Tuesday, October 14, 2008

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.

1 comment:

  1. Hi I'm pierre, designer of a river SUP called the Streamboard. Check it on Youtube.
    I do use a leash on ww SUP made with 3 parts of Velcro bands, that way if there is too much pressure on the leash, the Velcro releases by force. I also use a Dakine knee brace with a quick realease. An other option is to attach the leash to the PFD with a quick release. Anyway, never use a regular leash on white water, it's not safe at all !
    Excuse my english.
    Cheers
    Pierre

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