cheap) Like anything else it is not for everyone but I work with and am friends with more than a dozen (former) hard core sea kayakers who do not kayak much anymore (not really at all) We are all SUPing now. But it is definitely not for everyone. The people who are attracted to SUP tend to be very physically active. They are the kinds of people who would join a Crossfit Gym rather than a traditional health club. People who would run a Tough Mudder race rather than a road race. They are not people who just want to go for a “relaxing paddle”, though you can certainly do that.
There are a couple features of SUP that are very attractive to this type of paddler, features that sea kayaking lacks.
- SUP is harder to do well in challenging sea conditions. (This is appealing)
- SUP is a better workout, kayaking or canoeing can’t even come close. (This is appealing)
- You can see better from a SUP than from a kayak or canoe, both above the water and below the water.
- Less stuff to deal with.
Just different strokes for different folks.
Give it a try, you might like it. Just don’t take up surfing, surfing sucks- don’t do it.
Tougher?
Any paddling without a rudder is tougher than with one for obvious reasons, but I think SUPing no harder than canoeing. I think canoeing is probably a little tougher because canoes dont have a keel to keep you sort of straight.
I will give you that SUPers are better looking on average =)
Agree that SUP has many benefits …
But disagree with your point #2. Sit down paddling can be an excellent full-body workout, especially if you have a boat that allows you to paddle in a knees-up (racing) style and use proper technique.
Agreed that not many sea kayakers actually paddle that way – but not many SUP paddlers actually paddle in a way that maxes out their muscles and aerobic capacity either.
Points 2 and three…wrong.
“2) SUP is a better workout, kayaking or canoeing can’t even come close. (This is appealing)
3) You can see better from a SUP than from a kayak or canoe, both above the water and below the water.”
You forgot about canoe poling.
Not paddling
Come on Steve, I didn’t forget that but it’s not paddling.
yup. and the market described
sounds like a group of kayakers.
SUP’s
I want to second the thoughtful reply on this discussion about SUP’s. Brilliant, and anyone quoting 'Wind in the Willows" wins major points!
I was recently out paddling with my wife and went past a family, parents and several kids, having a grand old time playing on SUPS. I commented ,like others on this forum, that “I didn’t get the appeal”, thought it was odd and silly, what can you really do with these things after all, etc. etc. dripping paddler condescension. My wife , a very experienced paddler, white water, sea kayaking,etc. said ,as a pediatric occupational therapist, that she was just glad to see these kids out here playing on the water, learning how to balance, falling down,getting up, laughing, being goofy, and NOT being inside stuck to a computer, getting some exercise, learning to love the water. whatever it took to get kids ,and others, out on the water and using their bodies on a HUMAN powered craft was OK with her! Lesson learned for me. Will it “stick”, be just a fad? Who knows ,who really cares.As Spadefish suggests let’s just acknowledge them as fellow “watermen” (people!), give them a thumbs up ,and smile as we paddle by. We are all in this together!
SUP’s
I want to second the thoughtful reply on this discussion about SUP’s. Brilliant, and anyone quoting 'Wind in the Willows" wins major points!
I was recently out paddling with my wife and went past a family, parents and several kids, having a grand old time playing on SUPS. I commented ,like others on this forum, that “I didn’t get the appeal”, thought it was odd and silly, what can you really do with these things after all, etc. etc. dripping paddler condescension. My wife , a very experienced paddler, white water, sea kayaking,etc. said ,as a pediatric occupational therapist, that she was just glad to see these kids out here playing on the water, learning how to balance, falling down,getting up, laughing, being goofy, and NOT being inside stuck to a computer, getting some exercise, learning to love the water. whatever it took to get kids ,and others, out on the water and using their bodies on a HUMAN powered craft was OK with her! Lesson learned for me. Will it “stick”, be just a fad? Who knows ,who really cares.As Spadefish suggests let’s just acknowledge them as fellow “watermen” (people!), give them a thumbs up ,and smile as we paddle by. We are all in this together!
Bottom Line
SUP Boards are just like abortions. If you don’t want one, don’t get one!
The SUP forward stroke is an interesting combination of he WW and Marathon forward strokes, except one torso rotates from the toenails up.
We don’t weight forward to turn like in most paddlecraft. The skeg requires we weight aft and skid the bow/tip like a Harold deal whitewater hull.
Whatever, it’s fun and enough different to be interesting.
SUP’s
remind me when that short lived fad snowboards, first hit the ski slopes back in the '80’s. Anyone remember those ridiculous things ?
I just won a 3day rental
I just won a 3 day two stand up paddle boards rental. Like some here I think paddle Boards are just a fad that will be gone in a few years.I have ZERO interest in paddle boards. As they were drawing the ticket for the prize I looked over to a friend and said I hope I dont win that, LOL.Funny part I never win anything now I win somthing I dont want.
Ps:I dont like snowboards BUT they do pretty much the same thing as skis were paddle boards dont realy do the same as a kayak or canoe.