14' Standup Paddle Boards - Racing & Touring

Take a look at a 14' foot paddle race boards and it challenges the usual definition of an SUP. Is this 14' long surfboard a watercraft, surfer, racer or adventure touring board? These SUP boards certainly have the heritage of a surfboard, like a giant "big gun," but the intention is open water and ocean racing and touring. In the old days surf contests were all about prone paddling, so now the sport is returning to it's island roots. Then, the fastest glide and speed would get you between islands and to next surf break before the tide turned. I can't wait to paddle one of these beauties!

The legendary paddle board shaper, Joe Bark has shaped a new 14' stand up paddle board racing / touring design for Surftech and it will be available next spring. The above flyer has the information and specs. The boards have a glossy white bottom and yellow or red decks.

The trend in SUP paddles has been towards the smaller blade (depending on your stand up paddle board speed). Pair this board with the Kialoa Shaka Pu'u paddle. For women paddlers or small (less muscular) men paddlers, I suggest you buy the Kialoa Methane paddle.

Another good reason to buy  your racing SUP boards at Stand Up Paddle Flatwater in Bend, Oregon is because Oregon doesn't have sales tax. To be guaranteed to get a Joe Bark Expedition 14', let me know now so I can set one aside for you.

Call me: 541-389-4547
www.StandupPaddleFlatwater.com

SUPs and PFDs

This is a follow-up to my post August 12,'08 "Hassled About PFD?"

The US Coast Guard recently made a determination:

"Based on the information available, the Coast Guard has determined that, when beyond the narrow limits of a swimming, surfing or bathing area, the device known as a "paddleboard" is a vessel under 46 U.S.C. 2101, and therefore subject to applicable regulations administered by the U.S. Coast Guard and its Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety, unless specificallly exempted."

In essence, if the paddleboard is being used for transport on lakes, bays, or rivers, a PFD is required.

I guess we're responsible for national policy on this. I doubt that
anyone making this decision has ever been on a paddleboard (maybe never
even seen one) and certainly didn't get any input from the paddling
community. If so, the paddlers could easily explain that the PFD
requirement will not increase the safety of the sport in most cases.
Granted, a paddler could get struck by lightning or hit-and-run by a
boat and knocked unconscious. But then, the PFD would only save them if
they were wearing it and the rule says it just needs to be on-board.
Paddleboards are unsinkable. A more common sense safety rule is to wear
a tether-leash attaching you to your board and this is widely practiced
without the need of regulation.

Paddleboarding is a healthy, low-impact and environmentally friendly new
sport. The enthusiasts do it because they are so un-encumbered by
standing on top of a board instead of sitting within a boat. The feeling
of freedom and experience of the outing is incomparable. Some paddlers
choose to wear PFD,s and my point is that it should be a choice. The
expectation is that it will not be required to have a PFD because
everybody knows a board is not a boat.

The reactions from the few people that were already warned by marine patrols were brought to my attention immediately, disbelieving, distasteful, even calling it harassment.

I'm requesting that the Board consider rule making and adopt rule
language to exempt "paddle boards" from the PFD requirement. I will be
glad to testify and could provide many others to testify if it would help.

Randall Barna

www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com Thank you for purchasing your SUP gear from us. We appreciate your support.
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Surf Photographer Grant Myrdal's Beautiful Photos

Most all of us have cameras and take photos. Sometimes a photo is so good, we even surprise ourselves. But even then, the photos don't usually transcend the medium. Last month I went to Grant Myrdal's slide show presentation of his work including all types of work that we normally don't see of his. I was so blown away. His work has a mystical, transcendent beauty. What he can do with water is astounding. He doesn't use digital, he's still a film artist. Please take a moment to look at Grant's website. Along with his surf photos you'll see gorgeous landscapes including some of the Deschutes River in Oregon.

Grant is a famous surf photographer and an amazing artist. We are so lucky that Grant decided to move to Central Oregon. He set up a fantastic slide show September 3rd that was hosted by Pine Mountain Sports in Bend, Oregon. Here is a recent photo of his that was published in Surfer's Journal. Click here purchase Grant Myrdal's prints and see more of his work.


www.StandUpPaddleBend.com

Gerry Lopez Interview on SUP Surf Mag

Hometown hero, Gerry Lopez is interviewed about his elite Stand up Paddle event, Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle race. It's a great interview with Barrett Tester and Gerry Lopez on SUP Surf Mag.com Here's the link to the page with the interview.

Gerry has a lot to say about the resurgence of SUP as a exciting sport. He has a lot to say about standup paddling as well as mentioning our local Stand Up Paddle Bend group of river and lake paddlers. Thanks for the mention, Gerry! One thing Gerry said that was news to me was this bit about the history of surfing: "Surfing contests in the beginning were all paddle races and they evolved into what people see now with people riding waves. . ." Lopez explained that this SUP contest is not the average "surf" contest. "We could have a wave contest, but a race would be a lot more fun and easy for the people watching it to understand."

The Battle of the Paddle event includes a $25,000. purse. That's enough to motivate a fitness program! Maybe we'll see some of our local group at a race like this next year!

Randall is ordering 14 foot Joe Bark SUP race boards and getting them in stock. Let him know if you want to order one. 541-389-4547

www.StandUpPaddleBend.com

Riding River Whitewater Standup Paddle Surfing

Greg "Suggs" Miller, the Director of the Potomac Board Rats, a Washington D.C. based SUP group sent us this note:

We now have a video on our potomacboardrats.org site. Check it out and if you want to put it on your site, you can.
We are getting a lot of attention from out kayak friends. We always offer to let them try it. Some do and think it's awesome, even if they struggle at it.
Do you or your SUP pals use leashes for your boards and paddles?
If we fall and loose our boards and paddles, it can be a long and dangerous swim for the gear. I have been lucky so far. Cobra wore a short leash today and got a bit tangled up, but also said it saved him a retrieve ordeal.

Hope all is good out West,

Greg"Suggs"Miller
potomacboardrats.org
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Well, Suggs, members of our local Standup Paddle Bend group have been having discussions about using a leash on whitewater. I got mine caught around a submerged tree branch on calm flat water and with one paddle-stroke sent myself slamming face first into my glossy Takayama board. I'm ambivalent about wearing a leash in the river, and tend not to. Randall said that "telephone cord" style leashes are available now to keep the leash mostly on the deck of the board, rather than dangling. We'd love to hear any reader's ideas and experiences with leashes on rivers.

Noll Longboard Classic SUP Event Storms-On

The first-hand report from Peter Miller is that the SUP class of the Noll Longboard Classic was held Oct. 4th 2008 as scheduled. The unpredictable part was the weather and surf. Earlier in the week the surf forecast was for a 25' swell at 16 sec. interval! As the week progressed the swell dropped and the weather set-in.

Friday morning was raining sideways with the strong winds buffeting South Beach, the normal contest site. The standup event was moved to the sheltered side of Pt. St George where the wind was offshore and waves around shoulder-high. The surf was fairly smooth considering the storm seas on the other side of the point.

Results of the top seven as follows: Rhyn Noll, Ken Wilson, Jeff Corning, Spike Richardson, Ollie Richardson, Luke Matheson, Peter Miller. For the complete story check out the link to the local paper: http://www.triplicate.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=10366

www.StandupPaddleBend.com

Stinky Bootie Solution

I thought something had died under the seats in our van. The smell was vaguely sweet, slightly meaty and fetid. I looked everywhere, and finally had to resort to cleaning out the vehicle. Starting with the spaces under the front seats I looked for the culprit and found nothing but a few ice cream sticks and a baggie full of last week's baby carrots. (Hey -- I thought my kid was eating her vegetables!)

I moved aside a pile of SUP gear to look under the floor mat and then I found it. The smell was terribly strong. And worse, it was coming from the wetsuit booties! I envisioned the gushy corpse of a mouse that had crawled into the booties and died. I shook the booties over the bushes near where we had parked, but nothing came out. Then, I did what any woman does in this situation, I gave the reeking footwear to the nearest man.

Randall didn't blink or even sniff. His face barely moved except for the slight smile he always gets when I'm grossed out about something like big spiders or dead mice. It was time to up the drama. "R a n d a l l, I think there's something dead in the wetsuit booties," I said.

"Oh, that smell?" He finally said, "Don't worry about it, I've been putting the booties in the board bag on top of the car so you wouldn't notice."

Ok -- Here's how it works for any other guys thinking that a board bag is the solution to stinky booties. I did notice. I just didn't say anything because I figured his feet are far from his head and as long as he stands on his board, I'm not close enough to care.

Then Randall hit me with the big news. "It's OK Honey, I couldn't get the smell out of your booties with wetsuit soap, but I have another idea that I'm sure will work."

My wetsuit booties?? How could that be? My feet don't stink. Really.

Then I looked carefully at the booties and it was true. They were mine. Dang it.

I headed for the bleach but Randall cut me off at the pass. I guess neoprene and bleach aren't a good combo. He did have a solution and it worked, Dawn Dishwashing liquid. He swirled a few drops into the booties full of hot water, rinsed and put the boots in the sun to dry.

What a guy!
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Get your SUP gear from Randall at www.StandUpPaddleBend.com. You'll find Dawn Dishwashing liquid on the soap aisle of most grocery stores.