DailyHouse.com ? Standup Paddling Is Not Surfing?

Hot or not? That is the question aimed at Standup Paddling (commonly nicknamed SUP). Yeah, yeah, yeah, her boards might be too tall and too fat and only ridden by old men. But, even though the youngest child of the watersports family gets slapped around by its older sisters (surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, etc), SUP has already attracted dates with many of the ocean?s studs.

The sport was invented by big wave surfer Laird Hamilton a few years ago. He first started it at Ho?okipa Beach Park on Maui. I got a first hand look at the early stages of the sport?s evolution. To the sport?s credit, SUP was started in big waves. With breaking swells over 18 feet and with all channels closing out, Laird would crank through the surf to catch extra big, extra long rides. The paddle seemed to give him much more mobility, which translated to being able to ride on days that traditionally would have been too big and messy to surf. So, even at its conception, the sport was about riding big, gnarly waves.

However, Laird, despite his famed strength, is not strong enough to single-handedly make SUP accepted by surfing? no matter how much he runs underwater with rocks. Luckily, though, many other top watermen are also courting SUP? notably Dave Kalama, the famous windsurf champion and big wave surfer. Kalama is both a pioneer of windsurfing and big-wave tow-surfing, so I really respect his opinions on ocean sports. Kalama and his crew put together a film called H2indO that tries to establish SUP as being just as hot as her sister, surfing. The trailer is below, and in it, you can see defenses against accusations against SUP? it?s not surfing, it?s not dangerous, etc. And while these defenses seem odd and unwarranted and an old eastern European girlfriend of mine used to say ?guilty runs unchased,? these accusations are actually quite vocally voiced within the surfing community, so addressing them is only natural. SUP is still young and yet to shed her baby fat, so there is plenty time for SUP to become mainstream, which seems to be the goal of pros like Kalama (ironically that would mean more crowding on the water? something nobody wants).

As long as they?re not on my waves, I love to see people having fun on the ocean? no matter the sport. Personally, I think SUP works best when the conditions are NOT surfable with a traditional surfing sport. If the waves are too sectiony for longboarders and shortboards to ride, and with no wind to windsurf, then the waves are normally unrideable, but with a SUP board, the rider can generate enough speed with his big board and paddle to really ride the wave. The same is true in big, messy, windless surf. So while SUP may not be able to compete with surfing or windsurfing when the conditions are good, SUP is the right option when things aren?t perfect, which, let?s face it, is most of the time at most beaches around the world. So, to answer the question ?hot or not?: after a few beers or when there?s no other option, then yeah, she?s hot enough.

H2indO Movie Trailer from H2indO on Vimeo.

Source: http://dailyhouse.com/2011/08/11/standup-paddling-is-not-surfing/

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