Street Stand-Up Paddling, for real!
Street SUP.. Real Street Sup!
After a pretty mediocre summer for waves, there's a decent wind swell rolling down the coast right now, and although it's a little lumpy there's still some overhead sets rolling around the sheltered points. Those paddlers more 'downwinder inclined' are using the southerly winds and steep windswell to complete massive downwind tasks. What's so special about that however? And what's the rain got to do with it? Well, nothing really - but it does have a lot to do with street SUP.
We're talking real street SUP, as in stand up paddling in the middle of your street, on the floaty kind of board. Not a skateboard. John Townsend lives in Buddina on the Sunshine coast and this week, over 100mm of rain fell in under an hour. The result? His very own training channel outside his house. Unfortunately he would have gathered participate in the Kawana Time trial series down the road, but as one forum member said - it's not every day that you can SUP in your very own street.
Wondering what board he's paddling? You'll be guessing for a while, because it's a home made masterpiece that's also very competitive in the local race series. You can check out the build thread here, but expect to see a few more of these pop up around the place over the next few years. You can buy the plans for about $80 and make one of these in your garage. All it takes is a few hours (ha!) work, a little fiberglassing knowhow and an ambition to paddle something different.
Check out how it paddles in the video below, but remember, it's got no fin attached to it because he's supping in his street!!!
san remo, VIC
