How to Stand Up Paddle Surf

The Best of the Best How-to-SUP Stuff from Around the Globe — Just Add Water & Go!

What’s the Right SUP for Me?

Here’s some great SUP-buying advice from OG SUP over on Seabreeze.  It’s not board- or brand-specific, but it will help you greatly in general terms.  Have a read!

Will this Board Suit Me? This is a very interesting question that I get asked all the time so I just wanted to post some thoughts.
1) Any review you see on the web only holds true for the person posting the review. Do not take it as gospel, that’s why I always say I am a kook surfer, weigh 105kg and 6ft tall. If the person reviewing the board is 85kg that will make a huge difference to the way it performs. I find the 11ft PSH a pleasure to ride in OH where Casso would find it boat like.
Example: 2 weekends ago a friend of mine who weighs 125kg ish wanted to try out my 10′6 wide AA and I agreed, I was happy to help. I should point out he is coming off a 12 ft laird.
He tried the 10′6WAA out in almost perfect flat water conditions on the river and it went really well. In his opinion it paddled faster than the Laird for him. We then took the board to Main Beach it was 1ft gutless surf but was a good indication of at least whether he could also stand on the board in rougher conditions.
My friend could easily stand on the board but struggled to catch a wave as I believe the gutless wave would not pick up and drive the board with his weight on it.
Change the wave to a 3ft wave with good push and he may have been in the ball park. He did learn that different boards suit different conditions and that he loves the glide of the longer board.
After he left I jump straight on the 10′6 and caught every wave I paddled for, but II am at least 20kgs lighter.
2) Be aware that the conditions you try to ride the board in will have a huge impact on how the board performs! If you demo the board in flat water

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What New Board Should You Buy?

That’s a question that gets asked about a million times a day — and rightfully so, because SUP boards are nothing if not a major investment.  Most recently it was posed on the Seabreeze Australia forum — specifically regarding the Naish 9.6 vs the Starboard 9.8 — and the answers were quite illuminating in a number of different ways, in terms not only of those two boards but also about board buying in general.  Here’s the 1rst page of the three page thread (see Seabreeze Forums! - Stand Up Paddle Starboard 9′8" or Naish 9′6" for the entire thing!): 

I had the pleasure of riding Brooko’s Naish 9′6" in small waves yesterday and quite liked it.( thanks Brooko) Bit tippy but once I got the sea legs working I felt quite at home on it. image
I love my Starboard 11′2" and intended to only have the one board for waves but after trying something smaller I guess I’am going to have to part with some hard earned and buy myself a Xmas present  I would love some feed back if anyone has tried the Nasih 9′6" and Starboard 9′8".
Which board would be more user freindly in smaller waves. I only have a few months surfing experience and don’t believe Ill be heading out into anything over head high, or was that 3 ft waves.
Ian

hilly

Can you demo the 9 8?? Might help your decision.
I have the 9 8 it is fantastic in small waves.
More stable at 30 inches and less nose rocker than the 9 6.

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The Perfect SUP: One Man’s Search

I’ve taken this post wholesale from csx355’s most excellent blog, http://csx355.blogspot.com/. In his SUP career, he’s owned a good number of boards, none of them perfect, which is the way it’s always going to be for everyone, most likely. But that doesn’t keep him from looking. This post details that search, it’s a great, instructive read that we can all learn from and nod our heads to, and it starts a little something like this:

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It’s very simple - I want the perfect board. I want the board that will give me MOST of what I want in a single board and this post is going to be a bit of a brainstorming of the characteristics and traits that I like and dislike in the boards that I have and have ridden.

Read on for more of the search!

Great SUP Board Reviews

If you’re in the market for a new board, either beginner or more advanced, then probably the first stop you should make is not at your local SUP dealer’s showroom floor but at Ke Nalu’s online “Board Showcase” review of boards. Last time I looked it presented over 55 evaluations of SUP boards from, among others, Starboard, Naish, Angulo, PSH, ULI, Laird, Jimmy Lewis, C4, Oxbow and Amundson.

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Here’s how the introduction on the index page goes: “Each board result has pictures of the board, basic specifications (taken from the manufacturer) an excerpt from the company website or marketing materials (edited for space and to manage the hype), evaluators comments and a summary comment from us. Each set of quotes indicates a different evaluator. … Our summary comment comes from reviewing the evaluation checkboxes and considering the weight and skill level of each rider. Each board was evaluated for paddling, surfing and cruising.”

Really good stuff, really worth checking out: Ke Nalu Board Showcase

Ivan’s Board Buying Advice

If you can’t tell, I’m a huge Ivan van Vuuren fan. If there’s anyone in the world I wish I could ride like, it’s probably him. And, of course, Laird H. Anyway, he recently gave some smart advice about what to look for in a first board.captured_Image.png

Ivan says: Stand up paddle boarding is the fastest growing water sport in the world. Celebrities like Cindy Crawford, Pierce Brosnan and Matthew Mcconaughey are doing it. Top sportsmen from around the world are doing it too. 8x surfing champion Kelly Slater, 7x Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong, along with many top kiteboarders and windsurfers around the world are doing it too. It is without a doubt one of the best forms of cross training as it works the core, legs and upper body all at the same time- plus it’s tons of fun.
When starting, there are so many different configurations as far as fins, boards, paddles, deck pads and leashes are concerned that it can get confusing real quick. So let’s take a quick look at some options that will get you out on the water with the most amount of fun.

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What’s a Good SUP to Start on?

A guy at the local surfshop, when asked that question, replied, “It depends.” How unhelpful is that? A whole bunch of unhelpful, is what. So: the question stands. What’s a good starter SUP?

image It used to be the Jimmy Lewis 11′ was the answer, but that’s changed some. I like the Starboards, as do a few of the guys at www.seabreeze.com.au. Check out what a poster on that site recently said:

I totally agree with you blokes in regards to learning SUP. But the thing I really like about Starboard is that the boards are all 30″ wide. Both the 11′2 and 9′8 would be sweet to learn on ….

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