There are so many
synergies between
stand up paddling and
other sports it's little
wonder that athletes
from disciplines
outside of SUP are
hearing the call. One
such case in point is x2
A d i d a s S i c k l i n e w i n n e r,
and extreme white
wa t e r k a y a k e r, J o e
Morley. While on
manoeuvres in New
Zealand SUP Mag UK
caught up with the
kayaking champ to see
why SUP is floating his
boat.
Where do you normally paddle and
who's your kayak crew - what do
they think about your stand up
paddling shenanigans?
How did you get into SUP? What
was it that made you go from
sitting to standing?
White water kayaking is seasonal so that totally depends on
the time of year. The last four months I’ve been based in New
Zealand, kicking it on the Kaituna River everyday with the
occasional outing to Huka Falls or the south island to race. I’ve
been paddling with a lot of Kiwi’s but next month I’m going on
a Euro trip with my boys from the UK – David Bain, Barney
Prees and Oscar Mcburney – which I’m super excited about.
They’re pretty cool about SUP.
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I first stood up a few years ago when I was working at a kayak
shop in Nottingham – one of the lads there was into SUP and
was raving about it so I jumped on a board for a mess about
and really enjoyed it! We did a couple of booze cruises up the
River Trent that summer and tried to make it down the white
water course without falling off or being shouted at! From there
I didn’t come in contact with another SUP until I was at a
competition in the States that had stand up and kayak
divisions. The nice people from Pau Hana loaned me a board so
I could give the SUP competition a go but Kai Lenny turned up
and kicked my arse. After that I was hooked so bought a board
and have been SUPing as much as possible since.