editor’s note
Summer
Well well, who’da thunk it? A decent summer in the UK with
prolonged warm and sunny conditions, temperatures in the high
20s (sometimes plus!), balmy seas, bath like inland waters and
seemingly endless days of it. As summer seasons go 2018 will
definitely be up there as one of the better ones. Oh, and did
someone say World Cup – a competition we did pretty well in all
things considered!
Needless to say there’s a buoyed up attitude as I write. Brexit
problems, Trumpisms and other political issues aside it feels as
though most peeps are happy to be out and about in the good
weather, making the most of what’s offer, and forgetting (at least for a
while) real world troubles.
Stand up paddling in the UK seems to be benefitting as well – at least
from a participation point of view. Everywhere you go boards are
strapped to roofs, hiding in vans and being bust out for early morning
sweeps, lunchtime sojourns, sunset paddles and everything else in
between. Kids in particular are enjoying the benefits of paddling while
mum and dad use it as a well being vehicle. And maybe that’s exactly
what SUP is, when all said and done. Not a race machine, not surf
platform, not white water hopper, tourer or anything else. Stand up
paddle boards simply offer a way to feel better about yourself –
whether that be paddling or just standing and floating.
Early on in the season I had the good fortune to chat with renowned
global paddle athlete Travis Grant and paddle sports luminary Steve
West (check the vid on SUPM’s website). We touched on many things
but in connection to the above comments about SUP being both
equally appealing to recreational sweepers as well as those looking for
a challenge rose their head. It’s a tightrope walk for sure.
Just as much as we want those inflatable buying types looking for fun in
the sun to continue entering SUP there needs to be something more
engaging and technical to encourage a more elite water baby into the
fold. For anyone looking to SUP from established sports like kayaking for
instance it takes a bit of digging currently to determine what else stand
up can offer outside of bobbing about during warm spells of weather.
We need new blood coming into SUP for sure but there needs to be a
nurturing of race mentalities, surf tendencies, river running mind sets,
downwind aspirations and so on. Without this stand up paddling won’t
remain the diverse and versatile discipline it currently is. There’s no
doubt it’s a tricky job. Hopefully here at SUP Mag UK we’re succeeding
in delivering a broad and balanced range of inspirational content to
help give as wide a view of stand up as possible. We’ve a lot to still
cover and we can’t do it without your support, so thanks for being part
of the journey.
In the meantime one thing you guys can help with is educating
newbie paddlers in the ways of the paddle. If you’ve a mate or newly
‘joined up’ family member then why not show them the ropes in
waves? Perhaps take them off on an overnighter somewhere more
remote than their usual paddling grounds. What about a mellow
downwind run intro to this side of stand up? There’s loads you can do.
Who knows, they may discover a part of SUP that they never knew
existed or had considered before.
Enjoy the mag, the rest of high season and we’ll see out for a punt.
Tez Plavenieks, September 2018
[email protected]
Twitter: @tezwoz. Instagram: @tez_plavenieks_sup_wind
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