SupaTrooper said..

It would be folly not to seriously consider the advice of a person with so much experience in this type of sporting field, as Spock would say "his logic is sound". I agree with Jim whole heartily and I speak as someone who has spent too much money on boards as the quiver stands at about 8 boards at the moment with 2 of these being carbon starboards 12'6 & a 14' with recessed decks which are great to paddle but I think a international standard of 4 meters for bop etc will really enable the sport to continue to thrive as the sport will then rely heavily on a persons commitment to training, attending local club comps etc which will in turn strengthen the sport as a whole. National or international sport strength begins with attendance at the club level and gaining local participation which flows onto higher comps. I would hate to see a sport where a person wins races simply on the basis of forking out large money for a crazy thin board and this would be off putting to new comers. A sport only thrives on the continuing influx of new comers particularly those in their teens who stay with sport through later in life. We are already at the point where there are very few parents that would fork out the kind of dollars that a current competitive race board costs now a on a kid. Perhaps pressure should start at the local level to convince the various national or international governing bodies around the world to seriously look at a game plan for the sport to ensure its continuing success. I speak as someone that will never be in top numbers in any comp but as a bloke that just likes to get out and have a bash/ paddle both individually for fitness & local comps for the fun of the sport, and I am probably the most common type supper around as with a large percentage of others I will never be making the world tour due to age, work commitments and love of pizza with beer.

OG SUP said..





With you lacey with one exception unlimited (14 - whatever) with rudder for open ocean racing eg Molakia.

Phill

laceys lane said...
i've always though the argument of 14' is to hard compared to 12'6 travel wise was suss.

yet most of 'them' or maybe just jacko are opposed to bop inflatable when you would think the 'hardships' they go through to travel overseas to paddle in races, a board in a backpack would be a god sent.

AA said..

Jim makes some very good points. The fact that he comes from a canoeing background and doesn't want the sport to go that way holds a lot of weight for me. The appeal of SUP for most people getting into it (from what I see) is that it is 'like' surfing, not that it is 'like' sitting or kneeling in a canoe/kayak.

I agree with everything Jim has to say regarding limiting dimensions and weight. I just don't agree with bringing in a third board length.
It is not so much about us, the people in the sport now (our current boards will suffer from natural attrition anyway), it is more about those looking at coming into it. Introducing a third board length just sends a message that the sport is fragmented and disorganised, at a critical time in its development.

Keep the 14' class (with dimension and weight restrictions that Jim speaks about) and turn it into, as suggested, an 'up to 14' class' for a few years, so that those of us who have 12'6's are still included. This will sort it self out over time and in 2-3 years most people will be on 14'.

Keep the the 12'6 class but turn it into an inflatable one design class. Include hard boards over the next few years but faze them out over the next few years.

An inflatable One design class has huge potential as the entry point for flat water racing and BOP.
It will be by far the biggest class and allow people to get into racing that is fun and affordable.
It knocks out the arms race and focusses on the most important performance trait - rider skill.

When you travel to races, you only need one board - 14' and if you want - an inflatable - easy.