SUP! (Stand Up Paddleboarding)

[swriverstone]

Okay, I know they aren't canoes...or are they? Just wondering who here has tried SUP (stand up paddleboarding)?

I'm REALLY excited about this and am going to rent one for a week at the beach later this month to give it a try. It's a FAST-growing sport, probably the fastest-growing paddlesport out there now...

...and who better than C-BOATERS to show people how you're SUPPOSED to use a single blade?

Seriously...I've been watching vids of SUP paddlers---including many who are so-called "experts," and it's mind-boggling how lousy their single-bladed technique is. It's as if the whole SUP industry thinks using a single-bladed paddle was invented with stand up paddleboards. <rolling eyes> I can't wait to get my hands on one.

More to the point, I've heard people are starting to paddle whitewater on these. Given what good surfers do on their boards (in terms of leaning and maneuverability) I have no doubt that given practice, a good C-boater could easily slice 'n dice class 3-4 whitewater on a SUP. Granted, they'd be pretty tough to roll, LOL...but still.

So I'd be interested to hear what other C-boaters think about this. Maybe it's just a fad and will die down...but right now it's huge and still growing.

Scott

[Bob P]

I tried it once for about 20 minutes. My biggest frustration was the skeg. I'm used to turning by pivot, and that's not possible with a skeg. With a smaller (or non-existent) skeg, my C-Strokes would have actually worked. I was probably too far forward on the board too, really dragging the bow on turns.

[Smurfwarrior]

I do it, and like it. Its just stand up canoeing...same strokes. Turning with a skeg is easy, you just have to step back and squirt the tail of the board and pivot, like a slalom decked boat.

[hazardharry]

looks more fun on a river than the static ocean.

[Mike W.]

I haven't tried it. Folks regularly run the downtown section of the James through Richmond. One observation: When you flip, make SURE both legs go off the same side of the board...or wear the best cup you can find

[TNbound]

I'll be the first to say I despise SUP and don't see why it has taken off. (Except the whole chicks in bikinis thing, I guess that is a little bit of a draw.)

I tried it out on a lake a few years ago a trade show and found it to be basically what I expected; slow, unstable, and clumsy. Why anyone would choose a craft completely devoid of grace over a canoe or even a kayak is beyond me, unless the practicality of a real boat is for some reason too much for them. The whitewater aspect especially baffles me. May as well just swim the rapids in the first place.

As a note, the agility of a surf board on a wave has nothing in common with a SUP being paddled down river. A board on a wave is planing while a board going down river is not.

[swriverstone]

Hmm...interesting perspectives. I still want to try it, if only to say I have. Perhaps the boards are clunkier and heavier than I thought they were? Also, it seems like you could paddle them in a similar style to a flatwater Olympic C-1 (but maybe not?)

Theoretically I don't see why you couldn't do on a SUP anything you do in a slalom C-1---if the SUP was designed well. Sure, it would take more balance (since your CG is so much higher), but you'd also have INSANE leverage over the board if you're good (a lot more than you have in a C-boat even with thigh straps). Of course if you're no good, you'd just go flying. LOL

It definitely may be one of those fads where once everyone realizes how hard it is to be graceful and paddle one well, they say "Screw this" and go back to sit-on-tops.

Scott

[TNbound]

Theoretically I don't see why you couldn't do on a SUP anything you do in a slalom C-1---if the SUP was designed well.

I could see not being at all connected to the board as a bit of a hinderance to any sort of slalom boat-like performance.

[sbroam]

TNBound - I suspect like other water craft, they aren't all created equal. I tried a big LL Versaboard - it's heavy and far from nimble, but trying to ferry across some class I-II riffles made it interesting. I latertried a high end composite board on a canal and that thing had potential to be fast and maneverable - just too small for me. I'd be interested in trying a an adequately sized high performance inflatable one to see how it works on a river. However... at the prices they are now and with all the boats I have now, I'll scratch that itch by stand up paddling one of our canoes.

[woro90]

SBroam is right: Get a SUP paddle or a long regular one and use it in your traditional canoe. Once you get the hang of it, it's possible to tackle easier whitewater this way, with much better view, longer reach and more fun. For sport paddlers it's yet another way to run a rapid you have grown out of, for wilderness lovers it's a way to see more.

[TNbound]

SBroam is right: Get a SUP paddle or a long regular one and use it in your traditional canoe. Once you get the hang of it, it's possible to tackle easier whitewater this way, with much better view, longer reach and more fun. For sport paddlers it's yet another way to run a rapid you have grown out of, for wilderness lovers it's a way to see more.

Standing in a traditional canoe is where it is at. Don't forget how much easier it makes it to see fish when you have your fly rod with you!

[ohioboater]

I watched a guy SUP the lower Yough this past weekend on some massively wide rec board. Best I can tell, he swam most of the rapids. The ones he didn't swim involved squatting low and riding a low brace. That might all have been a factor of the board and the boarder, but it sure didn't look like much fun. But I'll reserve judgment until I've had a chance to try it myself some time.

[sbroam]

The first time I saw somebody standing in a canoe was about 18-20 years ago when a local kayaker came out with a homemade paddle and a small flat water canoe. He is from the Phillipines and said the folks back home paddled small boats that way and he wanted to try it - he made it look easy, but Bob has always made paddling look easy Then I tried poling on a trip in the Okefenokee - it seemed efficient, but just didn't appeal to me. I never really got the bug to try stand up paddling until I saw Eli at Downriver Nationals on the French Broad a couple of years ago - he made it look easy, but then Eli has always made paddling look easy I called up the new owners of Mohawk Paddles and got them to make me a stand up scale paddle - it was pretty reasonable. I've tried it a few times up to class II. I'll certainly do more.

One interesting use I found was as a way to demonstrate canoe strokes for a group on the water. Standing up, you are easy to see and the over sized paddle makes it easy to show what you are doing.

[Kris]

Look at this guy on 57'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQvq01XG ... ture=share" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Regards Kris

[PatrickOC1]

http://www.fullgnarlz.com/videos/video/ ... arlz-style" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;