2002 SUP.

[southwesterly]

 Hard to believe this is in 2002.

 Laird introducing a new sport:

[headmount]

I saw a barrel chested 80 yr old man in 1990 at Waikiki doing it and doing it well.  Never fell.  I spoke with some of the other old timers out there and they said it was quite common for awhile before WWII.

Looked way too difficult to me and i stayed prone until my neck gave out a few years ago. 

[sup_surf_giant]

Pretty amazing. Can't say I smelled or saw a wiff of SUP until at least 2008.

[Weasels wake]

BIOL

[southwesterly]

 I meant to say "reintroducing" a new sport.
 This was when people in the line up were curious, before pissed off.

[PDLSFR]

Almost looks like he drops in on a proner at the :28-:32 mark, or maybe it's just a cut off and the proner bailed, but still, do that today and I'm sure lot's of bad words will be tossed your way !!!

[SUP Sports ®]

I remember seeing Laird's early standups...he was storing his watertoys at Don Wildman's beach casa and I delivered windsurfing gear to them...and, picked up his broken foil boards for Eva to repair...

I remember seeing pics from this 2002 Malibu vid clip where Laird was riding through the lineup with an American flag on his paddle on 9/11/12...

http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/2066046

That influenced me to reconfigure a kayak paddle for standup use in 2003 for my 9’10″ x 36″ Exocet Commando that I used as a standup photo platform at the lake for shooting windsurfing…I think I still have that paddle around somewhere...;-)

http://surfingsports.com/images/commando_sup1.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/cimages/exocet_commando.jpg
http://surfingsports.com/cali_standup_paddleboarding/slides/cali_sup_surfing2.jpg

[SteamboatBORN]

I love how everyone is watching him throughout the video.

[Beasho]

Almost looks like he drops in on a proner at the :28-:32 mark, or maybe it's just a cut off and the proner bailed, but still, do that today and I'm sure lot's of bad words will be tossed your way !!!

I love how SUP'ers always assume we are in the 'wrong.'  Laird had right of way at 0:30, the other guy was dropping in.  These guys were just like dodo birds with their first sighting of a cat.

Strictly speaking when we (SUP's) catch waves on the outside, or catch them first we have right of way.  Until the rules are re-written for SUP we actually have a huge advantage and are just expected to give-way to those trying to surf on their wheel-chairs and short boards. 

If the footage were better you could probably make out that guy's pony tail, scowl and 'the rules don't apply to me stink' wafting from his shorty.

[jd]

Sprint suit booty man never gets priority.

[Ucycle]

Is the other guy on the sup is Ron House?

[raf]

the other guy looks like Dave K, but no idea if it could be.

[Tom English]

Great video.  Laird's board was shaped by Ron House.  Here's a pic from Malibu around the same time of me on my 12' Munoz (26"wide) using a wood paddle.  Ron House has made all of my customs since then.  Laird and Dave Kalama made it look easy.

[PonoBill]

Pretty sure that was Dave, probably the last time he had short hair. Smooth as always, both of them. Looks like Malama paddles. And the proner was definitely dropping in. Surprised Laird didn't help him off the back of the wave. He has a "this is my wave" aura that's hard to miss.

[Tom English]

Here's an oldie from Sept 2003.

Hoe He'e Nalu: The Revival of Old Style Hawaiian Surfing
by Rick Thomas
posted 2003-09-15

Dawn was just breaking at Three's at Waikiki, and it was a magical morning. Six to eight foot faces firing down the line, and miraculously, only a few guys in the water. We were all feeling the aloha spirit of Waikiki's rich surfing tradition. Then, suddenly, the unexpected happened.

I watched in awe as a big, stocky local paddled through the channel, through the small pack of surfers sitting on the outside. When I say paddling, I mean he was standing up on his surfboard, looking like King Kamehameha, using a paddle! As the set waves began to roll through, he stood there smiling, encouraging the others to take off. Then he began to paddle into the largest wave of the set. Dropping in on the nose, jamming the paddle into the wave face releasing the fin, side slipping the board to stall as the other surfers scrambled up the face. At the bottom of the wave he back-stepped to the tail, placing the paddle in the water as a pivot point for a hard bottom turn. The show was just beginning.

As he reached the top of the wave, he switched stance, placed the paddle in the wave again for a pivot point for a round house cutback. He continued to switch stance - climbing, dropping, and paddling through hollow sections all the way to the channel - then came over the top of the wave, standing, smiling, as he gracefully paddled back into the lineup.

Like many of the others, I watched him the entire time he was in the water, always in perfect harmony with the waves. Throughout the session he never came to his knees or sat down. He ended just as he began - standing and paddling through the channel back to the beach.

I have carried these images with me for over 50 years, so it should come as no surprise that witnessing such a beautiful display of Hoe He'e Nalu years later rejuvenated my surfing spirit. I knew at that moment my past and present fused into a vision of my future as a surfer.

The quest for the "old style" began the moment I returned to San Diego. Of course, my quiver of boards did not include an 11-foot board or a paddle. The board search ended with the purchase of a Surftech Micky Munoz, wood veneer single fin. The paddle proved much more difficult to acquire. Good fortune smiled when I was introduced to Leleo Kinimaka, who races and fabricates paddles for outrigger canoes. With his custom paddle and the new board, the merging of the Hoe He'e Nalu spirit was complete.

Riding waves with a paddle has brought back the pure joy that I experienced as a young boy at Waikiki. There are no boundaries. Creativity and spontaneity erupt with each wave, using the paddle to turn, accelerate, stall, release the fin, or pose with style. At my age, I know that standing up through an entire session is not likely to happen, but like other forms of surfing, we all develop our own style. I try to stay true to the spirit of Hoe He'e Nalu and stand while paddling out or catching waves. But sometimes, I may sit on my board between sets, or to gain speed, use the paddle while kneeling to escape an impact zone or to catch a slow, rolling wave.

Although I've heard various stories over the years, I don't really know how, when, or who originated Hoe He'e Nalu - this paddle-style of surfing in Hawaii. But the merging of two wave-riding vehicles like an outrigger canoe and surfboard being powered into a wave by a paddle seems logical, given the Hawaiian passion for riding ocean swells and waves.
For me, the origins of Hoe He'e Nalu is Waikiki, circa 1952 - the memory of going out tandem on a 12-foot board at the age of six with an old Hawaiian friend of the family at Queens. He had real style, the "old style." Turning the board by dragging his foot, switching stance, walking the board to trim, 360's, head stands, and yes, Hoe He'e Nalu.
I've heard of a few others practicing Hoe He'e Nalu, most notably Laird Hamilton. The pictures and video clips I've seen of him are inspirational. Mahalo, Laird.

      
And it seems that other surfers who understand the old style surf spirit of Hawaii are also responding. As I was finishing up a session at Cardiff Reef, I was approached by an inquisitive surfer by the name of Scott Bass. I knew if I didn't give him a quick lesson and a chance to try out the board and paddle, his day could be ruined. I gave him a few pointers, and in a short while, Scott, an exceptional surfer, caught two waves and rode them with style.

But that wasn't enough for Scott. We met the next morning at Cardiff Reef. He brought his board and I loaned him my backup paddle, and off we went. I'm not sure who was more "hopupu" that day: Scott, who is now totally committed to Hoe He'e Nalu, or me, smiling and laughing; watching a young man transform into a young surf-stoked boy at Waikiki like so many years ago. Mahalo, Scott, for giving me the great fortune to teach the Hoe He'e Nalu and keep the tradition vibrant and alive.

As an observer of surfing's evolution over the past 50 years, I have come to the conclusion that all paths eventually lead to the spirit and style of surfing at Waikiki. So as I stand and paddle out into the lineup, it is with great joy that I answer the frequently asked question:

"Hey, what do you call that?"
It's old style surfing. Hoe He'e Nalu.