Paddleboard Lessons in Gairloch
SUP is one of the fastest growing and popular water sport activities around. Its popularity is based on SUP being one of the best workouts for a complete body. SUPing is a low impact exercise that is a combination of balance, strength, and endurance which are exercised whether you are paddling or just balancing on your board. And, of course, it is great fun!
Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Stand up paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water, and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was documented in a 2013 report that identified it as the outdoor sporting activity with the most first-time participants in the United States that year. Variations include flat water paddling, racing, surfing, whitewater SUP, yoga, and fishing.
Standup paddleboarding (SUP), the act of propelling oneself on a floating platform with the help of a paddle or pole, traces back thousands of years and across many continents, but its current form and popularity originated in Hawaii in the 1900s. Records of earlier forms of SUP have been found as early as 3,000 B.C. and its iterations span over various regions such as Peru, Levant, Italy, and China.
Modern standup paddleboarding began in the 1940s in Waikiki. John Ah Choy was a local Hawaiian who surfed, but as he got older and was unable to get up and down from his board, he would stand on his board from the break and paddle out with a canoe paddle to catch waves. His sons, Leroy and Bobby Ah Choy, and their friend, Duke Kahanamoku, started to mimic this while they taught surfing to visiting tourists. They did this as a way to keep an eye on surf students while also monitoring the incoming swell. They also utilized the vantage point of being out on the water to take pictures. As the style became popular with other surfers, it took on the name Beach Boy Surfing after the instructors, who were called Waikiki Beach Boys. Steve West credits outrigger canoeing combined with surfing as the basis of SUP, since the individual skills (board riding and paddling) already existed. In the 1990s Laird Hamilton redefined and modernized standup paddleboarding as a sport. In 2004, SUP surfing was added as a category in the Buffalo Big Board Contest.
SUP’ing is a fine art; to book your own SUP session or hire a SUP, please click here to view our website.
Don’t fancy SUP’ing but want to have a go at kayaking or canoeing? We’ve got you covered. Click here to find out more.
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