.be

The real issue is the growing number of prone surfers in the water....

Ten years ago I experienced being told where I could and couldn't SUP in California. I paddled out and was threatened with a fine, my accent got me off! After a long argument with the 'beach authority' it was clear I could not SUP in the area. My Australian streak bristled. My answer was to prone paddle out without my paddle, they couldn't fine me for that! When I look back, being out in the line up like this was far more dangerous, but I was determined to find a loop hole and shove it up them!

Over ten years of SUPing has isolated me from many of my prone surfing friends. I have a shoulder injury that drove me to the sport or not surf at all. Occasionally I'll take a long board out and feel the difference in the water. I'm now selective where I surf. Thankfully where I live most often or not I can surf by myself. I'm sometimes ashamed to say I SUP and apologise before hand in a joking way. It is sad the sport has gone this way, but as was said in the above clip, a knob is a knob no matter what they ride. Maybe SUP has attracted a higher percentage of knobs enjoying their power out in the line up.

Cheers

Thats really old, 2012 at least. Wonder what it is like now?

Personally crowded line ups conflict with the very reason I am out there.
To destress, chill out out , have a good time and get a away from peoples bs. I'd rather go out in mush and slop and be on my own or with a few others . That's my 2 cents worth

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Gboots said..
Personally crowded line ups conflict with the very reason I am out there.
To destress, chill out out , have a good time and get a away from peoples bs. I'd rather go out in mush and slop and be on my own or with a few others . That's my 2 cents worth

I totally agree! After 45 years of short boarding I do have empathy for probers but my approach has changed. Move around, stay away from others, resign yourself to inferior slop, possibly miss out on that perfect peak that passes through the crowd but maybe pick up a great wave on your own. At least you haven't had to deal with dickheads!

Good replies guys. I do both prone & SUP. But mainly SUP. I have had only one isssue in about my 5 years of SUPing. Oh maybe 2. One prone surfer shaking his head at me as I approached him who was away from the pack of prone surfers. He told me angrily what chance would he have if I catch all the waves. I told him I respect his wishes & he can surf as normal as I would stay out of his way like I do with everyone! Then he realised I was surfing the day before & apologised.
But the second issue was purely accidental when I slapped my paddle down to paddle for a wave only to find my paddle didn't hit the water & slapped a prone surfer on his backside. Lol! I didn't see him paddling past & close to me because the sun was in my eyes. Lol! He wasn't happy. Even after my apology. He just punched the water. Lol.
But hey, in my days as a prone surfer I have found knobs are knobs. The worst are those that just have to catch every wave no matter what! Just like a seagull to a bag of chips. They just think of themselves & nothing else. Eyes wide open with a frantic face like they just gobbled a deal of ice! Lol!
And I have found these type of people are on all water craft who spoil it for everyone.

Really crowded line ups and a SUP are not my idea of fun, for me the SUP has opened up a whole heap of waves along the same stretch that I have surfed for a while now.

The waves are not offshore or anything like that but they are the waves down the beach you look at and wonder if it is worth the paddle to where there is no one, more often than not I find waves with next to no-one around, well at least for a bit until someone comes and sits on you and gives you the stink eye for being on the SUP

The ability to scope out a stretch of beach is really fun, I look for where there is no one on the long stretch of beach, paddle over there and wait to see if the bank is any good, quite often with the vantage point you get you know what you are scoring as you approach.

When crew do make their way over to try and exude their influence I simply paddle to the now empty peak they left and catch a few over there. This has happened more times than I care to remember. The difference is it takes them a long time to paddle over to me and It takes me 2 min. to cruise to another peak.

I am really conscious of sharing if I do end up surfing with other people, its simply more fun this way, quite often this has changed the mood. A wave comes through that you are in the prime spot for and have been waiting on and you either casually opt out or call them in. The other factor I consider a lot is safety, I would hate to hit anyone or put anyone else in danger.

Have had a few dawnies at a local beach where I am the first one out or there is very few people, we are getting a few fun ones and then the masses descend.

I look towards the beach and there is a thick line of groms, body surfers, swimmers, long boarders and short boarders = time to head in for me. I am surfing a metro beach with good access and fun waves - go figure it gets crowded, just deal with it I say. I have usually had a few fun ones before work so I am happy.

Stand up versus, short boarders and long boarders. As someone who has come from this debate from a bodyboarding point of view this argument really stitches me up. If your going to paddle into a line up with more people than there are set waves, upto 5 then make sure you can control your board by duck diving or commando roll. If not then choose another peak.
I get these winging surfers all the time. Look at those paddle boarders taking all the waves. Well then the wave is probably not good enough to stress about. I say this over and over jump in the car and drive up the coast. Since the shark attacks the mid north coast goes unrideable for days at a time. Plenty of room for sup surfers and longboarders/shortboarders.
At my local we have a real gun paddleboarder 19 and can surf on a 7ft board submerged and he just fits into the line up. He can surf almost as well as the visiting pro guys and gets waves. He's not on a longboard style paddleboard. When I visit Sydney, Manly and see SUP guys out there very few can ride anywhere near his talent. They mostly ride longboard style and get waves but their craft is very large. This is a danger in Sydney conditions where most beaches have one or two peaks and many other people swimming and enjoying the water.
Again re my last post on one of laird videos, if your doing all the above things responsibly and are still getting grief, take a big picture of tom carroll paddle boarding and stick it on your paddle and then show them in the line up. Who is that?
Note: This is no reflection on tom carroll as I have seen his surfing first hand at the peak and at avalon and he is perhaps in my opinion one of the closest surfers to Kelly level and a true legend of the sport.
Oh and you can also give those complainers a go on your paddle board on smaller days.

Hey guys thanks for posing that video, it ties in really nicely to an example I was going to post about a few days ago. I had my first ever full on, ignorant verbal sup-hate by 2x prone surfers at my home break before I'd even caught a wave.

this my is home break which I had been prone surfing for 3 before an achillies tendon rupture which left me unable to surf for a year. As part of my rehab the physio suggested sup which is what brought me to the sport. I've now basically excluivelt
supped at that spot for the past year, in all conditions big and small. I'm regularly the only sup'r out there as our west coast is unruly, big and predominantly just too much for your average sup rider.

i paddled out a few days ago in double overhead conditions. My profile pic is the same break in the same size waves on my surfboard 3 years ago.
I got to the beach and noticed quite a bit rip which took me straight out back relatively quickly. As I begin paddling towards the main peak (there were only about 4x surfers out there). These two guys paddled over and started yelling stuff. I couldn't really hear them with the off shore wind and asked what was going on. They started going 'mate that thing belongs in the car park. Don't take that **** out here'. I said it was my local break and had been both prone and supping here for the past 4 years. They continued with their rant saying 'you c**ts gave one of my brain damage. You're going to
kill someone out here. Stay off the beach and don't come near my waves' etc etc.
i couldnt believe it.. it's not uncommon to get 'glares' but this normally subsides pretty quickly when A.) they can see you can actually surf and B.) you know surf etiquette and aren't a tosser.
i mean clearly a beginner is not going to be able to paddle out in heavy 3m, as is the same with many surfers at my local when it's that big.

Unfortunately after 30Mins of trying to find a own hassle free area, the wave direction had changed and was only breaking in one spot on the beach. So I retreated back to the line up. It looked like most surfers were just trying to pick off the mid-smaller ones so I decided a different approach and just pick off the bombs that I could sit further out and take.
I think I took possibly the biggest sup wave I've had to date- around 3.5m high. I made the drop, surfed it for
about 10secs with several
turns before pulling out still standing on the board and paddling back out. I looked in their direction and could see a few shocked looks.. after that numerous other surfers arrived and no one really seemed to care what waves I paddled for. Those 2x dickheads didn't seem to be in the water anymore.
still though, the paddleboard hate is real.. it sucks.

scenario 2.
i used to be a member of a website forum called 'surfingwaves' and got on really well with the main posters there for many years from my first post as a grom on how to pop up to my first custom 5'9 shortboard and posting the pic in my profile pic. I posted about my achillies tendon rupture not long ago and how the physio had suggested sup for rehab. The first responses were jokes on don't go to the dark side etc. When I posted a few months later saying how I was enjoying the new approach of sup and how it was broadening my surfing skills I got bomboarded with a bunch of such ignorant sup hate statements and questions such as:
'this website is not about sup post. Join a new forum if you wish to keep posting about sups' - despite me posting pics of 'surfing' the sup, which is the websites title..
- long rants on take off zones, sups hogging waves, huge generalisations about sup boards all being massive and their riders not having any skill etc.

realistically my surfing sup is shorter and lighter than the logs half of the users ride, and the take off zones are likely greater between a shortboard and longboard than longboard and surf sup.
I just find the ignorance insane. Gave up even trying to respond on there or bother fighting the short-sighted views of people who have never paddled and half of which were still kook probers and would be a liability on a big surfboard..

At the end of the day I find the saying most accurate as being 'if you can't beat em, join em'. It's no different to short boarders hating longboards for taking waves, but it's their choice to be on a low volume board and struggle to get waves.. it's just that sups new and misunderstood.

I paddled out during a cyclone a clone a few months back- it was heavy and the old paddle boarder out. My mate who was a good surfer said a few people had been saying things in the water like 'good luck to that guy' and joking about having
a sup out in those conditions.
i paddled on to the first bomb and nearly got a double overhead barrel. My mate paddled over and said that after that everyone shut up and he'd heard a few people talking about that 'who that sup rider was that was charging all the bombs'

have you guys ever ever had the out right verbal sup abuse and if so, what did you say or do back?

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benjl said..
Hey guys thanks for posing that video, it ties in really nicely to an example I was going to post about a few days ago. I had my first ever full on, ignorant verbal sup-hate by 2x prone surfers at my home break before I'd even caught a wave.

this my is home break which I had been prone surfing for 3 before an achillies tendon rupture which left me unable to surf for a year. As part of my rehab the physio suggested sup which is what brought me to the sport. I've now basically excluivelt
supped at that spot for the past year, in all conditions big and small. I'm regularly the only sup'r out there as our west coast is unruly, big and predominantly just too much for your average sup rider.

i paddled out a few days ago in double overhead conditions. My profile pic is the same break in the same size waves on my surfboard 3 years ago.
I got to the beach and noticed quite a bit rip which took me straight out back relatively quickly. As I begin paddling towards the main peak (there were only about 4x surfers out there). These two guys paddled over and started yelling stuff. I couldn't really hear them with the off shore wind and asked what was going on. They started going 'mate that thing belongs in the car park. Don't take that **** out here'. I said it was my local break and had been both prone and supping here for the past 4 years. They continued with their rant saying 'you c**ts gave one of my brain damage. You're going to
kill someone out here. Stay off the beach and don't come near my waves' etc etc.
i couldnt believe it.. it's not uncommon to get 'glares' but this normally subsides pretty quickly when A.) they can see you can actually surf and B.) you know surf etiquette and aren't a tosser.
i mean clearly a beginner is not going to be able to paddle out in heavy 3m, as is the same with many surfers at my local when it's that big.

Unfortunately after 30Mins of trying to find a own hassle free area, the wave direction had changed and was only breaking in one spot on the beach. So I retreated back to the line up. It looked like most surfers were just trying to pick off the mid-smaller ones so I decided a different approach and just pick off the bombs that I could sit further out and take.
I think I took possibly the biggest sup wave I've had to date- around 3.5m high. I made the drop, surfed it for
about 10secs with several
turns before pulling out still standing on the board and paddling back out. I looked in their direction and could see a few shocked looks.. after that numerous other surfers arrived and no one really seemed to care what waves I paddled for. Those 2x dickheads didn't seem to be in the water anymore.
still though, the paddleboard hate is real.. it sucks.

scenario 2.
i used to be a member of a website forum called 'surfingwaves' and got on really well with the main posters there for many years from my first post as a grom on how to pop up to my first custom 5'9 shortboard and posting the pic in my profile pic. I posted about my achillies tendon rupture not long ago and how the physio had suggested sup for rehab. The first responses were jokes on don't go to the dark side etc. When I posted a few months later saying how I was enjoying the new approach of sup and how it was broadening my surfing skills I got bomboarded with a bunch of such ignorant sup hate statements and questions such as:
'this website is not about sup post. Join a new forum if you wish to keep posting about sups' - despite me posting pics of 'surfing' the sup, which is the websites title..
- long rants on take off zones, sups hogging waves, huge generalisations about sup boards all being massive and their riders not having any skill etc.

realistically my surfing sup is shorter and lighter than the logs half of the users ride, and the take off zones are likely greater between a shortboard and longboard than longboard and surf sup.
I just find the ignorance insane. Gave up even trying to respond on there or bother fighting the short-sighted views of people who have never paddled and half of which were still kook probers and would be a liability on a big surfboard..

At the end of the day I find the saying most accurate as being 'if you can't beat em, join em'. It's no different to short boarders hating longboards for taking waves, but it's their choice to be on a low volume board and struggle to get waves.. it's just that sups new and misunderstood.

I paddled out during a cyclone a clone a few months back- it was heavy and the old paddle boarder out. My mate who was a good surfer said a few people had been saying things in the water like 'good luck to that guy' and joking about having
a sup out in those conditions.
i paddled on to the first bomb and nearly got a double overhead barrel. My mate paddled over and said that after that everyone shut up and he'd heard a few people talking about that 'who that sup rider was that was charging all the bombs'

have you guys ever ever had the out right verbal sup abuse and if so, what did you say or do back?

Totally sympathize with the surfers view, when surfing I do not want SUPs around me. Must be worse for them at crotch level. Unfortunately the majority of SUP riders do not understand surf etiquette and get in the way. Large board on a long legrope has a large kill zone. For some reason they paddle through breaks, paddle for the shoulder, think every wave is theirs even when they are standing wide, etc etc. Best one was I was sitting waiting for a wave and this SUPer got blown into me and I gently pushed him away (He did not fall off) and he got all cranky. Prior to him coming out I was surfing on my own with my 2 young learner kids which he then proceeded to try to run over.
Every time I go out I have to surf a few before the stares stop and people have a chat when they realise you are not there to feck up their surf.
It is up to everyone who can surf and know the rules to educate the bozos. Tell them to paddle around the break, take one for the team if caught inside and wait their turn. Done this heaps of times and means not only the surfers hate you but all the SUPers do too

totally agree Hilly.
I do both.
So many uneducated goons that buy a board and think yeh ill go out in 3m swell and have a crack. SUP provides a quick learning curve, bit volume lets you get onto waves easy but then with decent waves and a crowd how things go wrong quick. Cant duck dive, Boards being chucked, sitting in wrong spot, drop ins, lack of control of board. Makes me so mad. DO THE TIME, LEARN.
Some have been doing it for years, i have tried talking to them...

There are very few SUPers that are capable of going out in 3m waves.
3 foot is tough enough for most and the maximum for me and with no one within hitting distance

Aaaahhh this old Chestnut again.

There is no substitute for sense, good manners and skill.

Here is the biggest problem - SUPsurfers who have never surfed before. You will find that any capable surfer knows surf etiquette and if he then converts to SUPsurfing he takes this etiquette with him.
Like several responses above SUP's open the beach up for you and a sensible SupSurfer will ensure that he stays out of the way of other surfers. Common sense really.
There are capable SUPsurfers who could surf 3.0m waves in amongst prone surfers and not cause any problems, unfortunately these people are few and far between.

The problem arises when SUPsurfers of limited skill, sense and manners put themselves in places they shouldn't be. It causes angst, aggression and could cause injuries.

My advise to any SupSurfer out there is stay well away from other water users and use the ability to paddle to help you get a wave away from others.

ET.

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E T said..
Here is the biggest problem - SUPsurfers who have never surfed before. You will find that any capable surfer knows surf etiquette and if he then converts to SUPsurfing he takes this etiquette with him.

The worst SUPers I've come across near me are also surfers who are douchebags regardless of what they ride.

Somehow when they are acting like a dick on their shortboard, no one says anything because it's accepted/expected behaviour, but they jump on a SUP and suddenly it's the problem of the vehicle (and therefor anyone else that rides a SUP) and not the rider?

Respect and surf etiquette is for everyone to abide by, not just SUPs.

E T, you could not have summed it up any better !!

I've recently enquired to the local council in my area to have Surf Etiquette signs/diagrams put up around our local beaches.

Seen this done in other parts of OZ and surely newbies could work out all etiquette terms described in conjuction with

pictures pretty easily.... maybe

My very first Sup experience would give me more ammo than most to hate the sport for all of the above reasons in a prime example.

I had just come back from a prone surfing trip to Bali, brought a new board over there and was about to try it back at my local beach for it's first ride over here.
It was heavy conditions, not huge in height but just heavy, peeling, steep and dumpy take offs.
While paddling out I saw a sup about 20m in front try and take off on a barrelling-close out wave on a huge looking board.. I just thought Ohh nooo.. this is not going to end well.
The guy committed but then jumped off the board as he saw what was going to happen, sending it heading my way.

Next thing the wave takes his board and starts hurtling it towards me.. I literally just had to ditch my board and dive deep, feeling a big clunk and crash a moment later.
His board had smashed in to mine, crushed the nose and side rail and got taken back in to the beach on the next wave before I could really see the extent of the damage.
I started to feel as though my wetsuit was letting in water abnormally and wasn't until I got to shore that I saw his fin had sliced through both the back of my shoulder and under-side of a sleeve on my wetsuit.

Pretty close call!

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benjl said..
My very first Sup experience would give me more ammo than most to hate the sport for all of the above reasons in a prime example.

I had just come back from a prone surfing trip to Bali, brought a new board over there and was about to try it back at my local beach for it's first ride over here.
It was heavy conditions, not huge in height but just heavy, peeling, steep and dumpy take offs.
While paddling out I saw a sup about 20m in front try and take off on a barrelling-close out wave on a huge looking board.. I just thought Ohh nooo.. this is not going to end well.
The guy committed but then jumped off the board as he saw what was going to happen, sending it heading my way.

Next thing the wave takes his board and starts hurtling it towards me.. I literally just had to ditch my board and dive deep, feeling a big clunk and crash a moment later.
His board had smashed in to mine, crushed the nose and side rail and got taken back in to the beach on the next wave before I could really see the extent of the damage.
I started to feel as though my wetsuit was letting in water abnormally and wasn't until I got to shore that I saw his fin had sliced through both the back of my shoulder and under-side of a sleeve on my wetsuit.

Pretty close call!

So are you saying that the paddleboarder and yourself were not using leggies at the time?

Naa didn't mean that all. I always use a leash..

Ha Ha bad mojo but I must have had a short board pushed towards me over 100 times as a booger. Is this all karma for the dickheads who surfed with attitude during 80's and 90's. So surfers are getting treated like "Speed humps". Oh the irony.
Fin chop by short boarders on short boarders easily is the biggest worry in my neck of the woods. Three cases in the last year with one needing the care flight helicopter.
Its also lack of friendship, i remember when I was a grom and when you made it out the back on big day the old guys used to congratulate you and call you into a few big ones. (And yes I was a booger at the time). My progression on the northern beaches, being called into eight foot mid section avalon by the local legend. Being out in the swell of a lifetime at the break wall on one of those magical days when it brakes reverse, with barrels so big that the local surf legend was calling me on to share the barrels. Everyone calling each other in and enjoying the day.
Getting a few at the north end of my local break that ripped my boardies in too from the spit out. Being called into the biggest set wave on the biggest day in the life of my local break by one of the local shapers preparing for hawaii, making the drop, being smashed in the barrell but grinning from ear to ear in front of the crowd on the beach.
Now I paddle out at my local and no one chats and says hi to the new guys, travellers or visiting pros. Its time to spread the love.
When the Hoy boys came to my local break did they have time to chat to us in the line up. Yep. Did barton lynch paddle out and chat to us and share the waves. Sure did. When I took the after noon off high school and went down to avalon on a cold winter morning did kelly paddle out and share the waves at little avalon. Yes again. Share the love.
Every time you are cut off burnt or snaked go up to some one in the line up and introduce yourself. You might just make a new friend. Remember that guy needs that wave more than you. In my experience when its one of those all time days the dickheads just sit on the beach and watch and you want everyone out in the line up to have your back when the **** gets heavy.

Meh....my advice is figure out who the prone alpha dog is as soon as possible and just run him over clearly and deliberately. Ya gotta let em know who's the boss from the outset.

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Hawaiiheke said..
Meh....my advice is figure out who the prone alpha dog is as soon as possible and just run him over clearly and deliberately. Ya gotta let em know who's the boss from the outset.

Classic comment, I'm still laughing. I reckon it's a combination of what ET said and what mbuzz said after him . That sums up the whole caper in my opinion ??

Agreed with most here, seems like most of us have come from a prone surfing background...I remember when going from short board to longboard in the early nineties I got the same looks and attitude Im experiencing when I paddle out on a SUP, Funny that. I just avoid the masses, paddle away from the crowd and find my own peak. I don't justify riding a SUP it's only an extension of the surfing experience we all long for and enjoy. I do educate the learners in surf etiquette when I can regardless of what they are riding, ... as for the poo face looks they normally look away after the first bottom turn and snap off the lip or occassional spray in the face as your fanging down the line, always works for me, lol ...on another note, has anyone noticed when your on your own peak away from the pack, you get this flurry of activity paddling in your direction after you've caught a screamer, i can never understand that, why would you paddle over to the lone SUPer thinking your going to score set waves on small inconsistent days, lol As for dropping in...my experience they are normally learners who don't know, I usually encourage to drop in on me, especially if they have been waiting patiently and showing a good attitude, often I will coach as I enjoy the Stoke that they are getting while riding along the wave, it's a real buzz for me, I find it usually leaves a positive vibe.

stay stoked

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Greystoke said..
Agreed with most here, seems like most of us have come from a prone surfing background...I remember when going from short board to longboard in the early nineties I got the same looks and attitude Im experiencing when I paddle out on a SUP, Funny that. I just avoid the masses, paddle away from the crowd and find my own peak. I don't justify riding a SUP it's only an extension of the surfing experience we all long for and enjoy. I do educate the learners in surf etiquette when I can regardless of what they are riding, ... as for the poo face looks they normally look away after the first bottom turn and snap off the lip or occassional spray in the face as your fanging down the line, always works for me, lol ...on another note, has anyone noticed when your on your own peak away from the pack, you get this flurry of activity paddling in your direction after you've caught a screamer, i can never understand that, why would you paddle over to the lone SUPer thinking your going to score set waves on small inconsistent days, lol As for dropping in...my experience they are normally learners who don't know, I usually encourage to drop in on me, especially if they have been waiting patiently and showing a good attitude, often I will coach as I enjoy the Stoke that they are getting while riding along the wave, it's a real buzz for me, I find it usually leaves a positive vibe.

stay stoked

Would love to find a spot where there is uncrowded peaks down the beach. We mainly have reefs with one takeoff spot so etiquette is vital.

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E T said..
Aaaahhh this old Chestnut again.

There is no substitute for sense, good manners and skill.

Here is the biggest problem - SUPsurfers who have never surfed before. You will find that any capable surfer knows surf etiquette and if he then converts to SUPsurfing he takes this etiquette with him.
Like several responses above SUP's open the beach up for you and a sensible SupSurfer will ensure that he stays out of the way of other surfers. Common sense really.
There are capable SUPsurfers who could surf 3.0m waves in amongst prone surfers and not cause any problems, unfortunately these people are few and far between.

The problem arises when SUPsurfers of limited skill, sense and manners put themselves in places they shouldn't be. It causes angst, aggression and could cause injuries.

My advise to any SupSurfer out there is stay well away from other water users and use the ability to paddle to help you get a wave away from others.

ET.

0n the button.

I try and find my own little break, not a fan of crowds or short boards dropping in on me. It does bug me when you do luck on your own little break, get a couple of decent waves and then you get overrun by the crowd !