teatrea said... Great interview and I believe sup will eclipse surfing in participation numbers , not in the actual surf though. And yes the popular beaks are already overcrowded ,but a pecking order soon develops and when the surf gets a bit big the crowds soon disappear anyway. Much of it is herd mentality , their are plenty of spots to surf that are uncrowded just a stone throw or less from the popular breaks. This in my opinion is what makes sup so great. The only problem in surfing is surfers who weren't shown to share by Mummy and Daddy when they where grommets
I see your point, Teatree, but I reckon there's more to it. Sharing is a major issue, to be sure, but after listening to the interview my original concerns would appear to be borne out.
I have no issue with blokes starig up a sup tour and enjoying competitive surfing, with people being introduced to it for its obvious fitness, stoke and outdoor elements, or with people making a living from it either competitively or through industry/business. However, Kanga's words give more than a hint of the motivations, IMHO. Both he and the announcer make it clear that "the plot is already laid out" for SUP when we can look to the evolution of surfing as a reference point for what is likely to happen. Fair enough, but surely they should also understand that the very high (stratospheric) growth in it that they forecast might also deliver problematic issues such as overcrowding and inexperienced people being out in lineups they're just not ready for.
Alas, there was no mention of the downsides, and I got the distinct impression that because Kanga is into it now, he has an appetite for doing to SUP what he did for surfing in the 80s in the US. That may be his prerogative, but I reckon these blokes need to take a deep breath and consider what their aspirations for the growth of the sport might mean for those of us who actually buy the gear from the industry which sponsors and supports the growth. They even suggest at one stage that it's going to go gangbusters and if you;re in business, you better hurry up and get in now. It just strikes me that in their pursuit of money/fame/lifestyle, whatever combo it is, they're quite happy to compromise the experience for the rest of us. A bit like the land developers selling the new estate with images of an uncrowded beach, all the while knowing that the extra people who buy into their PR will move in and mean its rarely uncrowded.
I got some comfort where he talks about so many old blokes taking it up and transferring from mals to SUPs, and with kids learning both SUP and surfing and transitioning between them. That might slow things up a little - but the kind of growth they're seemingly after reminds me of the kind of unsustainable growth we see in other aspects of society (housing, for example) where we kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
Like most issues, things can grow at a good pace or too quickly, and it pains me to hear people promoting what I consider to be the too quick option when the lessons should have been learnt a long time ago. There might be a lot of waves we can now surf on a SUP, but they're still finite in number, a bit like the other things that have been stuffed up by too many people or too much development. Sure, SUP will grow, but I reckon we should hurry slowly and do it intelligently.
