I've read a decent amount of posts on this topic. Let me first say that I'm definitely not saying kill all the SUPers or that they don't belong in the water... more looking for answers and safety while in the water. I've found it increasingly dangerous at certain breaks - especially point-ish breaks with guys catching waves outside on these things. There is a line-up for short/fun boarders that are all in one spot respecting each other like a typical line-up.. then a set wave comes and 3 SUPers are charging right at the short-board line-up leaving guys scrambling to avoid them while either catching the wave or just plain trying to get out of the way. Often times the SUPers are in a way snaking the wave because they are dropping in at a point that is more towards the shoulder than the steeper inside shortboard take-off but are either going too fast to stop or view it as their wave since they been on it from the outside already. I see this problem just getting bigger as we see more SUPers by the day (now some life-long, never surfed guys appearing) and safety really being of concern on head high days. Would like to hear people's thoughts on how people deal with this at their local break and not just "move down the beach" because some breaks don't have that option.
Don't have any answers but definitely hear ya. I have no beef w/ the SUP in general, but was out on a sloppy head high day in April. One guy in particular really sucked, and kept wiping out while trying to catch waves. Of course he bails right in front of me as I'm paddling out and this giant board is heading at me. It's the guys who have no previous surfing experience and are trying to learn on those that are the problem.
1) Say to SUP guy "Get off MY PEAK!!!" 2) Pull a Fast Eddie and put a fist in SUP guy's grill when he snakes you. 3) Establish your own Da Hui at your break In seriousness, I've yet to see a SUPer at my home breaks that aren't also one of the best surfers in the area and happen to be on their barge (high performance SUP) due to chop or otherwise crap conditions. I know that skilled exclusive SUP riders are out there, they just seem to be hiding from us since we never see them. It's tough for a pure SUP rider to know surfing etiquette when they haven't surfed. The SUP community itself isn't about to be teaching them since that culture seems to be past the Big Bang event and now it's a watered-down trend. I'm sure the real ones are nearly as pissed off as we are about their JV counterparts. In a perfect world, SUPs would have their own area as would we and then spongers and swimmers. I've got a hard time believing there can be any co-existence among the different parties since you're then assuming all members know both the etiquette of their trade and also the others around them and therefore how the different groups can act in harmony. When you think how in each group there are usually a few who don't even practice the etiquette of their own activity you can understand the caution to be had with integrating the different populations. I was at a New England break last weekend that had good, clean swell and was a magnet for highly skilled surfers with way more than 50 present and possibly more than 100. Space was tight although everyone was in control and rides were had by all. I was too focused on my own surfing and also watching others who were way more skilled, but I bet you there were a few SUP riders and spongers in the mix as well. The reason I didn't notice them is that they knew what they were doing and definitely how to operate within the dynamic environment and confined space of viable peaks. All it takes is one idiot to be a hazard for many others around. How many lineups won't have at least one hazard with the kookery that's rampant in SUPing? It's already prevalent in surfing and sponging. A kook with a loaded automatic weapon is far more of a danger.
Must be a northern thing. There are no more SUP's in the water down here than I remember ever being out there. Most of the guys out there are older surfers that want something to do on smaller days. Occasionally, I will see a newbie with no clue, but they are no worse than young ignorant kids on shortboards. If someone is doing something dangerous, then call them out on it.
It seems like it's signicantly more dangerous then other kooks given 'the loaded automatic weapon' (great analogy). Brew - I surf mostly in long island, NY, but have a bunch of friends in Cali which say it's an even bigger issue.
Thats really the only option. There will never be zones for each type of craft, and it's all about where you can take off from.
for better or worse, in OCNJ post sandy and north end replenishment, there are very few fixed good peaks so everyone can spread out (especially south end). it is no more crowded than normal although noobs on SUPs are more dangerous than spongers. SUPs actually trying to surf are mostly a mix of surfers/ex-surfers who get the joke and are local/part-local. biggest issue i see is just a continuation of the long/short issue where on smaller/mushy days, the SBs and spongers float like little speed bumps inside. there are limits to how agile my aircraft carrier can be if some dummy drops in late on me. and i guarantee that they will be the loser in that impact. random dilemna for those of us switching back and forth. on 2-4' mush it is great to get nice long rides on the SUP. it will carry over flat sections that even the log won't. but i am concerned that i am losing paddling fitness for when the real waves return. sunday i surfed although it probably would have been better on SUP just to get a workout.
One of the better SUPers I've seen does not wear a leash. When I first saw him without it, I was concerned, but he quickly demonstrated that he was in complete control. I think the leash allows newby SUPers to feel like they have permission to just bail when they get out of control. This is a disaster in situations like the one you've discribed when a SUP is barrelling toward a line up and the guy just bails out. I think if leashes weren't permitted at a break, you'd see far fewer out of control guys on SUPs.
Good point Young Jeezy!! Any time one is not tethered to their PWC they'll tend to have much greater consciousness of it and will less often operate it in a manner where they're likely to fall off and lose control.
Yeah speak up and say something, they'll most likely leave. A lot of these wealthy, late to learn types have too much pride to apologize and are too self-conscious to keep trying. but be nice about it.
most SUPers know they're frowned upon by every over type boarder and will be relatively considerate. yeah, there's the asshole in every crowd, but, on the average, I've found SUPers to be pretty mellow. If they're hogging all the waves, say something...they'll, more than likely, be amicable.
Yeah - saying something is probably the best thing to do right now. I just see this getting to be a much bigger issue given the growth in SUPing. I fear the days it's closer to a 50/50 split in the water.
Don't fear those days, it's trendy now, but I'm a believer in the idea that the ocean regulates itself...anybody who gets involved in riding waves(whatever the denomination) simply b/c of the trend will in time get their a$$ handed to them and go home w/ their tail b/t their legs.
The move is to have one shortboarder sacrifice and sit too far out, making the sups go even further to the point where they cannot catch the waves. Take turns. Also if you paddle close to a sup they get nervous about falling over and move away, just casually move them out or off the peak. It will at least weed out the sups that a clueless. The rest are all good in my book.
Only real solution is to call them out. If they are really a danger (not just if you don't like SUP's) than you should let them know. If nobody says anything they will continue.
As resident SUP guy and long time surfer I believe I can offer you some perspective on this issue. First, let me start by saying I'm 32 and started surfing when I was 15, on a 6'4" short board, but didn't get an SUP until just a few years ago (it was a B-Day gift). I had years of lineup experience when I was given this 12' beast but I knew right away that I was NOT taking her into the surf right away because I knew there were skills that needed to be learned before being able to effectively handle that size of a craft, stay standing 99% of the time, as well as deal with adding a paddle to the equation. What I did was paddle as much as I could on flat water until I felt extremely confident on it, I took about 6 months to do this, which may seem like a long time but I wasn't about to embarrass myself out there. Once I went into the surf I realized real quick how dangerous one of these could be (common sense told me this too). I only paddled into small waves at 1st and would take my prone surfboards out in anything over waist high for a while. I got the hang of it pretty quickly and ended up gradually riding waves up to HH to slightly OH, but I felt that it was more of a hassle than it's worth on big days and much preferred my smaller boards in such conditions. Now I'm looking into getting a much smaller / performance SUP because this bad boy just doesn't do it for me unless it's under head high and light winds. I have only surfed my SUP one time since getting my new 6'4" Coil for my last B Day present back in April (and I surf every week, sometimes 3-4 days/week), mostly because I'm having too much fun on the new stick and my LB. Having said all that, I've never once had an issue with my SUP being a danger to others, never ran into anybody, never dropped in on or snaked anybody, I find a peak to myself normally, but if others paddle out by me, I let others go and I wait till the coast is clear and then I take my wave, but when it gets crowded I'm usually out there letting others know if a set is coming, I hoot them into waves, and only take my fair share. If it gets too crowded and I feel like it's getting dicey, I'll move away or just paddle in and grab my LB or shorty. That's how I handle myself out there, but I do realize not everybody operates the same way. As irony would have it, my last session out I was almost ran over by an older guy (probably 50's) on an SUP. I was on my short board in a crowded lineup by a Jetty on a 3-4ft day, he was late to the party and showed up mid-day and paddled right into the mix (something I'd never do). Next thing I know as I'm popping up this guy comes from behind and within an inch of hitting me and snakes the wave. I was caught off guard and my reaction was to yell something to the effect of "WTF, you almost hit me" and he paddled back to say "that was a little close huh?" I said, "yeah, just a little bit there buddy" and then he stood there dumbfounded for a second and then realized I wasn't messing around and paddled off and didn't do it again. Did I handle it correctly? IDK probably not, I'm a bit of a hot head when people are d*cks, and I like to let them know that they are d*cks, but I got the desired result, which was for him to go somewhere else and be reckless. My advise to the OP or anybody else with a similar beef for SUP's is to take each situation on a case by case basis, just as you do any other short boarder or LB'er, witness how they handle themselves, and if they are a d*ck or just clueless out there then speak up and help educate them. It's not your job to teach someone etiquette I know but if you don't say anything, and nobody else says anything, then they will continue on being the d*ck they are. It's best to handle it without anger (I'm one to talk) so if you can do that without being confrontational then by all means be mature about it, but if it requires being assertive or aggressive to get the point across, then do what you have to do, just don't hurt anybody if you don't have to, that's all.
This makes alot of sense. It's always been survival of the fittest in challenging conditions. It's the clean lined up chest to slightly overhead days that create a conflict with traditional surfing and SUPing. If you can't reason with them ( its usually only one or two clueless offenders, most SUPers are kind, competent watermen/women) or outsmart them, someone needs to bring out a supersoaker loaded with veggie oil and spray them and their craft and their paddle down. I've seen it done with idiot jet skiiers and they learn fast to go down the beach when asked.
Actually it's quite the opposite, most guys who have back / neck problems from surfing end up switching to SUP and can extend their surfing life for several more years, which is why you tend to see a lot of older guys on them.
