By Peter Pan..
Love them or hate them, the SUP explosion is here to stay. Best compared to the popular mixed martial arts fad, SUP (or stand-up paddle board) is a combination of surfing, kayaking and canoeing. The sport has hit the U.S. mainland like surfing did in the 1960’s. The difference however, is that this new sport can be accomplished in any body of water including lakes, rivers, ponds and the ocean. This benefit has made it attractive to a much more diverse audience.
“Learning to ride an SUP on flat water is much easier than surfing,” said Jim Blakeney, local rider who is a professional kayaker and SUP rider. “Handling a stand-up paddle board in surf is another matter,” he said. “But you can work your way up to that, starting in small waves.”
He did note that a surfing stand-up paddle board is shaped to ride waves and not as stable as a flat water version. “The bigger, thicker and flatter boards are made for flat water and hard to handle in surf. The smaller and narrower boards are made specifically for surf and not good for flat water.”
Jim also mentioned the importance of using a good paddle. “There are two types of paddles, one for surfing and one for flat water,” he said. “And the paddle should be cut so that the top of the paddle is around one foot over the height of the rider. This makes a huge difference in how you can move the board in the water.”
Blakeney, who was the 2003 National Kayak White Water Champion, and recent winner of a National Whitewater SUP Championships surfing division event held on the Colorado River, noted that “You are certainly going to see a big cross over with kayakers and surfers. Stand-ups offer an all around body workout even when the ocean is flat. I have seen a huge surge in lessons and it is still early in the season.”
There is no doubt that taking one of these boards out into open water and paddling it for an hour or two, will give your body a great work out. The legs get a solid work out by the effort to constantly keep you balanced on the board. The stomach and lower back are constantly in motion while you are paddling and the arms and shoulders probably get the most work out, stroking the paddle from side to side.
While this is a wonderful sport that can get the entire family involved with there is also a dark side that must be realized. Certain individual paddle board riders will go out in crowded surf line-ups and make a bad name for the sport. They do this by taking off farther out than the traditional surfers and taking every good wave that comes through. If and when these individuals do lose control of their huge boards, they can seriously injury the surfers in the water.
This has begun to occur more frequently at local breaks, including Matunuck, Pilgrim Point, and K-39. Confrontations have happened with the surfing population, many of which feel that if these stand-up paddlers had the ability to surf on a traditional surfboard, they would not be riding these SUP’s.
As one local Point Judith surfer put it; “The pecking order has been altered. The lowest were the body boarders, followed by the short boarders, with long boarders snaking all the waves. Now the SUP’ers are taking all the waves from the long boarders as well as the others in the water.”
According to sources in Newport, things have become even more heated due to the limited space in the surfing areas at First and Second beaches. There have been instances of collisions and confrontations on crowed days.
The Eastern Surfing Association recently incorporated a new Stand-up Paddle Board division in it’s competition venue, and is planning a big SUP race and surfing contest on July 4th at the Narragansett Town Beach. “We think that these boards certainly have their place on the beach,” said ESA Competition Director Mario Frade. “I think that the contest on July 4th will be a lot of fun. The ESA will even arrange for competitors to rent the boards if necessary, so the event is a success.”
In order to encourage the new sport the local Eastern Surfing Association has worked with an area surf shop in introducing the standup paddle boards for beginners. The ESA is offering free try-outs and clinics on certain days and locations in the Narragansett area. Interested riders can contact the ESA by email at bicsurf@hotmail.com for more information.
An ESA rated contest is scheduled for this weekend with the priority location being the Narragansett Town Beach. The competition is on call for Friday night after 6:00 PM and interested surfers can call the ESA hotline at 401-789-7890 for updates.
