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Paddy Martin
SUP fine artist
Tell us about your surf riding background and when you discovered riding waves with a paddle . Early adopter , I guess . My late bestie Colin McCulloch , who was shaping kiteboards for the world champ , came back from Hawaii in 2005ish and made a couple of SUPs . Before that , I was an average logger rider 10 ' + boards .
Do you still partake in a surf dabble with a paddle ? If so , how does this make up ( to a greater or lesser extent ) your overall paddling ? I freaking love SUP surfing . I ' m a total middle-aged grom . I do get some flat water paddles in , but it is always just a means to keep fit for SUP surfing . If there ' s swell at the local , I tend to get it .
What ’ s your overall opinion of SUP surfing in the UK ? Do you see much new blood at your local , for instance ? Do you see much new blood at your local , for instance ? Things don ' t seem to have progressed that much in the UK , from what I see . I ' m talking amount of people SUP surfing and the quality of surfing . In Oz , there ' s been a split-off of longboard and shortboard styles . I try to surf longboard style on a 10 ' 5 " Mellowwave board with a full nose outline , trying to get up on the tip where I can . But it seems that there isn ' t a concerted longboard or shortboard SUP thing happening over here , and in fact , I see more people going down the short pointy board route if anything .
Why do you think SUP boarding waves never exploded as some predicted ? I think the surf media perpetuated a ' SUPs suck and aren ' t cool vibe '. And as there were many people able to paddle into crowded lineups with not much surf experience , that didn ' t help . There are a lot of surfers giving bad vibes to anyone on a SUP . I ' ve been surfing the local for 25 years , so don ' t get too much stick , but I get some occasionally . The SUPs aren ' t cool thing puts off loads of new potential SUP surfers . That said , the likes of Pete Edkins down in the South West of Cornwall , charging monsters , does give some kudos back to SUP surfing .
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 ? I guess it ' s inevitable to an extent . I hope people are sensible if they come into SUP surfing , taking time to work up to things , not paddling inflatables into busy breaks . They must be learning proper surf etiquette . You know the sort of thing .
Final thoughts on SUP surfing ? I rarely surf prone surfboards these days , but I think of myself as a ' surfer '. It does make me sad that there isn ' t more Aloha spirit in the water , but I fully get that the waves are crowded , so if you sit deep on a SUP and hoover up all the set waves , people will get miffed . From my perspective , it ' s Aloha all the way . It ' s much harder for people to give you stick if you smile , call other people into waves , chat and spread love .
Andy Hill-Parker
Team rider for Hypr Hawaii boards
Tell us about your surf riding background and when you discovered riding waves with a paddle . I first stood up on a surfboard when I was around ten years old . Before that , I messed around on bodyboards , so I ’ ve been surfing for most of my life . I discovered paddleboarding to get out on flat water as a landlocked father of four boys . Becoming a dad deleted solo trips to the beach , so I had to get a fix somehow !
Then one summer in Croyde , I had been out to sea on my paddleboard , and as I came back in , a few waves started to come rolling in , so I gave it a go . It took a few hours to get the hang of it , but as soon as I did , that was that .
Do you still partake in a surf dabble with a paddle ? If so , how does this make up ( to a greater or lesser extent ) your overall paddling ? If there are waves , then yes . I enjoy flatwater paddling ; there are some amazing places to visit along the south coast . However , my main priority is paddlesurfing . Getting up at the crack of dawn and driving for a few hours is worth it for the buzz you get after a decent session . I ’ d say paddle surfing takes up 80 % of my time on the water .