Sup surfing growth stagnant?

[1tuberider]

I just returned from a cruise out of Long Beach.  I got to stay in HB before the cruise and I surfed the north side of the pier.  I was the only sus(stand up surfer) in the water!  Sets were in the 4 to 6 foot range for both Thursday late afternoon and Friday morning. 

Sup surfing has been around for at least three years and I was the only one out both times. I don't understand why the growth is so slow.  Sure it was difficult to stand because of the high tide backwash but I rode many waves.  Most surfers sat two far outside and missed most of the set waves and I caught my fill easily without effecting anyone else.  I was even hooted into a late drop and the lay down  crowd did not seem to care much about me.

When short board revolution hit in the late 60's, the change over to short boards was quick.  Within a year most were surfing the short board models.  When windsurfing was discovered it took a little longer for equipment to be good but the industry growth seemed very fast.  Even surfing in Hawaii last month the lay down paddlers far outnumber sus by at least 30 to 1 at most spots. Our far northern Calif area has a number of sus but still the ratio is around 30 surfers to one sus. Even Santa Cruz only had a few sus when I was there. Rincon only had on other sus out and he stayed out of the better breaking waves.

I saw two other sus in HB one at the cliffs and one around 12th st. Most the surf shops only had a few paddle boards (non performance models) if any at all.
 
Why are we not seeing the growth in surfing?  Is the growth in sup due to the other uses of a paddle board?  Or is it because on my limited exposure to crowded areas and not being there when others are out?

Not saying I want to surf crowded sup lineups.  I just don't know why other surfers are not taking it up.

What thoughts do you have?  I know I share the boards when anyone wants to try it and I encourage both surfers and non surfers to go out and paddle with me on my  equipment every chance I get. 

[Strand Leper]

Tuberider,

Stand Up Surfing is GAY (not there is anything wrong with it).  Orange County shortboarders rule the world!!!

It is fashion.  In Orange County, stand up surfing is not cool.

I am quite okay with that!

Tim

[PonoBill]

As much as anything else, it's the economy. Stand Up Paddlesurfing was nudging into the typical sport adoption hockey stick curve when the recession hit. It never made it to the hypergrowth stage. Probably just as well. Give us a chance to get the regulation issues under control and for the lineup to acclimate to us large wobbly beasts.

As Tim says--I'm good with that. Probably not so great though if you were planning to get rich in the SUP boom.

[JC50]

IMHO,

When surfing went to shortboards, surfing was about the only game in town. Now we have more choices; shortboarding, longboarding, boogie-boarding, windboarding, kitesurfing, and now paddlesurfing. Combine that with increasing interest in other human powered boats; surfski's, OC1's, Rowing scull's, kayaks, etc....and you've got more choices of competing watersports than ever. And, paddlesurfing ain't cheap (although cheaper than windboarding)! The used paddlesurf market isn't very accommodating to somebody with minimal disposable income. And, while it sure is fun and a great workout; all those other ways to play in ocean haven't lost their luster.

So while SUP has sure blossomed in the few short years it's been an industry and likely hasn't come near a saturation point there's just so many people who can afford it that actually want to do it.

And, like PB said, the economy sure isn't helping...

Sure is fun though, ain't it?

 

[cameraguy]

The other side of this is -

SUS is freaking hard to do. 99.999 of the surfing crowd just wont be able to handle  getting worked over every time they get caught on the inside. I have race mtn bikes, competed in every sport imaginable even crossfit. SUS in real waves is just not feasible for the masses- balancing on a 8' 5" board while processing a 130+ heart rate in double head high waves surrounded by people who for the most part hate you is one sweet challenge.

which is why this sport rocks!

really do we want just anybody out there - not me

[Admin]

I don't know about the breakdown of surf to other types of stand up paddling, but web traffic is trending upwards again (and accelerating a bit) for all of the big standup related search terms.  It hasn't quite reached a tipping point kind of acceleration yet, but it is back on the move. 

[Strand Leper]

Admin,

Do you attribute that to the season at all... beginning of summer... or are you looking year over year?

BTW, thanks for that information... super cool.

Tim

[Supperson]

alot of the progresson, it has to do with the equipment and crappy riding.
But that is changing.
My new 7'10 x 27 x 3 7/8 gets some real looks, thin shortboard rails gunny nose and  skinny swallow tail, going from edge to edge just got a whole lot easier.
still stable enough in chop for me at 165lbs
lower volume makes for better surfing and no more corking.
its slower to paddle but when you get into the wave the board works like no board I have ever tried and I have tried a ton.
Shortboarders start to take notice when you can take off deeper than the longboarders make sections they don't, come screaming down the line and rip it like you were on you shortie
top to bottom, slashing cubacks, steep drops all feel better on this most high performance SUB I have ever seen let alone ridden
The board you ride should not be able to be stood on by anyone 20lbs or more than you
When others see you ripping a board that is out of this world and they realize what they never knew there will be more and more converts
the 8' SUB's and under will change surfing future
Trust me...........

[corran]

"balancing on a 8' 5" board while processing a 130+ heart rate in double head high waves surrounded by people who for the most part hate you"

Isn't that why we do it?

Corran

FYI  -SUP is the fastest growing watersport in the world right now ;-)

[Admin]

Admin,
Do you attribute that to the season at all... beginning of summer... or are you looking year over year?
Tim

Here is the google insights trend for the search term "stand up paddle".  That is the most used search term and it picks up lots of variations.  The other big terms show similar trend charts.  Zone traffic confirms a similar trend (just a little better

[Marcelo]

I'm sort of glad it is a bit slow...it really sucks to surf with too many sups in the water...

[Admin]

As a comparison, it may be of value to consider the search term "surfing" for the same period.



You get a notion of why the industry has such an interest in a sport with a positive growth curve  

[Chan]

As a comparison, it may be of value to consider the search term "surfing" for the same period.



You get a notion of why the industry has such an interest in a sport with a positive growth curve  

That's one ugly chart, unless your short.

[Lobes]

The sport has a lot of challenges. The equipment is expensive. Logistically its very difficult to deal with the boards and the physical aspect is up there with the most demanding of water sports, esp in breaking waves.

I cant think of too many women or young kids that could deal with a 10'-12' board on their own, getting it to the beach, on and off the car roof, even finding a place inside the house to store it. This is a pretty major challenge IMO and one that sort of gets overlooked by a lot of us. I used to walk to the beach about a mile away with my shortboard, Couldnt see myself doing that with a SUP and I'm a big strong guy. What hope has a kid or the casual paddler? Much easier to buy a kite or something more manageable.

[corran]

Most people DRIVE to where they go and 90% (or 80%  - its an estimate) of SUP paddlers don't surf. Not any more.  -  that's the SUP of 2008 when it was surfers with a paddle. they drive to the lake, two people carry it to the water, they paddle around, two people put it back on the roof and they go home.

Easy.

And boards are now as cheap as surfboards.

Corran