Paddle Showcase

Boy, did we get a lot of heat on this. I should have made an announcement right away, but we decided to do the Paddle showcase in the next issue. I felt the board showcase would just overshadow the paddles, so I made an executive decision (good) and didn’t tell anyone (bad).

So here’s the plan for issue two–it’s the Paddle issue. We haven’t ditched the original plan, which is to feature distance paddling and downwinders, because a paddle showcase seems to fit nicely into that theme anyway.

One thing is clear from the evaluation–Paddlesurfers love good paddles, and what constitutes “good” is even more personal than boards. Fortunately we have hit on a pretty good way of talking about the characteristics of a paddle that closely translates into suggestions that might narrow the field for you.

The choices are getting broader. There’s some new ideas we need to try. The downside to all this is that my personal paddle collection and the list of paddles I want is growing. The paddle you want in the surf may NOT be the paddle you’ll love for a downwinder or flatwater.

There’s some other challenging choices too. For instance, if you order a Malama or a Gillespie, at some point you’ll have to put it in the water, which simply feels like vandalism. At $330, a Malama is an expensive wood paddle (worth every nickel), but very cheap art. Hang it on your wall and wake up every morning looking at it. A good start to the day.

Boneheaded Kook

I made a real bonehead move at Kanaha today–knocked a longboarder off his board. I had moved inside and to the right of the lineup to catch some smaller stuff. I paddled for a wave and missed, then looked back to see a big face bearing down on me with a surfer already on it–though he was well to my left. It was starting to feather, and it was too close to turn up the face, but still catchable. So I paddled and got it, knowing that a longboarder was bearing down on me. I planned on turning out of the wave as soon as I could, so I ran down the face and did a sharp bottom turn to the right, aiming to punch out the back. Only problem was the lip was starting to crumble, and it caught the nose of the 12′6″ board I was on and turned it back down the wave–minus me. I was water skiing behind the wave, trying to haul the board back by it’s leash.

Too late–pissed off longboarder in the whitewater. I apologized profusely, but I’m sure that meant nothing.

Looking at it honestly, the problem is that I’m simply not good enough yet to be on a wave with other surfers. I can handle pretty big waves, turn and do all that stuff, but when things get dodgy I don’t always do the right thing.

There’s plenty of places for me to play. Just because I see a gaggle of fellow paddlesurfers in a lineup doesn’t mean I belong there. From now on, I paddle over, say hi, and go find my own spot. Unless it’s just Paddlesurfers–we all kind of deserve each other

Top 20 beach shots from the Showcase

The most fun at the showcase wasn’t in the water (though you’d never know that from watching) it was the people on the beach. Here’s our top 20 pick of the beach shots:

Want to Demo the Showcase Boards?

Two Maui surf shops: Hawaiian Island Surf and Sports and HiTech Maui bought almost all the Showcase boards and paddles and put them in their rental fleet. Both stores now have an extensive rental fleet of new boards–it’s a unique opportunity (if you’re on Maui) to try the latest Sup boards and paddles.

Rentals are a fine way to get started in this great sport, and they are equally valuable when a shop has a good selection for determining the next board you want to buy as your skill progress. If you know of a good selection of rental boards in your area, please leave a comment. We’ll be building a directory of SUP shops using this article as a base. For that matter, let us know about any good Sup shop in your area.

I wonder how distributors are going to expand Sup sales into the inland waters? People can’t try the sport if they can’t get the boards.  Stand up paddling certainly isn’t limited to the coasts and the islands, but growth might be slowed just because people need to see others doing it to become interested.

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