Stand-up paddle surfing
(aka SUP, and Beachboy surfing if you're in Hawaii)
What is it? Stand-up paddle surfing is essentially surfing and/or
kayaking, standing on an oversized longboard, using an adapted canoe paddle
for power and steering. The growing sport may have got its most high-
profile shot in the arm when the actress Jennifer Aniston was photographed
paddling a 3m überboard in Hawaii last year, but Hollywood's new favourite
core workout (the impeccably abbed Matt Damon, Jennifer Garner and Matthew
McConaughey are also fans) has a lineage that stretches back to the early
days of Polynesian culture. A Hawaiian renaissance early last century built
slowly into a thriving new beach sport whose new status was sealed with its
inclusion in the Buffalo Big Board contest in Mahaka, Hawaii, in 2004. The
big wave-surfing legend Laird Hamilton, a recent devotee, stunned his fans
and launched a new worldwide paddling armada when he revealed that it is his
watersport of choice.
Where it's at The UK's first intrepid paddle surfers started appearing
off Devon and Cornwall three years ago. Since then, watersports clubs around
England and Wales have started offering tuition and kit hire. A good way to
catch your first wave is to check out one of the many demo days around the
country, on coastal and inland waters (details below). Kit check Made of
polyurethane foam, wood, fibreglass and polyester resin, the 3m-4.5m long
boards are not cheap. Potential investors will need to splash out between
£600-£1,000 for new boards, while second-hand boards can be found on
paddle-surfing websites.
Paddles range from £50 for a basic plastic and aluminium model to £150
and up for a superior lightweight carbon construction. “Shortie” wetsuits
start at about £50, and an upgrade to a drysuit makes this a year-round
sport. Kit hire through clubs and shops costs about £25 an hour; add another
£20 or so to include tuition.
Go deeper Stand Up Paddle Surf UK (www.standuppaddlesurf.co.uk
) champions the nascent domestic scene and lists some 11 clubs that offer
lessons around England and Wales as well as an events calendar packed with
demo days and competitions. While there's plenty of fun just hiring kit and
having a go, tuition will help you to progress swiftly from wobbling along
on flat water to catching waves and steering tricks to make the most of any
conditions.
Good for Developing core stength and balance. Water conditions
determine whether this is a gentle muscle toner or a full-on cardiovascular
workout.
The highs Paddleboarders can get to waves quicker and ride them for
longer than surfers. Better still, they can ride waves that are way too puny
for surfing so there's no need to jostle with a flotilla of surfers
competing for a ride off the same break. A board is great for leisurely
shoreline exploration.
The lows The high cost of kit and transporting these marine monsters.
Lingo As in all boardsports, “stoked” means “very, very happy, thanks
for asking”.
Kite surfing
(aka kite boarding)
What is it? Developed by adrenalin fiends on the beaches of France and
Hawaii over the past three decades, kite surfing is one of the world's
fastest-growing extreme sports, with about 200,000 devotees globally. The
sport involves riding a board similar to a wakeboard while attached by a
harness to a large “power kite”, which tows the rider across the water.
Different water conditions have given rise to different disciplines, such as
freestyle, wave riding and racing. The highly specialised equipment is
evolving constantly and recent refinements have made the sport significantly
safer and easier to learn.
Where it's at While Cabarete Bay in the Dominican Republic is kite
surfing's mecca, host since 2001 to the sport's world championships because
of excellent wind conditions, kite surfing is established worldwide. The UK,
whose world champions Aaron Hadlow and Steph Bridge are at the forefront of
an impressive British pro presence in the sport, has clubs at locations from
Aberdeenshire and Anglesey to the Isle of Wight.
Kit check While the pros' quivers boast an array of high-end
specialised kites for all conditions, basic kite and board packages start at
about £750. You'll also need a harness (from about £65), a control bar and
lines (from £150) and wetsuit (a “shortie” will do for most summer
conditions, from about £50). The cautious may also want to invest in helmets
and impact vests, and a safety knife is essential for all riders in case of
nasty entanglements. Kite surfing's growing online community means that
second-hand kit is readily available (try www.wetndryboardsports.com
), but the cheapest way to sample the sport is with an all-in tuition
package with a club or school (“taster” days cost about £95).
Go deeper Because the equipment is relatively complex and potential
hazards are numerous, it's essential to begin with expert tuition in
everything from reading wind conditions to setting up the kite, safety
procedures and riding. The British Kite Surfing Association (www.bksa.org.uk
) has promoted standards within the sport since 1999, and details 32 clubs
around the UK on its Clubs page, as well as running a busy calendar of
events and courses. And there's always more to learn. Once you've mastered
carving the water and flying off waves, there are endless aerial tricks to
try. Anyone for a stalefish? Good for Kite surfing offers a whole
body-strength workout. While you're learning, the core muscles, leg and
upper body strength come into play, and these will all develop in parallel
with your skill level. The highs Once you've grasped the basics, kite
surfing is turbo-charged fun whatever your level and can be done on lots of
bodies of water.
The lows Hazards are many for riders who aren't fully in control of
their kites. Gusts of wind can “loft” you high in the air, and landings can
range from waves to sand to buildings. Choosing the wind conditions
carefully is crucial to minimising the risks.
Lingo A “Hindenburg” is an accident involving a kite stalling and
crashing into an onshore structure.
Skim boarding
(aka skimming)
What is it? If you've seen kids on the beach clutching wide, stubby
surfboards and barrelling over and over towards the water to do
skateboard-style tricks on waves in the shallows, that's skimboarding.
Springing from Laguna Beach, California, where lifeguards in the 1920s started
moving around the beach by hydroplaning thin plywood discs along the water's
edge, the sport collided happily with surfing's booming technology in the
1970s. It has triggered new generations of highly technical boards and it is
a highly competitive and spectacularly stylised event discipline in its own
right. Lacking the “skegs” (fins) found on surfboards and their buoyancy of
construction, skimboards are harder to control, but this gives them the
agility to do quick-fire manoeuvres that their bulkier cousins can only
dream about. And while at the sport's top end, pro riders pull off
physics-defying moves on water-mounted rails and in artificial tube waves,
flat water and the tiniest waves offer plenty to challenge and entertain
newcomers to these skittish, edgy little rides.
Where it's at While Laguna Beach remains its epicentre, skimboarding is
a worldwide phenomenon. As it remains very much a have-a-go sport, formal
tuition is not widely available, but specialist websites compile lists of
spots recommended by skimboarders. The 34 locations listed at
www.boskim.co.uk include weather forecasts, road directions and beach-user
reviews.
Kit check Usually oval or teardrop-shaped, boards should be mid-chest
height to their riders. Sandskater, the UK's only specialist skimboard shop,
is based in Paignton, Devon, and if that's not convenient, you can buy
boards at www.sandskater.co.uk or plenty of other skimboard websites.
Starting at about £20, boards are made of wood, fibreglass or, at the higher
end, carbon fibre, and you will need a £50 “shortie” wetsuit for all but the
hottest UK days. If you're all about keeping it old-school, you can even
make your own plywood board - find out how at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skimboarding
.
Go deeper www.skimonline.com
is the web's biggest skimboarding site, and as well as encyclopaedic
information on all aspects of the sport, it has online tutorials for getting
started on its Skim School page. YouTube is also a great source of “how to”
video clips. Contests and non-competitive jams are organised by Skim UK (www.skimuk.org.uk
) over the summer and autumn, and members (£10 a year) are offered road
trips in the UK and occasionally farther afield.
Good for Balance, flexibility and co-ordination.
The highs This is a low-investment, easily portable option, and you can
splash about with a skimboard almost anywhere there's water: lakes, rivers,
ponds, even wet grass (a potential growth area given the recent UK summer
conditions). Fiendishly challenging to master but great fun, skimboarding's
sprints down the beach are also a winner for tiring out the kids while you
chill on the sand.
The lows Repeated falls in shallow water can lead to sprains of feet,
ankles and wrists. Beaches with a steep slope beneath the water's edge are
the safest.
Lingo If someone comments on your “rocker”, they're referring to the
amount of curve in your board from nose to tail.
