Stand Up Paddle boarding, or SUP for short, is on the up, but still quite a few of us are not really up to scratch on the different types of SUP boards available. If you are interested in trying out SUP boarding then the first thing you have to do is decide what type of board you want to use. You do not actually need waves for SUP boarding, and there are a whole range of boards designed solely for touring, which are not optimised for wave riding. The three main types of SUP board are racing, touring and surfing boards. Here is a quick guide to each.
Touring SUP Boards
For paddling across the open ocean, lakes and rivers a touring SUP board is the thing for you. These boards are not meant to be agile and manoeuvrable. They have more volume than any other type of SUP board making them perfect for just cruising along, and once you get them going it actually becomes fairly easy to keep them chugging along. They are not fast, but they are very stable, and you really can be out on the water all day with one of these boards. Some can even be fitted with storage packs so you can take along camping gear if you were going on a weekend trip around a big lake or river.
Racing SUP Boards
SUP racing is a sport that is rapidly spreading across the world, and you do not need an ocean to get involved. There are plenty of races arranged on lakes and rivers, with landlocked destinations like Idaho and Germany hosting annual competitions. Competition racing SUP boards are lightweight and narrow, sacrificing stability and buoyancy for the ability to be paddled very fast. They lack rocker to eliminate drag on the water, and the entire design is centred around speed. These types of oars are great it you want to train and get fit but, unless you just like going fast all the time, you may get bored of the lack of different ways you can use the board.
Surfing SUP Boards
SUP boards designed for actual wave riding differ largely from touring and racing SUP boards. There are four main differences, and these are rocker, length, tail style and fin setup. SUP boards used for surfing are more like a performance long board, with increased rocker for carving, and are usually no longer than around 10ft. A high performance SUP surfboard can be much shorter. They are also available with a number of different tail styles the same as shortboards and longboards, like a pin tail, swallow tail, and squash tail. The same goes for fin setup, as you could go for quad, twin, single, or a tri-fin thruster setup. Essentially you have much more room for customisation so that the board suits your surfing ability.
Gearing Up
Once you have decided on the type of board you want to use the next step is kitting yourself out with the necessary accessories. If you are taking a SUP board into the surf then a SUP leash is a must. If you are out surfing with shortboarders and bodyboarders remember that your larger, heavier board could cause quite a bit of damage if you lose control of it. On that note it might also be worth going for full deck SUP traction, and the same goes for a racing or touring SUP board. You move around on the deck of a SUP board much more than on a shortboard, so making sure you don’t slip is important. Once you are ready to get out on the water remember to have fun, that’s what it is all about!