History of Stand Up Paddle Surfing
Stand Up Paddle Surfing is an ancient form of surfing with roots which can be traced back to the very early days of Polyenisia. More recently, the introduction of surfing into popular culture in the 1950’s and 60's saw Waikiki beachboys using oversized surfboards to stand up and paddle out to the break using a one bladed paddle. Standing up allowed them to have a better visibility over their group of surfers, also to see sets more easily and long before the prone surfers. It also allowed them to keep their wealthy customer's camera dry and to take pictures of them surfing.
Changes in surfing design and technology throughout the 70’s and 80’s saw long boards being replaced by smaller, shorter boards and a more aggressive, manoeuvre orientated style of surfing. As such stand up paddle surfing was lost to all but a few dedicated watermen.
However, the beginning of the 21st century saw surfing and wave riding pushing new frontiers, with surfers riding bigger and more dangerous waves. Big wave riding requires an extremely high level of fitness and water competency and therefore surfers looked to old waterman traditions for inspiration.
The rebirth of stand up paddle surfing is widely credited to modern day watermen Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama, who used it as a way of improving their fitness and water competency on days without surf. This soon developed into the modern sport of stand up paddle surfing which sees riders world wide taking stand up paddle boards both into larger waves and over longer distances. Modern board design and manufacture has allowed for boards to become lighter, more affordable and more specific to the facets of stand up paddle surfing, resulting in stand up paddle surfing becoming one of the fastest growing water sports in the world.
Changes in surfing design and technology throughout the 70’s and 80’s saw long boards being replaced by smaller, shorter boards and a more aggressive, manoeuvre orientated style of surfing. As such stand up paddle surfing was lost to all but a few dedicated watermen.
However, the beginning of the 21st century saw surfing and wave riding pushing new frontiers, with surfers riding bigger and more dangerous waves. Big wave riding requires an extremely high level of fitness and water competency and therefore surfers looked to old waterman traditions for inspiration.
The rebirth of stand up paddle surfing is widely credited to modern day watermen Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama, who used it as a way of improving their fitness and water competency on days without surf. This soon developed into the modern sport of stand up paddle surfing which sees riders world wide taking stand up paddle boards both into larger waves and over longer distances. Modern board design and manufacture has allowed for boards to become lighter, more affordable and more specific to the facets of stand up paddle surfing, resulting in stand up paddle surfing becoming one of the fastest growing water sports in the world.