What's Sup?
what! you didnt know hopping onto a SUP turns you into a instant legendary waterman?
A bloke I met at Snapper (he's a currumbin local) said he had 9 months out of the water after a kook on a sup tried to do a cutback, speared the board at him, broke 5 ribs, punctured his lung, he nearly drowned - its time these blokes were banned. Spoke to the Mayor of the Gold Coast, he said he wasn't aware of the problem. Let's make hime aware and get some numbers to keep them out of areas where surfers are. They can ride the swells out the back or stay in the river. They are too big, too heavy, too cumbersome, mainly ridden by blokes who cant surf so they are too dangerous. Someone could die if they are hit by one.
OK, here's both sides represented. I ride a 6'2 normally and regularly and have been for over 25 years. I can surf OK I reckon.
When the waves aren't great I ride a 9'2 SUP. It's light and very manoeverable much like a giant shortboard. It's fun to ride and it keeps me in the water so that when it's good I can still ride my 6'2 rather than getting fat and onto a 8'2 Mal. In fact I surf better on my shorty better now than I ever did before.
Am I a waterman? No and I hate the word as much as you do, in fact I probably hate guys on SUP's at my local breaks more than you do. They are intended for waves that you can't ride on a normal board, rangey outer banks, cross the river stuff. Uncrowded beach breaks, they open access to waves you wouldnt normally look at.
The real issue here is people with no surf experience taking it up. Kiteboarders, sail boarders etc etc. They've always been there learning but on normal boards less noticeable and with far less effect on others. There simply needs to be more effort on surf etiquette, danger and education. Perhaps it should be more thought through that to ride the surf on SUP it is expected that you ride normal boards first to learn the line up.
With regards to your comments about clowns etc, keep up the good work, I hope it becomes unfashionable soon. Oh and one more point, the funny thing about the Alley (my home of 26 years!) is that the greediest, grumpiest Mal riders that have always taken waves off people and been a danger to others are the most annoyed with the SUP's. Never wonder why.
Yes it is a trendy wankers toy that the corporate surfing community is trying to legitimise and push down our throats for another contest circuit and turn it into another cash cow.
There will be a contest at your local beach, coming to a beach near you soon.
We need to STAND UP and stop it happening.
Made popular by hero's and now ridden by total kooks.
difficult to control.
Ugly to look at.
'look at me now'
they stand out like a sore thumb and in many cases cause serious injuries when they collide.
How is a kook on a SUP any more dangerous than a kook on a 9'6 mal?
Just wrote an email to GSI (mactavish was advertising sups on another surf forecast website) about the sell out and the dangers to other surfers and kids in already crowded breaks.
How is a kook on a SUP any more dangerous than a kook on a 9'6 mal?
By: "blak"
They are both dangerous.
Kooks are dangerous.
Kooks should be riding a softboard down the beach, away from experienced surfers, or better still, they should continue to play cricket or rugby or whatever it is they were doing.
Maybe 'Blak' and other surfers out there hate 9'6 longboards and longboarders, fair enough, BUT they have been around for decades and they wont go away so get over it.
SUP's are new and the more people who say 'this is crap' and dont buy into the fashion, the more people who tell them to *^#^ &*% in the lineup, the more likely it is these hideous SUP's will end up on a rubbish tip, or the riders of SUP's will feel so pathetic they will only use them in a creek or a puddle.
alot of hot surfers ride standup paddle boards, they cant all be kooks.also I dont think the standard of your surfing defines wether your a kook or not, same as all hot surfers are not good blokes
A fool on any kind of board is a fool, same as people who try to define how others should enjoy the ocean, be it in the surf zone or out in the deep blue. Ride or use the equipment best suited to the conditions you have been blessed with and have fun. It's pretty simple. Realise how lucky you are, look beyond the end of your nose.
Wasting energy hating what others are doing is only destroying your own time and enjoyment. I would suggest your short time on this planet may be better served in a more positive mindset. Then again as the saying goes, 'The more you whinge, the longer god lets you live'. See you in the water, I'll be the guy with a huge smile hooting at your below average turns and telling you you're ripping whether you are or not.
I ride a short board and have a SUP for small days. There is no better feeling on small days than hassling out the mals that are out there greedily taking all the waves and giving em a taste of their own medicine. Seriously though any smart SUP rider should never ride amongst other surfers for safety. Problem is if you are getting good waves other surfers seem to gravitate toward you.
Lets all get together and design a "F-OFF SUP" rashie?
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
Oscar Wilde
Maybe 'Blak' and other surfers out there hate 9'6 longboards and longboarders, fair enough, BUT they have been around for decades and they wont go away so get over it.
By: "hodaddy"
Not at all mate. One of weapons of choice is a 9'1 longboard. Ive always ridden them.
My point was simply, a kook is dangerous regardless of what he is riding.
I know plenty of guys riding SUPs around here that can hold their own any day of the week on a shortboard, so dont label them all as kooks.
And I think you will find that SUPs have been a big thing on the North Shore for years, so it's not like they are flavour of the month.
It seems to me that there is an ever growing number of blokes on stand up paddle boards nowadays. Can someone please tell me why?
Nothing frustrates me more than seeing the clown club paddling up the beach to where your surfing. Is it some secret watermans club or just another trendy wankers toy?
By: "ryno"
It goes back to the roots of surfing when the Duke was around I guess.
i'm with seethesea, a goose is a goose - sup, mal, or just hungry - i ride a sup up to 2ft just to stay surfing, but never in real waves. i love sitting 20 feet outside the mals - just as they love sitting outside anyone on a proper shortboard.
sup's are here to stay, just like mal's - so surf early, late, when its big etc, try and avoid crowds - sure thing is 10am any 3ft saturday morning at bells, manly, snapper, noosa, yallingup has and will always be a shitfight
right on guys,
A recurring theme through these forum posts is how crowded the surf is and all the problems associated with that; injuries, ego friction, dysfunctional surfcrafts, lack of rules, lack of etiquette.
It is only going to get worse as more people are learning to surf.
Maybe the present moment in time will be looked back on as a cross roads in surfing etiquette? Maybe the surf community can rise up above it all and set some parameters without the aid of governments laws, cops and all that crap that we want to escape on land.
I hope so.
We are all just crew wanting to go for a surf and have a good time,
These things are for goatboaters suffering from haemeroids.
How can you sit down and paddle with piles?
The future:
I ,am with malibumick.Call them what they are, stand up goatboats SUG
A recurring theme through these forum posts is how crowded the surf is and all the problems associated with that; injuries, ego friction, dysfunctional surfcrafts, lack of rules, lack of etiquette.
It is only going to get worse as more people are learning to surf.
Maybe the present moment in time will be looked back on as a cross roads in surfing etiquette? Maybe the surf community can rise up above it all and set some parameters without the aid of governments laws, cops and all that crap that we want to escape on land.
Well done hodaddy, the real problem outlined perfectly. Tribal law is what we need and if you notice learners doing the wrong thing all we need to do is politely let them know where they are going wrong. Pity its also a great way to stuff up your own session when they tell you to get stuffed. How about Tribal Law(Nat Young) signs at every surf break. Get you mates together, buy one, and put it up yourself
I have a bit of a problem with these signs and rules. I can't see that they are going to make the slightest difference. A kook is a kook is a kook. A greedy local is still a greedy local. Worse they over simplify what is inevitably a complex process. Inside guy has right of way? What about when the section is going to shut down and leave maybe a 20% of getting around it while another surfer is on the high point of the peak perfectly positioned. What sense does that make? Surfer who's furthest out? The most likely to miss it altogether. The surfer who has been waiting the longest? Probably the least competent and most likely to stuff it completely.
Personally I think we are much better to maintain the slightly complex,anarchic, freeform systems of priority that have served us pretty well over the years. As for SUPs, goatboats etc. You cannot legislate for common sense. Yes you may be able to surf your SUP but it is still beyond the bounds of common sense to surf through a thick crowd on a small peak including young kids on body boards as I saw at Mona Vale the other week.
It seems to me that there is an ever growing number of blokes on stand up paddle boards nowadays. Can someone please tell me why?
Nothing frustrates me more than seeing the clown club paddling up the beach to where your surfing. Is it some secret watermans club or just another trendy wankers toy?