MickPC said..
I think SUP's are a good board to have in the quiver for when its tiny or flat. So you can still get out & have a bit of fun on the water. I ride short boards & longboards about equally & dust off the SUP in summer to ride some ankle to knee high waves. For me they're a good board to have in your quiver.....however I do not think they are a good board in bigger waves & yes they are very dangerous in crowded conditions no matter how good you think you are. Surfing background or not.

If I get out on the SUP & there are a few people out I tend to end up surf coaching & wave spotting. Then grabbing left over waves or wide ones everyone is going to be too deep for. But there is usually no one else out on account of it being flat in everyone elses eyes.

I don't understand young people or people without some kind of injury preventing them from riding surf craft offering much greater performance opting to ride SUP's in all conditions. Dedicating themselves to this one board type. They might have a greater wave count, but sacrifice performance...the best thing about riding a SUP is how good a surfboard of longboard feels when you get off it.

Why the animosity towards SUP's a lot of people see it as cheating. SUP's can spot waves much sooner, get into a position of priority sooner & gain momentum earlier. Far too many take advantage of this & it sux seeing a SUP simply trimming across one of the waves of the day. I do have a lot of friends who ride SUP's & a lot of them are pretty good about not hogging waves. Things were pretty bad 5 or 6 years ago when the infestation began. But it does seem to have chilled at my local. Most of the SUP's will go & surf a certain section of reef. Longboarders on another & shortboarders on another. And if SUP's do come over to one of the other spots, if they exercise some etiquette there's no problems. You don't need to catch sets on a SUP, you can have a great time going for waves no one else would have otherwise caught. The best SUP rider I know does this, he catches wave after wave after wave. But no one gives a fark, coz they were waves no one else was gonna catch. He will often even stop paddling for a wave when he see's another person is likely to catch it.

I imagine Manly is very very different to my local being smack bang in the city. But if you utilize the strengths of the SUP, like their ability to ride small waves or waves with sectioning fat sections other boards won't glide through you can have heaps of fun...also if your able. Why not add another board to your quiver which is not a SUP to use on days suited to other surf craft. SUP's suck in wind unless your downwinding & there is usually a lot less crowd. They're also pretty hard to get out the back in bigger days with no channel or a point to paddle wide. The learning curve is a bit steeper, but well worth it

Legion said..


One point that's been mentioned a few times - please don't act as a spotter. Most of the more experienced surfing crew have spent years perfecting the art of reading the water and it gives an advantage in a crowded lineup. If someone's calling approaching waves it suddenly levels out the field and that advantage is lost. It's also super condescending. I'm sure beginners appreciate it though.

Bowerboy said..
... so I headed off to find a safe spot. On my way another surfer reached out and gave my board a shove causing me to fall off.

E T said..
oh dear me, the age old, "why do they hate us".

This is not new my lads. Surfers hate:-
- Ski riders.
- Belly boarders.
- SUP's
- Kneelos
- Clubbies.
and anyone else that is different to them.
Nothing new here at all. But what a lot, yes a lot, of SUPsurfers don't realise is that they may not have any prior surfing skills.
From observation many later day SUPsurfers have come from flat-water paddling to SUPsurfing.

There are a whole lot of skills that are needed to SUPsurf, not just paddling for a wave and riding it. the etiquette needs to be learned, the skills need to be learned and mostly you need to turn your brain on.
I have seen too many SUPsurfers paddle out and hog the waves. no wonder the surfers get pissed off. This is not to say that there are not a lot of arsewipe surfers out there who are wankers, there are heaps. But there are also a lot of dickhead SUPsurfers too.

Best to play by the rules. Remember that SUP's are big and heavy and often hard to control. Maybe think about how many people are in the water on any break, how close are you to other prone surfers, how many waves are you getting etc. etc. etc.

It's about sharing, even if the bad boys wont share, its about being safe even if others aren't, surfing is not something you walk into one day because you just brought a SUP.
Pay the dues, learn the skills, earn your place. Piss off out of the surf to flat-water if you are dangerous.

Turn your brain on if you enter the surf.

now before you label me:-
- Surfed for 38 years.
- SUP'd for nearly ten years in all categories.
- Respect all people in and out of the water.

Have fun, respect others and enjoy the waves.

ET.

Bowerboy said..
I wonder what is going to happen when people start foiling at some of these breaks!

LateStarter said..




If you're close enough to another surfer for him to just reach out and push you off your board you're clearly in the wrong.

There's no hope for you I'm afraid. Jump on Gumtree, sell your SUP and maybe pick up a nice set of golf clubs or a carbon road bike with some lycra.

Macaha said..




MickPC but you cant do those ridiculous dish pan turns on a shortboard or longboard.

micksmith said..




Just not trying hard enough