Author Topic: The history of SUP according to the ICF  (Read 24549 times)

Area 10

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The history of SUP according to the ICF
« on: February 12, 2018, 07:55:45 PM »
This summary of the history of SUP is given on the International Canoe Federation’s website. Is it accurate?

“SUP is believed to have originated in Africa, became very popular in Hawaii in the 1940’s, and can now be seen in countries and on waterways all over the globe”.

https://www.canoeicf.com/discipline/stand-up-paddle

Since this organisation is currently in court battling for “ownership” of the sport of SUP, it is important that they represent our history accurately. A cynical mind might suggest that a body in a court dispute of this kind may wish to emphasise those aspects of a sport’s history that might fit best with their case, perhaps, and de-emphasise those that might conflict with it. Of course, I am absolutely positive that this is not what is occurring here at all...

If you were to describe the history of SUP in one sentence, would your sentence look like theirs?

I guess that at least no-one is going to be blaming Laird any more :)
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 07:58:10 PM by Area 10 »

pdxmike

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2018, 08:34:40 PM »
The article proves your point even before you read the first word in it.  Look at the title--"Stand Up Paddling".

"Stand Up (or Standup) Paddling" isn't uncommon, but "Stand Up (or Standup) Paddleboarding" is more common.  Even if the two are equally common, I'm cynically thinking that choosing the name that leaves "board" out was intentional.

In the article itself, "surfing" never appears.  "Surf" does, but only in, "Paddlers can be seen on rivers, canals, stream, lakes, on the ocean, even on wildwater. While many athletes use flatwater, many also take on ocean surf."  Cynically, to "take on ocean surf" gives me an image of paddling INTO the surf, not surfing. 
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 08:47:13 PM by pdxmike »

Area 10

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2018, 08:43:56 PM »
Yes, very good point about missing the “board” in paddleboarding.

And yes, I had also spotted the “downgrading” of links to the ocean and surfing.

It will be interesting to see what the format of the events at the OCF’s new “World SUP Championship” in Portugal later this year will look like. They will presumably be a preview of what the ICF has in mind for SUP in the Olympics.

pdxmike

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2018, 09:01:58 PM »
Even the term "technical race" has always seemed a bit suspicious to me.  The first time people see it, they ask, "What's this "technical race"?  Answer:  "That's the surf race (as opposed to the 'distance race')".  Reply:  "Oh.  Why not just call it the 'surf race'?"   Even if the event ISN'T at the ocean, and has both a distance race plus a shorter race but no surf, calling the shorter race the "short course" or the "course race" has been working fine for years. 


I don't doubt that "technical race" has been used at some events without any ulterior motives, but in this context with the canoe association, it does feel like it's a way to refer to "surf" without saying surf, as in "The surf technical race involves a bunch of buoy turns plus some surfing technical paddling into the finish".

exiled

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2018, 09:08:27 PM »
No surprise they are downplaying the surfing aspect as hard as they can. You can trace SUP back to any culture that propelled a raft while standing if you want. I'm sure plenty of people figured that much out any place there was water, but it doesn't really tell you much. Modern SUP development very much came out of experimenting with alternative surf methods and I don't think its fair to spin it any other way.

pdxmike

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2018, 09:24:08 PM »
It gets worse...

Here's Area 10's original link:  https://www.canoeicf.com/discipline/stand-up-paddle

At the bottom are two links.  The first is the "Stand Up Paddle Committee":   https://www.canoeicf.com/icf-structure#SUP

I only looked up the two members from the USA--both are Olympic canoe racers, which is why I never heard of them.  So the US contingent at least (maybe the whole committee?) is made up of canoe racers.

The next link is "Stand Up Paddle Rules":  https://www.canoeicf.com/rules#SUP

It directs you here:  https://www.canoeicf.com/sites/default/files/2017_icf_sup_rules.pdf

The title of the rule book is "SUP Canoe Racing Competition Rules".

So there you have it.  According to the International Canoe Federation, all this time we've all been paddling and surfing on "SUP Canoes".   >:(





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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2018, 09:52:15 PM »
Oddly most of us know this is what Jimmy said years ago.

"The Quickblade Canoe. I built this as a canoe/paddleboard hybrid, and I don’t think it should be legal in SUP races…"

"I could bust out my 11 inch board and beat guys that are half my age and twice as fit as I am, just because I’ve grown up paddling narrow canoes and know how to balance in one."

http://www.supracer.com/the-death-and-rebirth-of-sup-racing/
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Dusk Patrol

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #7 on: February 12, 2018, 10:02:39 PM »
Have I been watching two hours of cross country skiing tonight? No ...
Have I been watching two hours of half pipe? Yes...
Will people watch two hours of SUP if developed by a canoe federation? No...
Will people watch two hours of SUP if developed by a surf federation? More likely...

I’m not saying that’s the be all end all, but visibility for the sport is better than guaranteed obscurity...
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 10:16:07 PM by Dusk Patrol »
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pdxmike

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2018, 11:49:40 PM »
Oddly most of us know this is what Jimmy said years ago.

"The Quickblade Canoe. I built this as a canoe/paddleboard hybrid, and I don’t think it should be legal in SUP races…"

"I could bust out my 11 inch board and beat guys that are half my age and twice as fit as I am, just because I’ve grown up paddling narrow canoes and know how to balance in one."

http://www.supracer.com/the-death-and-rebirth-of-sup-racing/
And if you read the canoe association's rules, there's nothing mentioned about boards beyond length and fins--no limits for narrowness or height of rails, for example.  So you could race standing up in a canoe.  Personally, I'm ok with that, but it is one more example showing this group's biases.


Off the subject, the rules are oddly written.  Example--the rule that prohibits drafting between men and women states, "...drafting is not allowed between women and men and vice-versa".  Meaning, I guess, that not only is it not allowed between women and men, it's not allowed between men and women, either.

photofr

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2018, 11:59:09 PM »
Downgrading to the max for sure...

It would have been nice to say something like:
- We can even see roots of Stand Up Paddleboarding dating back many years ago in Africa.
- Some of the first MODERN SUP paddlers could be seen in Hawaii, taking photos of tourists - in the late 70's.
- Stand Up Paddleboarding - as we know it today - truly evolved in Hawaii with people like Dave Kalama, Laird Hamilton and my good friend Loch Eggers.

Instead, we got 1/2 the truth on nothing and everything.
(I am just gonna go and cry)
« Last Edit: February 13, 2018, 12:27:44 AM by photofr »
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Area 10

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #10 on: February 13, 2018, 01:26:17 AM »
Downgrading to the max for sure...

It would have been nice to say something like:
- We can even see roots of Stand Up Paddleboarding dating back many years ago in Africa.
- Some of the first MODERN SUP paddlers could be seen in Hawaii, taking photos of tourists - in the late 70's.
- Stand Up Paddleboarding - as we know it today - truly evolved in Hawaii with people like Dave Kalama, Laird Hamilton and my good friend Loch Eggers.

Instead, we got 1/2 the truth on nothing and everything.
(I am just gonna go and cry)
Yes. The reason we are all SUPing now, in the form that we are, is simply that people looked at these guys and said “wow, that looks fun, I wanna have a go”.  If they’d wanted to stand up in a Canoe then they could have just stood up in a Canoe. But they didn’t want to do that, they wanted to do this:

https://youtu.be/On-LxsGpLBw

photofr

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #11 on: February 13, 2018, 01:50:43 AM »
I keep thinking about the Wannabes and the Whatyado - and I must admit that my opinion is quite divided.

Bystander sees a SUP surfer and 100% thinks: "I want to do this". In turns, SUP surfing attracts people to the sport. However, SUP surfing attracts bystanders into the sport of paddling on a board - which 99% of the time has little or nothing to do with catching or even seeing a single wave.

However, we do this all the time, in so many sports.

SKIING
You see an alpine skier in the Olympics, going through gates on a downhill at 70+ miles an hour and the bystander thinks: "I want to ski". That bystander is gonna ski on green slopes for almost his or her entire life, and barely handle blues with grace.

MOUNTAIN BIKING
You see mountain bikers in the mud, and you are going for a city bike.

SUP
The majority of paddlers are paddling on a 10' or less inflatable board bought at Walmart or similar. They paddle on flat water inland or in the ocean on a calm day. These will paddle 2 to 3 miles a day, twice a month - when they are lucky. The sport of SUP they practice for fun is a whole lot closer to paddling than it is to surfing - in my opinion.

But you are 100% right: without the beautiful images of a SUP surfer, the sport of Stand Up Paddleboarding may have come to a complete halt - and obviously not reached the amazing numbers we are witnessing today.

I just wish all paddlers would learn to paddle from a real paddle school, though this may be rather bias on my part because I paddle a surfski.

Wait a minute... I just thought of something:
I started surfing (years before ever putting a simple paddle in my hands).
When I started on a SUP, would I have ran towards a surfing instructor or leaped towards a paddling instructor to get the most our of my paddle???

Nelo SUP - 14' x 23"
Nelo Surfski 560M - 18'4" x 17"

PT Woody

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #12 on: February 13, 2018, 05:07:56 AM »
Even the term "technical race" has always seemed a bit suspicious to me.  The first time people see it, they ask, "What's this "technical race"?  Answer:  "That's the surf race (as opposed to the 'distance race')".  Reply:  "Oh.  Why not just call it the 'surf race'?"   Even if the event ISN'T at the ocean, and has both a distance race plus a shorter race but no surf, calling the shorter race the "short course" or the "course race" has been working fine for years. 


I don't doubt that "technical race" has been used at some events without any ulterior motives, but in this context with the canoe association, it does feel like it's a way to refer to "surf" without saying surf, as in "The surf technical race involves a bunch of buoy turns plus some surfing technical paddling into the finish".

To be fair, the name "technical race" was first applied to BoP style surf races by the ISA, not the ICF, and that is largely because the ISA made the fundamental error of running most of their early world title race events in flat water rather than surf. Even still, technical race is pretty daft. How is it technical? And how is technical race supposed to capture the imagination of a viewing audience?

stoneaxe

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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #13 on: February 13, 2018, 06:20:48 AM »
Amazing how disingenuous people can be. That's not spin, it's lying pure and simple. SUP started in Africa? Where is the evidence of that....I'd bet every indigenous culture has developed some form of getting on the water on a piece of wood and paddling.....they didn't SUP either. SUP started in Hawaii in the ocean on waves and then branched out to other forms. The arrogance of the ICF is off the charts. Go back to paddling your fucking canoes kneeling down and leave us the fuck alone.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2018, 06:22:19 AM by stoneaxe »
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Re: The history of SUP according to the ICF
« Reply #14 on: February 13, 2018, 06:34:24 AM »
"SUP is believed to have originated in Africa, became very popular in Hawaii in the 1940’s, and can now be seen in countries and on waterways all over the globe."

That's like saying the uneven bars in gymnastics can be traced back to monkeys swinging from trees.  And saying it became very popular in the 1940s is a huge stretch.  A tiny handfull if even that.  John Zapotocky and and John "Pops" Ah Choy are always mentioned in any article about the history.  Pops didn't start doing it until the late 60s. It was never a thing until recent years.

 


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