SUP - Stand Up Paddling

Maui has always been a steering pot for a lot of different surfing and windsurfing trends. Some of them grew up to be bigger, like kiting and some stayed in a niche. But all of them have something in common – they are fun. Stand Up Paddling combines traditional hawaiian canoe paddling with long board surfing. Being on the water, gettting a full body core work out and being social at the same time is not combined in too many sports nowadays but Stand Up Paddling is definitely making its way right in there.

Paddling on oversized longboards
The group around watermen like Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Robby Naish, Buzzy Kerbox or Shaun Ordonez socialized paddle surfing and brought it to an extreme level. In the past years you were able to see people paddling down the coast on oversized longboards. Several major surfing publications also picked up the trend and by now you can see SUP boards on cars from Maui to California, South Africa, Australia, Japan and Europe’s coast line.

Versatility of Stand Up Paddling
The versatility obvious lies within the surfing part. Stand Up Paddling gives a new aspect not only to old time surfers but also to first timers. First of all, when you stand up on the board you will find that you are able to see the waves much easier since you are higher up. You are also faster to get to the right position in the lineup, earlier on the wave and last but not least it is easier to get to uncrowded spots. But please do keep in mind that others want to catch a few waves, too, so do not steal all the waves. Keep it fair.

Restore your balance
A lot of areas all around the world offer great surf but only light wind. Stick a rig on your stand up board and you will be able to catch waves and surf in conditions and places you have never imagined before. The almost lost tranquility of just gliding along and checking out whats going on around you was almost lost to the high strung performance of modern windsurfing. With stand up paddling the balance should be restored again. Plus, SUP gives you a great core workout!

Source: ikiteboarding.com
Photos: star-board-sup.com


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