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Andy McConkey
McConks SUP
Tell us about your surf riding background and when you discovered riding waves with a paddle . Both Jen and myself were very average but keen surfers and windsurfers . Growing up in the Vale of Glamorgan , I had more access to waves as a grom than Jen did growing up in Swindon . But it was at Uni that the surf passion exploded , myself at St Andrews in Scotland , and Jen at Aberystwyth in West Wales , and then Plymouth . Moving back home after my degree in Marine biology , I expected to spend the rest of my life on a boat , working and surfing .
Of course , reality didn ’ t quite follow the dream , so other than three months in Florida , a couple of days surfing parallel to the shore at Skegness , and some surfing in the south-west when working with South West Water ; I never achieved my vision . And the same was true for Jenny – her ambitions of living on a beach working on coastal environmental issues fell apart when she started working for a marine consultancy based as far as away as you can get from the coast in the middle of Oxfordshire .
And actually , it was that distance from decent surf that led to SUP . After so many failed day trips , weekend trips , and full-on holidays , we just gave in to the inevitable and stopped chasing wind and surf . We ’ re the kind of people who used to take all our boards and winds up kit to Gwithian for two weeks at Easter . And we would see a rideable ripple or any wind worth rigging for . One Easter at Gwithian , the sea was so calm that we snorkelled around Godrevy and caught spider crabs at 2m depth .
And as we increasingly got jobs that meant we couldn ’ t have the afternoon off on a forecast , surf became very frustrating . We turned to mountain biking and windsurfing at our inland lakes , but even windsurfing is frustrating inland . Even a pretty good blow is fickle once you add the inevitable wind shadow .
When we were still trying to surf fairly regularly , SUP became a thing in the surf world . Like most surfers , at the time , we were sceptical and quite anti . It looked cool , but our life had moved on – on to windsurfing and mountain biking .
Do you still partake in a surf dabble with a paddle ? If so , how does this make up your overall paddling ? But for us , SUP was borne out of needing a family watersport once we ’ d had kids . We ’ re not the kind of family to ditch the kids with each other whilst we go out and do our thing . So SUP surfing hasn ’ t ever been a massive component of SUP for us . When the conditions , location , availability all combine , we get on the water , in waves and with paddles , and have a wonderful time . Having a high volume SUP gives you so much more confidence and makes the whole thing more fun , especially for ‘ retired ’ surfers .
What ' s your overall opinion of SUP surfing in the UK currently ? Do you see much new blood at your local , for instance ? Being based in the Cotswolds , we don ’ t have a local and whilst we see lots of new blood playing around in wake , we ’ re not at a break often enough to tell the difference !
Why do you think SUP boarding waves never exploded as some predicted ? Prone surfers have never made SUP surfers welcome in very many locations . Quite simply , surfers in some locations need to stop being such tossers ! Whilst it ’ s true that the odd SUP kook causes issues at some breaks , it would be nice if prone surfers could learn to share and educate rather than sneer and shout .
As SUP continues to navigate through its new growth spurt , with large volumes of paddlers coming into the fold , do you think we ' ll see an influx of SUP surf riders ? Hopefully , yes , but the head says that most of the newbies are buying cheap bendy boards , which aren ’ t very good for surf SUP . And they ’ ll be put off because they think they ’ re not very good .
Final thoughts on SUP surfing ? We ’ re not going to be too disappointed if it still doesn ’ t become the next big thing . Line ups are already confrontational and busy when it ’ s on . The best thing about SUP surf is that you have a paddle and can find a new peak away from the crowds .