Boating-Sailing
SUP International
Kombucha In Chiba
I was in Hawaii when paddle boarding had just been born, or more accurately reborn, but still hadn’t grown up enough to leave its parents, Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama.
2 min |
Early Summer 2019
SUP International
Parallel Lines
We should never forget that the longboard is where it all started for surfing, and also where it all started for SUP. A SUP longboard makes for a long list of wins without much against it: you can cross distances as easily as on a 'big boy' 9'6 cruiser but with refined rails that let you surf with style. A performance tail lets you crack it off the top without wobbling on the paddle back out like a pro-board. In short, easier to paddle, suds better. Starboard have just released their long-awaited Longboard SUP range and we spoke to shapers 011ie greatly, Zane Schweitzer and Benoit Carpentier to find out the design inspiration for these boards, and more importantly, how they surf.
6 min |
Autumn 2018
SUP International
Simple Harmonic Motion
The other day I was looking at how tidal flow can be represented by a sine function (up and down wavey line) and it occurred to me that I’d seen the undisturbed surface, amplitude and wavelength before somewhere else in the sea. Yes, the surf! Not just a hat rack eh.
2 min |
Autumn 2018
SUP International
NOW IT'S STARTED
For me, the long hot Summer has been a double-edged sword. It’s been great to be super busy getting new people into the sport but it’s also been a long time without much in the way of waves and wind.
10+ min |
Autumn 2018
SUP International
Reality Check
It’s fair to say that the average surfer these days is more desensitised to the idea of heavy waves than the average surfer of twenty years ago. That’s not because people are necessarily surfing heavier waves; Philip Edwards first surfed 6ftPipeline way over half a century ago in 1961. But because we’re seeing a lot more of it. It does make you wonder, could I do it? Could I sell the house and live in the tube? What does it take to make a wave at one of surfing’s ultimate proving grounds? The wave in these photos in particular has held fascination since it exploded into the pages of surf mags as ‘the beast with no back’; sucking up from below sea level to throw surreal submarine tubes. We spoke to Benoit Carpentier and Shakira Westdorp (fresh from taking the women’s sup surf world title in China) on the technicality and reality of making it out alive…
6 min |
Winter 2018
SUP International
Catch The Sun
It’s fair to say, for as long as we’ve had paddleboarding we’ve also had digital photography. We’re now at a stage where we’re spoilt for choice with incredible optics on our phones, gimbals, affordable drones and DSLRs but a good photo won’t take itself. The adventure of photography is discovering new locations, perspectives, times of day even, and capturing that moment. Photography can add another element to your paddling sessions, giving direction and purpose to your search, and your session continues long after you get off the water as you work through your images looking for the pot of gold. We spoke to Allen Meyer to get some insight to setting up a great shoot…
4 min |
ISSUE 22 - WINTER 2018
SUP International
Towards Salvation
For their eco-ride series “The Green Wave”, Carine and Manu and their two daughters went on a trip to document an inspiring new initiative: in the Chocó region of the Pacific coast of Colombia, surfing has become a form of therapy as a means to heal young kids’ traumas from often violent pasts. They discovered a project that goes right to the heart of the community. .
10 min |
ISSUE 22 - WINTER 2018
SUP International
Test Reports - Step On
Of the many advantages that a sup surfer has over their prone brethren, one of the biggest and most fundamental is potential water time. You may live several hours from a breaking wave but unlike a prone surfer, time spent on flat water with your new board is not time wasted.
10+ min |
Winter 2018
SUP International
Nature's Training Schedule
The concept of periodisation will be a familiar one to anyone who has trained for sup racing, or in fact, any athletic sport.
2 min |
ISSUE 22 - WINTER 2018
SUP International
Are Atlantic Storms Getting More Intense?
It seems like every low pressure gets a name these days. Are we just hearing more about them or are there really more of them?
2 min |
Winter 2018
SUP International
The Islands Of Middle Earth
Sao Tomé and Principe are two small African islands in search of balance on the Equatorial line. This island nation is tiny in size but carries big dreams: Principe Island is home to a unique and unprecedented experiment in sustainable development. Due to their exposure to South Atlantic swells the islands hold promise for surfers, but Carine Camboulives and Manu Bouvet have much more to share than the waves they found.
10+ min |
Summer 2018
SUP International
48 Hours
After working with Scottish gin brand Daffy’s as our drinks partner at the Dragon World Championships in 2017, I am truly a converted gin lover! So, when an invite came to visit their distillery in the highlands, for a day of SUP based botanical foraging, followed by gin making, I jumped at the chance. After a hectic week in the office, I flew north ready for a weekend of Scottish SUPing + gin sipping.
4 min |
Summer 2018
SUP International
Wind, Waves & Whitecaps A Downwinder In Greece
I must admit, when I looked for a perfect downwind spot in Europe, I didn’t immediately think of Greece. The French Atlantic coast sounded promising. Or Portugal. Until I saw some videos by John and Kostas Spinoulas, two passionate and skilled downwind paddlers who had discovered several downwind spots along the coast of Attika and on Corfu. Wind, waves, whitecaps and warm water. I knew I had to go.
4 min |
Summer 2018
SUP International
Victory, Everywhere!
No matter what sort of a day you’re having, it’s nice to think that somewhere, some poor individual (perhaps even several poor individuals) is/are discovering the medieval catapulting effect of being sat on the back of a monster sup as the nose stuffs and it pitch poles in the surf.
3 min |
Summer 2018
SUP International
Return To Glory
We had a date with Puerto Rico. An island known to produce world-class spots and the biggest waves in the Caribbean. Several unknowns await us though: what state would we would find the island in after the hurricane? Will the locals accept us with sups? Was Captain American born on the island? And was the Pina Colada really invented in Puerto Rico?
9 min |
Summer 2018
SUP International
Hunting Unicorns
The perfect wave, does it exist? Finn Mullen examines the hunt in the modern age and how it can have surprising results.
9 min |
Summer 2018
SUP International
A Forgotten Place
At sea for a year and a half on our sailboat Maloya, an Océanis 411, we are sailing around the world in search of ideal spots to enjoy our favourite watersports of SUP, kiting and windsurfing.
4 min |
Issue 25 - Mid Summer 2019
SUP International
Flow State Interview: Ginnie Betts
I first met Ginnie on a sup instructor training course, though I knew her name from her victory at the 2016 Battle of the Thames. Two things were immediately apparent – firstly that Ginnie was a naturally rapid paddler, though she might deny that herself, and secondly that she was incredibly modest about her ability. See point one, QED. Since then we’ve paddled together, and crossed paths plenty of times and Ginnie is currently sitting 12th in the APP women’s overall race ranking, but I realised I still didn’t really know what had made Ginnie so quick. So, in between races and work, we caught up with Ginnie to find out the mindset, skillset and toolset behind her performance….
9 min |
Issue 25 - Mid Summer 2019
SUP International
A New Perspective
In the interest of field research, we’ve been conducting an experiment on an unwitting participant. You might know that we edit this magazine from a clifftop lair overlooking the Atlantic Ocean which also serves as an instructional base for ocean sports, and recently, we’ve tasked one of our new coaches, young Frankie, with paddling every single day after work regardless of conditions.
10+ min |
Issue 25 - Mid Summer 2019
SUP International
Ten Storm Force
A yacht supported downwinder in open water Mediterranean is up there with heli skiing Whistler, or being towed into empty G-Land. But if the numbers are saying 50 knots and 6 metres, how much do you think you could stand?
4 min |
Issue 25 - Mid Summer 2019
SUP International
On The Pulse
It’s the end of September, and my working season is over and after few winters spent in the Canary Islands, I decided to take a trip to Indo.
5 min |
Issue 25 - Mid Summer 2019
SUP International
The Yukon River Quest
Each year in the height of summer, a surreal challenge unfolds on the third-longest river in North America. The Yukon River Quest is an annual ultra-marathon paddling race across SUP and various other disciplines, taking place in Canada’s Yukon Territory. Teams from around the globe come to challenge themselves in this self-supported, non-stop paddling odyssey through some of Canada’s pristine and untouched wilderness.
3 min |
Issue 25 - Mid Summer 2019
SUP International
The Way Of The Dragon
The two-day, Red Paddle Co Dragon World Championships is an event like no other. It involves teams of four from across the world battling it out on a mighty 22-foot inflatable ‘Red Dragon’ board to be crowned the ultimate victors.
5 min |
Issue 25 - Mid Summer 2019
SUP International
Paddle Science #16 - Sprint And Distance Fitness.
I admit it. Thanks to the Boardmasters Storm I haven’t been out on the water today. I holed myself up in the gym and rowed 5000m. I split my session into 10 sets of 500m with a one minute rest period in between. Sounds easy right?
6 min |
Issue 25 - Mid Summer 2019
SUP International
Logging In
I am sitting in a tuk-tuk carelessly sneaking through the chaotic traffic of Colombo way faster and way more dangerously than it should be. All around me I pass by thousands of people looking busy with their everyday lives. Drivers, beggars, porters, passengers, policemen with white gloves, buddhist monks dressed in orange, schoolboys in uniform, street food sellers, and hordes of ordinary people just going somewhere. I wonder what they do all day. I wonder what their reality is like. I came to Sri Lanka to experience first hand the spirit of a country in which everyone these days seems to be interested in.
8 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Endurance
A great shout erupts from the centre of fifty neoprene-clad people clustered on the dark banks of Loch Ness. The wind whips and pulls at the group of paddlers, all of whom are fortified by a dram of whisky, as the sound of Scottish bagpipes signifies the first grey light of dawn. With it, the true scale of Loch Ness stretches out before the challengers, as dark, ferocious gusts claw at the surface of the black water and bands of sleet and rain cut at bare flesh.
10+ min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Paddle Science #14 - Blood Testing
We can be doing all the right things: for example eating a low carb diet, following a training program, but it is not easy to know if our blood glucose levels are in the right range, or if overtraining is leading to chronic inflammation.
6 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Lost In Koh Chang
If the newly crowned world champion sup racer gives you a tip-off to visit a place, it’s probably worth more than a casual glance. Daniel Hasulyo has just taken the technical race title at the ISA event in China, and if you’re wondering what his training schedule runs like, it looks a bit like this…
3 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Between Storms
It’s deep winter. Boots, gloves and hood are ready to go..., but I have been very fortunate and grateful this year (thanks to some awesome support from my key sponsors ION, Fanatic SUP International and Nik Baker K66) to have not needed the aforementioned items – yet.
3 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Prohibited Items
I’d almost forgotten about the weariness with which airport staff– from check-in personnel to baggage handlers look at you when they see you bumbling your way through departures with a large board bag.
2 min |