Stand Up World Tour

[corran]

Things that should not be scored high:
-My pet peeve is paddling on the wave, why do we need to paddle on the wave when our board is so big anyway?  We should be generating speed thru our surfing like a regular surfer.

I respectfully disagree with paddling on the wave... one thing that SUP has over the others boards is the paddle... and if this means you can do moves that are unique, but also put you in a position to where you need to regernate speed afterwards by taking afew strokes.. so be it.

We can take bigger risks because we can recover (the paddle) in places a normal board can;t.

Corran

(FYI - you might enjoy this comment lol - http://surf.transworld.net/2009/06/16/sup-world-tour-announced/#comment-16738)

[diesel]

When the barrels open up like that, there is now plenty room for your paddle.     Don't need to get all tight and cramped up.      The hand drag thing is for smaller tubes or almond shaped ones where the paddle gets ripped from your hands.    

Honestly, in a contest situation with waves that good and all the boys charging, that wave in the pic wouldn't score well.       That is an awesome picture for sure but  guys are already getting WAY deeper than that.       You should see the goofy foot guys.    They are getting so shacked!    When it's that good in a contest situation, guys will be getting deeeeeeep to the point their not making some of the waves.          I don't think Laird is into contests at all.     If he were, with everyone pushing each other deeper, he'd be back 20' from where he is in that pic.   

Wow, that is pretty nuts that Lairds wave in that pic would not be scored like a 9 to a 10.  Guys are getting deeper than that consistently?  Sheez, that blows me away.  I can't wait to see footage.  Please somebody make a good film on these tahiti guys so we can get footage.

[Paddle-Plappe]

I guess Watermanleague knows why Hawaii is over the stand up world tour.

[Admin]

Wow, that is pretty nuts that Lairds wave in that pic would not be scored like a 9 to a 10.  Guys are getting deeper than that consistently?  Sheez, that blows me away.  I can't wait to see footage.  Please somebody make a good film on these tahiti guys so we can get footage.

There is incredible footage of Laird, Raimana, etc, with okoles on the foam ball here (the action starts at about 2 minutes in):

http://www.surfline.com/video/featured-clips/teahupoo-super-session-09_27527

[Chan]

From a style perspective, I prefer the both hands on the paddle barrels in that video.  I hope they score on more than merely time under cover, but leave some room for interpretation.  With so many unique riding techniques, it will be interesting to see how they judge ‘em.

[Candice]

I'm surprised Nolan Martin wasn't on the list of key players, he has definetly proven himself. Who's gonna start a Women's Stand Up World Tour? I wanna play too.

[Big Island Mike]

Yeah, I think a lot of people have opinions about who should be on that tour...

This from the Waterman League website comments page, something about "that girl" 

dean darval    |72.234.55.xxx |2009-06-21 19:53:46  
 
Who voted for the commitee? I'm not disagreeing wi th who is on it, i think its
accurate, but the key players is kinda off. Just curious, what company has put
up the money for this commitee? And yeah, how can kainoa buprea be in the top,
don't get tha t at all, and what about that girl that beat all t he guys? She s
hould be on there too
 
 

[HaleiwaBill]

Another curious thing I saw on the site about the tour is that the five commitee members are the competitors as well.  Wouldn't this be a conflict of interest?  I don't think you could have it like that on the ASP.  I think they will have to remedy or it might be a problem.  Especially when it comes down to judging and style.  Maybe they could have the commitee members be guys from the different SUP board manufacturers like C4, PSH, Naish, etc.  If there is one guy from each company then it should be balanced out without any advantages too certain guys on tour.  Maybe the committee guys could get on there by a set dollar amount donation to the organization that can help with prizemoney and paying for judges.  They can automatically get adverising on the standuptour website and at the contests.  Just some ideas.  This is a minor bump in the road to overcome for these guys.  I really am excited to see this come to fruition and hope that it is super successful for the benefit of everyone.

Thanks for all your comments and feedback. The Committee is made up of riders for a reason - they are there to represent the riders. From our experience having industry members on a Committee that decides on matters that affect the riders directly creates problems, and there is more often than not, a conflict of interests. By having the riders vote on important matters and having the committee members represent them in the making of important decisions such as judging, event format etc., makes for a smoother and more natural progression of events. If it wasn't a committee made up of riders, it would not really be an association of stand up paddle professionals. At the end of each year, the members will be voted on by the riders to make sure that it remains fresh and in tune with what is going on and what is required. We will post more on judging and format soon - thanks again for all your comments and keep them coming

I could not agree more. I had the benefit of both watching and competing in pro surfing's (IPS) early years. As the industry grew (financially) it continued to gain more power and got the point where the surfers themselves had little say or power, despite the fact that they were the draw, the talent. Events were held in terrible waves becasue those locations best suited the sponsors and industries needs. Early formats, judging and results were often a complete joke.  It took pro surfing decades to finally evolve into the "dream tour" and for surfers to have their own union and a say how things are run.

Thankfully, the ASUPP has that experience to draw from and can hopefully avoid the same pitfalls of early pro surfing. From what I have heard so far it sounds like they are well on their way. I look forward learning more about format, judging and the ranking system. But so far, so good!

[HaleiwaBill]

Yeah, I think a lot of people have opinions about who should be on that tour...

This from the Waterman League website comments page, something about "that girl" 

dean darval    |72.234.55.xxx |2009-06-21 19:53:46  
 
Who voted for the commitee? I'm not disagreeing wi th who is on it, i think its
accurate, but the key players is kinda off. Just curious, what company has put
up the money for this commitee? And yeah, how can kainoa buprea be in the top,
don't get tha t at all, and what about that girl that beat all t he guys? She s
hould be on there too
 

When I first started reading through the list I was HOPING Kainoa would be on it! He absolutely RIPS and along with his shaper, Robin Johnston (Ku Hoe), is pushing the limits with extremely SHORT paddle boards. There is NO question in my mind Kainoa most certainly belongs on that list.

[warped]

I'm just wondering why there has to be only 16 key players.  It seems like 16 is a very small number of people to build a world tour off of.  I'd like to see all 24 of those guys be considered the key players along with another 10 or so alternates.  I just think the more competitors involved, the better.  That way each event is much bigger, and it makes it tougher for the heavy favorites to win each event.  I'd love to see some less known chargers/rippers in these events to set up the underdogs vs. favorites showdown.

[Blane Chambers]

Just because someone is on that list does not mean they will charge and get shacked at Teahupoo.     Teahupoo is not a spot all those names are comfortable with surfing stand up.    In fact, only a few of them have even done it there.     If it's solid 8'+ I suspect the same handful will charge and a few others will step up too.     One things for sure...   Some guys are gonna get the worst lickings of their lives out there!    It's gonna be dangerous as hell!    The wipeout clips are gonna be off the hook!     I really hope no one gets seriously injured but I do want to see this go off...     I am soooo stoked my name isn't on that list!!!

The cool thing is the local boys in Tahiti like Didier, Arsene, Guilluame etc, etc will show up and will more than likely be able to surf too.    Those guys can actually beat all the big names if they get the right waves...      Just because they haven't got photos yet doesn't mean they haven't been getting super deep on bombs.     They have Teahupoo wired.    It is their back yard.

[Big Island Mike]

Seems like this HAS to be a peer thing as it is only us who have done SUP for a while who know what it is SUPPOSED to look like, and understand the difficulty of what the surfers are doing, and can say, "that's it".

THere are some contests here in AU where guys got thru because they were surfung well, but not using their paddles to turn, it was not true SUP surfing.

[warped]

Just because they haven't got photos yet doesn't mean they haven't been getting super deep on bombs.

Exactly, and I think the same goes for every spot to some extent.  There's always guys you never heard of or never seen who show up and KILL IT.  That's what I really want to see from this tour.  Don't get me wrong, all of those guys on the list are insane and inspiring, but when you have the same small number of guys doing every contest, it gives it more of an "exhibition" feel to it in my opinion.  I think any tour should give the up and comers a chance to hang with the big boys, whether that's through qualifiers, trials/preliminaries, or whatever.  I'd love to see this tour become something that young stand up paddlers could realistically aspire to.  If there's a clear path for them to one day get on it and do well, I think that will ultimately make the tour successful.  If the only way to get on the tour is to be hand picked by the committee, I just don't feel it'll help the sport become legitimized.  In addition to the big contests they've already chosen, they should also have a series of smaller contests specifically for surfers who aren't on the key player list to give them a shot to make it to one of the big venues.

[Blane Chambers]

I saw the front page of the promo and low and behold there was a picture of me on a wave that promoted the Hawaii contest.    I was talking to the organizer and told him how come I'm on your brochure but not in the contest?    I was playing because I really have no desire unless Makaha is big and perfect.     Hey, Makaha with a few guys out roping off the point triple overhead++ PERFECTION???  I'm down for that!!    I got just the board for it...

Chances are high there will be an alternate list and trials for the locals...    If the waves are junky I wouldn't even show up BUT, how can you pass up big, perfect Makaha?

[diesel]

Just because they haven't got photos yet doesn't mean they haven't been getting super deep on bombs.

Exactly, and I think the same goes for every spot to some extent.  There's always guys you never heard of or never seen who show up and KILL IT.  That's what I really want to see from this tour.  Don't get me wrong, all of those guys on the list are insane and inspiring, but when you have the same small number of guys doing every contest, it gives it more of an "exhibition" feel to it in my opinion.  I think any tour should give the up and comers a chance to hang with the big boys, whether that's through qualifiers, trials/preliminaries, or whatever.  I'd love to see this tour become something that young stand up paddlers could realistically aspire to.  If there's a clear path for them to one day get on it and do well, I think that will ultimately make the tour successful.  If the only way to get on the tour is to be hand picked by the committee, I just don't feel it'll help the sport become legitimized.  In addition to the big contests they've already chosen, they should also have a series of smaller contests specifically for surfers who aren't on the key player list to give them a shot to make it to one of the big venues.

Not to worry.  From what I read there is a local trial contest or something like that for each contest so there should be local rippers at each contest in addition to the 16.