Stand Up Paddle in Europe

It's been said there are few truly original ideas left and certainly in surfing we get to watch the cyclic nature of fashion as much or more than most. Stand up paddle surfing has been experiencing in its native Hawaii a resurgence that perhaps fits it into partly into that category, but in the US and Europe it's experiencing a growth spurt that's taking it for the first time to new beaches, coastlines, countries and surfers.

Originating with the Waikiki beachboys, surfers supremely confident in the water be it with canoe and paddle or redwood board, the cross over must have been inevitable and the idea of standing up and using the power of a paddle to navigate the line up or generate speed to catch waves caught on and grew until the development of modern materials and shorter, lighter boards shifted the focus. Resurrected more recently, again in Hawaii, photos and articles have been filtering into the international surf press for a few years now, be it the challenge of taking on big waves at big name breaks, or the endurance effort typified by Laird Hamiltons decision to paddle the English channel. A number of shapers have become involved and boards, typically at about 11-12ft, and a range of other equipment has become available from the larger manufacturers, making the sport available to a huge audience of surfers.

We were fortunate to have hooked up for a taster with local surfer Martin Connolly who's been running stand up paddle lessons at his Discovery Surf School on the South Coast of Devon since being shown the ropes while wintering in Hawaii. Martin, despite legitimate claim to the title of 'one of the most experienced stand up paddle surfers in Europe' is keen to stress that the sport is so underdeveloped here that he is still towards the start of a long learning curve, but combined with mostly flat water, small clean waves and a complete lack of surfers in the line up we were keen to take advantage of his experience and expertise.

Two things become apparent early on in your first lesson. I guess the first is probably just what a workout this is going to be, there's nothing quite like it to burn pretty much every muscle in your body, a great way to cross train on a flat day and knocking the crap out of the gym for scenery and motivation. Second thing, once you've cracked the whole balance bit is the realisation that even this early on in your development as a stand up paddle surfer you're going faster over flat water than you've ever managed on a board before. Suddenly those small, perfectly formed waves running down the sandbar just a little too fat to paddle into look like more fun... Catching the first wave was tricky (for me at least), choosing the moment to turn, paddle and pick up a wave isn't easy and it took a good few attempts, but that first ride is pure magic. I know for a fact that I haven't been so stoked to ride a wave like that for a very long time, which kind of brings me on to what's so exciting about the sport: The chance for a surfer, however jaded, to get that 'learning to surf' buzz again, and get in the water on days so marginal you'd otherwise be unable to surf. A board that can catch unbroken swells, ride those high tide waves too fat for anything else or generate speed and excitement when it's normally too small to bother...

I had a chat afterwards with Martin about the 'etiquette' of taking a 12ft board and paddle into today's crowded line ups, the answer, of course, is as always it's the surfer who's responsible for being courteous and respectful, not the surfboard. I can only imagine that one of the reasons surfers are drawn to the sport is the opportunity to surf alone more, whether it's marginal days, less than perfect beaches or the chance to use paddle power to reach those spots around a headland or away from the shore. Certainly that was the case on our attempt, an empty lineup on a marginal day at an otherwise crowded beach...

A huge thanks to Martin at the Discovery Surf School for his time and his patience! To check out the sport here in the UK a lesson with Martin including all equipment hire comes in at just £35. Martins website http://www.discoverysurf.com/standup.htm has more information.

For a Stand Up Paddle website with more information on the local scene check out http://www.standuppaddlesurf.co.uk