SUP Mag UK lo-res free to readers July 2014 lo-res - free to read | Page 48

When did you discover stand up
paddle boarding and what
made you decide it was
something you wanted to get
into?

How did you find SUP at first?
Were you mercilessly taunted
by your surfing mates or did
they respect your decision to
try something new?

Lanzarote is known as the
‘Hawaii of Europe’ – for good
reason. How was it tackling
some of those meaty waves on
your stand up paddle board?

I was selling surfboards for Tunnel Vision and
Bilbo, my sponsors at the time, and their shop
was next door to Tim Mellors’ in Newquay. Tim
would tell me all the benefits of SUP but I
didn’t want to hear, like most surfers.
Eventually we went for a paddle and here we
are now…who’d have thought. Later on John
Hibbard was a huge influence, he hooked me
up with some kit and showed me that SUP
was really four or five different sports. Both
those guys have been instrumental in the
sport’s growth in the UK.

SUP surfing is much harder and more
demanding than it’s given credit for –
especially by regular surfers. At first I couldn’t
even turn the thing around, paddling through
surf was a nightmare. I held the paddle like a
spear or a guitar for months. As a surfer your
water and board knowledge is there but you
have to learn about the paddle – it was a trip
to be learning so much after so many years of
surfing. As for the boys giving me shit? Water
off a duck’s back. I’m all for the banter but
have no patience with the sneering. We all
start these type of pursuits for fun – surfing,
SUPing, sailing or whatever. When the sticker
on your board or your inclusion in a certain
clique becomes more important than the joy
of riding waves and being in the water then
perhaps you should look at why you’re there. I
do have a chuckle at some of the more
contrived characters stalking the beaches.

Stand up paddle is well suited to bigger waves.
Increased mobility, vision, speed all aid riding
big waves. We’ll see a steady increase in stand
ups being used to ride big and giant waves. On
a local level just look at Nick Healy at the
Cribbar, Finn Mullen in Ireland and
internationally Kai’s performance at Jaws this
winter was amazing. On a less positive note,
the high board volume and paddle make for
brutal wipe outs and plenty of punishment.

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