Select to expand quotePeterP said...
You do have a valid point, although I doubt most people on this forum actually understand it hence the negative response. I would love a standardized length but the issue arises from bop race format which requires a 12'6. I blame manufacturer's wanting to make a buck (like the iphone industry) instead of taking the lead and defining the sport.
I don't think you can blame the manufacturers - its the event organisers that are feeding the beast - cancel the 12'6 class at your events and the manufacturers will respond to demand and focus on 14's (and to some extent unlimited).
IMO its the big brands that should have created their own event's and market. That way sup would be its own entity and everyone would stop complaining about tack on mal events that allow sup
Seems to be a lot of blaming going on here.
I know for fact that the big brands are not responsible for the emphasis on 12'6" class in distance racing as they don't actually want this to be the case. They are making 14' boards to suit distance racing, and 12'6" boards to suit BOP racing. The decision to force elite paddlers onto 12'6" for distance races was made by the ISA and Watermans League - both surf oriented organisations. 
I also don't think the solution to everyone's problems lies in the manufacturers staging their own races. Imagine the calls of bias when races are designed to suit the manufacturer/organiser's board. I've heard conspiracy theories suggesting surf comps sponsored by board manufacturers have seen some "interesting" judging decisions favouring a sponsored rider.
Well, if it's any consolation the brands in South Africa have stuck to their guns and promoted only 14's at their events (with few exceptions). The result is two-fold: Firstly that 99% of the racing fleet is 14's which makes everything nice and easy and secondly that we have a small lobby group looking at whats going on in the US and Australia and doggedly demanding that we cater for the 12'6 class "because that is what everyone else is doing...".
I'm an importer and maybe I'm not an astute businessman, but I think we'll get more people racing (and sell more boards) if everyone is on equal equipment and events cater for the masses as opposed to a mess of classes and masochistic distances...even at national champs level.
Wrong time of year for waves, wrong distances, wrong boards, manufacturers fault, ISA's fault.
C'mon it's an election year surely it must be Julia's fault....
Spot on, surf4fun. This is not the event to be canvassing for change, at least in terms of race distance. And likewise state titles. It's a fair criticism that club events are starting to mirror these events, and that's arguably unnecessary.
Select to expand quote
because god made 14'er go glide so much better than a 12'6 for some reason. you have a lot more scope to get the right 'size' board for the right size person. ie super slim low vol or hi vol- you take your chances with conditions.
don't you think its odd there is not one heavyweight elite 12'6 paddler around!!!!!!!!!!!
12'6's is a lightweights game
its not a marathon its sup paddling.
at the end of the day the isa are limiting sup elite to featherweights- fact
Agree with all those points, except the marathon. 20-30km is the equivalent to a marathon on a sup, most normal people would never even contemplate paddling that sort of a distance.
To be inclusive I would like to see the sport go towards more of a sprint style, say 200m, 500m and 1000m and make it an open playing field on whatever you want to ride.
Hi Pete,
What is your thinking behind 12'6 for women, not saying right or wrong just trying to understand why not go level playing field across the board with women having the choice to go 12'6 or 14?
The women in this format are not paddling against the guys so women paddling 14 against other women on either 12'6 or 14 shouldn't be an issue.
And why not go 12'6 or 14ft for BOP for everybody
Phill
haha you want more people to join yet want them to purchase longer, bigger more expensive boards and take them in the surf (BOP)...I have said ages ago and still stick by it, if BOP ever takes off in Oz like it could, you may see board shorter than 12.6 for those days like the MS race. Most of those guys are the top of Oz and there were still alot of falls....
I wish the ISA would just hurry up and announce the use of Inflatable sups only at there event with the big comps around the world to follow suit,
solves the board transport problems,
who cares what length 14', 12'6 ,20'?
less chance of impact injuries besides the odd blow out and rush of hot air 
Its the Australian titles , not a comp designed for the masses. I would like to see flat water sprints added though
I guess if you have to many divisions you end up with small numbers in some and possibly means more people on the ground to organize , more time more headaches more cost! Any way you cant please everyone , so no use in trying
There is only two issue here i can see. Thats if your a girl and want to race 14 in the ocean race and if your that good to represent your country, you have to put up with ocean racing the 12'6" racing. As far a BOP is concerned, who would want to race with 14 footers in this type of race anyway? My personnel opinion is it won't be long before there is a serious accident in these BOP races. Hope these organisers have some big insurance covers and I feel sorry for the poor bunny that cops a board on the head. Only a matter of time, cant believe its seen the future of the sport....... Might be the only reason to race blow ups is to make BOP safe.
The point I was trying to make without being sexist is that women are not as strong as men (there may be exceptions) so 12'6 is a good choice.
No matter what choice is made for the future of the sport not everyone will be happy.The sooner a decision is made in concrete the better.14ft across the board(12'6 for women) for distance and Bop seems logical but like I said not everyone will agree or like it but a line needs to be drawn soon and stick to it.
Awesome discussion going on here with some great insights. I am new to SUP but in the past had many years involved in windsurfing for fun and competing, and I feel SUP could learn from looking at how what other sports have done and the consequental results.
Windsurfing has had many ups and downs in numbers of both people participating and also competing. Clubs and companies tried all sorts of changes to equiment and classes to encourage participation, for example we had equipment go from one-design, to open-class, to production-class, to formula, back to one-design, for classes we had weight, age, board size, sail size, and ability, and that was all in about a 10 year period. It nearly destroyed the clubs as people could not afford to keep up with the gear and no juniors were coming through as it was too expensive.
Probably fun and fitness are the main reason people buy a SUP race board, some will also compete, but many won't, and for surfing SUPs the vast majority won't compete. If we were to apply some of what was experienced in windsurfing we would keep things as simple as possible, and keep any changes to a minimum.
Most of this lines up with what PeterP is saying (totally agree with you Peter on basically all your points), stick to one length as the major class and keep it simple, and as inexpensive as possible. Lets face it a 14 is more fun and easier to paddle, and if everyone is on a 14, then BOP style races should really be no problem (I actually prefer the 14 in waves over a 12'6"). As for classes, Open Men and Women, and age are the simplest, and junior and novice can usually have their own course and groups.
It's a great sport, and I would love to see it thrive, but to do so we will have to see more kids taking it up (as long as they don't take toooo many waves).
Regards KJ
If boards were to be decided on bodyweight as per Jacko's stats, then it's quite clear that 12'6 would be ideal for the women and 14' for the men. The only problem is that there will probably always be a much smaller amount of women racing meaning the market for new and used 12'6's will be very small, hence pushing prices up.
The easiest way to overcome this class debate is not to have any classes at all and accept that everyone must maximise their board choice to their bodyweight, skill and strength - (which everyone pretty much does anyways) - until they are forced into a class by an event organiser.
That does pose the problem that board production is less standardized and a few will have advantage on boards up to 18ft which will become extremely expensive.
For this reason the 14' class seems a reasonable compromise.
That's not what those stats prove, the fastest guy in the world right now would have to be mid 80kg so by that then 12'6 should be the class.
Any way pretty sure if you all read the surfing Australia statement they put out then both classes are covered except for the girls who have only 12'6 which to me seems fine for now until more girls want to get involved and get the numbers up.
Angie
Surprised at the qualification requirement. Just got back from Nth Kirra at the Clubbie Aussies which has no pre qualification requirement and the participation numbers are impressive (7,000 + across multiple events, diciplines etc). Dont panic I'm not suggesting the aim should be to grow Aussie SUP Titles to this level of participation but some scale is still important. Most elite paddling events around the world still are open to anyone who wants a crack.
Idea > Seeding to later rounds provided to top competitors from State Titles and open slather to anyone else who wants to lay down the $ to enter. Accept it will require greater organisation but I think this it out weighed by the positives. Avoid issues if top competitors are not available for State Titles and also encouraging far greater participation. The luck element of races in surf always draw greater participation for the off chance you may get a lucky break on the race/day.
Padleboard component is a bit interesting as it will always be miles off the pace vs Clubbie Aussie Titles. If you want the best prone paddlers for ISA then its easy to know where to look and pick a team from.
Ready for the barage
HV
good idea. state titles seeding, 'open' australian titles= big numbers, bigger crowds
