Click “Shop Eat Surf“ for the full story By SHELBY STANGER

Photo: Brian Keaulana - C4 Waterman Co-founder

Yeah’s a summary of what was said: Statistics show that even though surf hardgoods are down, there’s a bright spot that keeps popping up: stand up paddleboards appear to be booming. Regardless of what you think of SUP, business implications for this sport are promising. At the Outdoor Retailer Show a few weeks ago in Utah, the SUP booths of C4 Waterman, Surftech and Hobie (three of the largest SUP brands) were constantly busy.

These were the reasons why the sport of SUP is growing according to executive’s of C4, Hobie & Surftech:

The sport is still new: There is still not much of a 2nd hand market

The sport is popular: SUP has been getting some great publicity through celebs such as Cameron Diaz and Pierce Brosnan and everyone is keen to have a go. It’s new, it’s exciting, it’s intriguing to outdoor enthusiasts.

The sport is accessable: Unlike riding a surfboard, you can take out a stand up paddleboard on any body of water. People are using them on lakes, ponds, and even rivers.

The equipment can be used for more than one application: The various disciplines for SUP are flatwater racing, downwind racing, downriver racing, waveriding, river rapid riding, river surfing, and rodeo paddling where people do flat water freestyle moves.

The outdoor market has opened many new doors for SUP brands: The inland market for SUP is still fairly new so brands like C4 and Surftech have been developing marketing tools and equipment to target the inland and outdoor consumers.

SUP is mostly an at-once business: Because SUP boards are big and heavy (most start at ten foot), retailers only carry a few boards at a time. It’s more of an at-once business, which can be tough when predicting inventory, but good for retailers when stock is available.

Read the full story here

story By SHELBY STANGER

The 4th Annual Naish Paddle Championship was held recently in Maui with a record turn-out.

The course was set from Maliko Gulch to Kahului Harbor, with a beach finish at Hawaiian Canoe Club. The distance was 15.4km and the winning time was 1:10.09 set by Scott Trudon on a SUP closely followed by Kai Bartlett on a SUP just 8 seconds behind. Jamie Mitchell finished in 3rd on an unlimited paddle board. For full results click HERE

Apparently Dave Kalama was leading by a mile and smashed into a turtle which busted his rudder, but still came in close to the leaders .. also, there was a Naish team rider – only 11 years old. He killed it. I think he got in the top 20.

I asked a friend of mine Robbie Treharne who was lucky enough to be there to get some good shots of the action. I think he got a bit confused! Don’t know what type of action he was thinking about…This is the best shot he got!!

The SUP Bus guys down at St Kilda beach have been busy organising ththis summers Port Phillip Cup in what will be its second year. Last years event was a huge success and they have promised bigger and better things. Rumour has it there will be a 3km distance course set between St Kilda and Elwood beaches with a tricky finish under the St Kilda pier.

Mike and Phil are also looking at other SUP events and races to have on the day to boost the fun and excitement. At this stage it looks like a 9:30am kick off that will end with a BBQ, presentation and lots of prize giveaways. The SUP Bus will have all their usually demo & hire boards on hand so why not bring some friends along for a fun day. Stay tuned for more developments.  Random prizes will be given away so you don’t have to have any previous SUP experience to win a great prize!!!  It will be a great day for the family!

Kite Republic look like they will be have a kite event in the afternoon so why not make a day of it and come down and check out the action!!

We haven’t been napping or spending all our time in the surf (not all our time anyway), but instead we have been working on some exciting stuff for members. Particularly we have been looking into insurance for members, finalising possible dates for events and planning our first social day to kick off the coming summer season.

Stay tuned over the coming 2 weeks for all the details. It’s going to be a good summer!