Surfing has it's benefits as well as SUP (stand up paddle) surfing does. Surfing is great if you want just a board that you can paddle yourself into and catch a wave - perhaps do a couple of tricks on the wave and you can socialise while waiting for sets. SUP surfing allows you to not only catch virtually ANY wave you want to - big or minute. Not only that, but you can paddle around just for exercise or socialise with fellow SUP surfers. The only problem is that the SUP set up is far more expensive than that of most surfing set ups. It's not a matter of which is better, but which most appeals, which you can afford, which aspects of the sports you like most, etc. Completely up to you.
THE high cliffs and green hills of La Jolla, Calif., are undeniably gorgeous, but the show going on in the water below them was positively dizzying. Golden Garibaldi fish swam among swaying leaves of kelp; stingrays and a small shark kicked up grainy clouds of sand. A dark reef loomed amid imposing waves as we approached the headland.
I was experiencing my first successful attempt at standup paddling on a surfboard, and the sensation of rowing upright across the glassy ocean without the energy of a swell made me feel like an astronaut on a spacewalk. Standing above the aquatic world like this turned surfing into an utterly new experience.
The idea of surfing with an oar had intrigued me ever since I’d first seen photos of Maui’s legendary big wave rider, Laird Hamilton, cruising down the long, perfect waves at Surfrider Beach in Malibu with a paddle. Later I met a standup paddle surfer during a big swell near Melbourne, Fla., who told me that the sport did wonders for his balance and let him gain more speed paddling for a wave. He also said that it made it far easier to spot sharks.
By CHRIS DIXON
Read More... On The New York Times
SurfSide Sports in Costa Mesa is having huge Snow Board Carnival for all of you Snow Birds. Up to 70% off last years snow gear. Great time to get all new gear for nothing.
Rentals:
Half Day: $35.00
8-12pm or 1-5pm
All Day : $65.00
8am - 5pm
Lessons:
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You may contact us by phone or via the internet:
Phone:
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Paddle Surfing Rentals and Lessons
If you are going to be in Maui and need to a Paddle Surf Lesson or Rent Boards Maria Souza with www.standuppaddlesurfschool.com will get you setup.
Stand up paddle surfing, or SUP, is a surface water sport, a variant of surfing where the surfer uses a paddle to move through the water while standing on a surfboard. Stand up paddle surfing is derived from its Polynesian roots. The Hawaiian translation is Ku Hoe He'e Nalu; to stand, to paddle, to surf, a wave.
The popularity of the modern sport of SUP has its origination in the Hawaiian Islands. In the early 1960s the Beach Boys of Waikiki would stand on their long boards and paddle out with outrigger paddles to take pictures of the tourists learning to surf. This is where the term "Beach Boy Surfing" originates, another name for Stand Up Paddle Surfing.
In the early 2000s Hawaiian surfers such as Dave Kalama, Brian Keaulana, Rick Thomas, Archie Kalepa and Laird Hamilton started SUP as an alternative way to train while the surf was down. As the years went on they found themselves entering events such as the Moloka'i to O'ahu Paddleboard Race and Mākaha's Big Board Surfing Classic. Now you can find Stand Up Paddle Surfers in many of the Outrigger and Paddleboard races as participants within their own division.
One difference between the modern idea of surfing and SUP is that the latter does not need a wave. In SUP, one can paddle on the open ocean, in harbors, on lakes, rivers or any large body of water. One of the advantages of Stand Up Paddle Surfing is the angle of visibility. Because of the standing height over the water one can see both deeper into the water and further across the surface of the water, allowing better visualization of features others lower above the water may not be able to see, whether it is the marine life in the harbors, lakes and coves or the incoming swells of the ocean marching on the horizon.
For an amazing article about John Zabotocky, the worlds oldest Stand Up Paddle Surfer see the C4 website (who also make excellent paddles - its the ones we use !).
UPDATE :
Thanks to Andre at mylocallineup.com, an excellent surfing and SUP website, has alerted me the this picture :
The picture was taken by Peter Henry Emerson in 1886. It's called "Quanting the Marsh Hay." It is likely that the photo was taken in the East Anglian fenlands in the UK, as that is where Peter Emerson took most of his photographs.
The main question is he holding a punt or a paddle? I think I know the answer, given the location, but lets not spoil the moment.
I would like to believe that East Anglia is the origional source for flat water stand up paddling, so lets not ruin that dream.
Check out the guy in the background, now that guys board has a little too much thickness in the rail.
Surfer Laird Hamilton rides a business wave
Laird Hamilton demonstrates stand-up paddling with a Laird Paddle Surf paddle on the waves at Malibu.
MALIBU, Calif. — On a sunny weekday afternoon, a lone surfer skims across the water at one of America's most famous coastlines. But this is no normal surfer, nor is he riding a typical board.
Armed with a long black paddle in his hand, Laird Hamilton, revered as a god among surfers, stands on a massive 12-foot board and glides effortlessly across the ocean. His 6-foot-3, 215-pound body casts a silhouette that, for a moment, makes him look like a Polynesian warrior traversing the ocean in Hawaii. Today, Hamilton is stand-up paddling, a sport he's embraced and for which he is unofficial spokesman.
PHOTO GALLERY: Laird Hamilton rides a business wave
Stand-up paddling, a variation of surfing in which you stand on a board and propel with a paddle almost like a kayak, is taking beaches by storm, largely due to its endorsement by Hamilton.
The sport stands to change ocean recreation, much as snowboards changed the ski slopes. It is also the best chance yet for the 44-year-old waterman, famous for riding skyscraper-size waves big enough to make other surfers wet their wetsuits, to morph into an entrepreneur and find a way to profit from his talents in the water.
By Matt Krantz, More to read at - USA TODAY
Nice quality video I'd thought be nice to share. This was the "Stand Up Paddle Surfing Competition on Oahu's South Shore - Bowls and Queens"
Thanks to http://www.standupzone.com/ for the video
