Author Topic: 2002 SUP.  (Read 7651 times)

surfcowboy

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Re: 2002 SUP.
« Reply #15 on: May 16, 2013, 07:32:54 PM »
When you watch laird it really does seem like old style. So amazing, smooth and beautiful. His turns have that perfect longboard style that I aspire to.

crtraveler

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Re: 2002 SUP.
« Reply #16 on: May 16, 2013, 08:00:49 PM »
Sweet....I too didn't see anything till 2008 in Costa Rica.....
BTW - looks like paddle length is heading back to where it started..
Naish Mana 10' (currently water-logged in Costa Rica)
Fanatic Allwave 9'2"
Naish Glide 14'
Jamie Mitchell LK 12'6"
KeNalu Maliko + Wiki (soon)

surf4food

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Re: 2002 SUP.
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2015, 08:31:47 PM »
Yup I'm re-hashing an old thread again.  Somehow I missed this when it was active but interesting none the less.  I went through a period where I was really kind of obsessed with SUP history and this link from an article by Steve West on SUP Racer really sparked that.  http://www.supracer.com/steve-west-the-roots-of-stand-up-paddling/
The first time I ever saw or heard of SUP was probably in the early 2000s from a couple commercials for American Express featuring Laird.  I was very familiar with who Laird was being a surfer growing up in Southern California.  I always jokingly referred to him as Lance Burkhart.  While not the sole inventor of tow-in he WAS one of a few guys who came up with the idea to use this method to get into waves that could to be paddled into.  I'm pretty sure he was the inventor of the foil board (though borrowed from water skiing) so I figured him using a long paddle on a large surfboard was just some new concoction he came up with.  Beyond that I didn't really pay much attention to SUP.  I remember in the mid to late 2000s seeing SUP boards in the gear guide issues of Longboard Magazine.  Back then SUP was not considered a separate sport from surfing but rather an addition to the surfing world.  Most of these boards were being shaped by various local surfboard shapers (who mostly specialized in longboards).  SUP was just simply an alternative to lying prone and then popping to your feet so SUP boards were surfboards no more no less than longboards, shortboards, hybrids, eggs, fish, midlenghtns, etc, and was done by regular surfers wanting to try something a bit different.  I had no interest and didn't give it much thought.  Fast forward to 2011 and I finally give it a try and get hooked (tho flatware only).  I finally decide to research into this new sport (for me) and find tons and tons of info out there and quite a bit of it contradictory and as I learn later much of it was just flat out wrong.  The simple fact is, it IS NOT an ancient Polynesian ritual/activity.  There is no recorded history anywhere documenting anyone surfing this way in Hawaii.  Peruvian fisherman on their caballitos does not count, people standing on their various crafts around the world over the years do not count and to me its just clutching at straws.  Throughout the 30's, 40's, 50's Australians were standing on their surf skis using double bladed paddles and there is now the famous two clips of Duke surfing on a ski that was given to him as a gift in 1939.  That may or may not have been the catalyst.  There's the interview with John "Zap" Zapotocky from 2010 where he indicated it was Duke who he first saw stand up paddling but my question for him if he were still alive would be did he see Duke using the ski with the two bladed paddle or did he see him actually using a canoe paddle on a surfboard?  John "Zap" tells the story of how he had been surfing for 65 years and 55 of those using a paddle and talks about how he was one of about two or three people doing that through out all this time (and considered an oddball for doing it) until it finally picked up in the mid 2000s.  There are no old photos of Duke using a single blade and surfboard anywhere if you do a Google search and there is no existing documentation of him doing so other than some SUP websites or articles blindly stating he invented SUP.  Even the beach boy thing is a bit sketchy.  Based on Zaps account, interviews I've read from Gerry Lopez or going farther back George Downing who mentioned a guy named Joseph ‘Scooter-Boy’ Kaopuiki and he was pretty much the only guy dong it in the 40's and 50's (according to Mr. Downing's account).  In the Ah Choy family according to the youngest son Mike (who I am Facebook friends with and have had a few pm conversationist with), their dad John "Pops" was the first of the family do use a paddle on a Hobie tandem board given to him by son Leroy.  Leroy and brother Bobby quickly picked up on this and used it as a way to carry cameras and take pictures of their friends and  surfing students.  This started in late 60's on into the 70's.  Perhaps some of their beach boy colleagues adapted this also (the camera thing).  While by this time shortboards were the norm, Waikiki was one place where longboards still prevailed.  Likely because of the beach boy culture and the tourist deciding to take a surf lesson.  From reading all the accounts and interviews and also talking to some old time beach boys on my own visit to Oahu last year I walk away with the impression that while there were a small handful of guys over the years doing this, it was never really a widespread activity or a "thing".  Credit seems to go to Laird, Dave, Brian and over here in San Diego Rick Thomas as reviving this "traditional" Hawaiian way of surfing but I think they didn't really revive it so much as finally got it off the ground.  I ready all the posts in this thread and read the article by Rick Thomas (on this thread) but again I believe this was never common activity and was done by a very small handful of guys and not all of them were even beach boys.

southwesterly

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Re: 2002 SUP.
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2015, 08:49:21 PM »
Just to clarify, there are two Steve West's. Well, there are probably thousands, but there are two that write about Stand Up Paddling. One lives in the UK and the person writing this lives in Santa Cruz and has a column in the Stand Up Journal.

This helps.


« Last Edit: January 29, 2015, 08:54:17 PM by southwesterly »

surf4food

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Re: 2002 SUP.
« Reply #19 on: January 30, 2015, 06:15:06 AM »
Just to clarify, there are two Steve West's. Well, there are probably thousands, but there are two that write about Stand Up Paddling. One lives in the UK and the person writing this lives in Santa Cruz and has a column in the Stand Up Journal.

This helps.

Yeah I was wondering about that.  On another note, HOLY CRAP I wrote a long winded post.  Sorry guys.  I guess I was spending too much time over thinking and typing, plus enjoying a glass of good Cab.

J-Bird

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Re: 2002 SUP.
« Reply #20 on: January 30, 2015, 08:46:43 AM »
"Old -style" surfing, I like the sound of that way better than SUP or any of the other ones I've heard.  That's what I'm going to call it from now on.  Thanks for the great posts.

surf4food

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Re: 2002 SUP.
« Reply #21 on: January 30, 2015, 09:06:13 AM »
"Old -style" surfing, I like the sound of that way better than SUP or any of the other ones I've heard.  That's what I'm going to call it from now on.  Thanks for the great posts.

Call it what you want.  The thing is though it really is not any more the old style than regular prone surfing.  No disrespect to Rick Thomas (who I hope to run in to  and meet in person and have a chat possibly over some beers) if he still lives in San Diego being a Navy vet myself, but this type of surfing was never really that prevalent until recent times, at least based on people I've talked to and interviews I've listened to by people who were there.  Even If I'm wrong and it was common way back when, it still was never the primary way most people surfed. 
« Last Edit: January 30, 2015, 09:54:45 AM by surf4food »

stoneaxe

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Re: 2002 SUP.
« Reply #22 on: January 30, 2015, 09:50:04 AM »
I think there has been a lot of disinformation on the origin. I did a lot of digging into it myself back when I 1st began to SUP in 1927... ;). I think its origin is lost to time. No question someone somewhere learned to surf their boat into waves but I agree that it doesn't really count and it doesn't look like it was a "thing" at any time until now. There are some interesting pictures that hint at use early on. I have a picture from an old navy mag from the 40's that shows Tom Blake and the Duke standing in front of an Olo and the Duke has a single bladed canoe paddle in his hands. Obviously not a definite answer but just a tease to the possibility.
http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,25109.msg254567.html#msg254567
Bob

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